



Miss Lin is a florist . She works in a
flower shop _______ my house . There are
many beautiful flowers sold _________ her
shop . There are roses , carnations , lilies ,
orchids and many other flowers . Miss Lin
sells her flowers ________ bouquets , vases
and even in pots . I always buy flowers for
my teachers ________ Miss Lin’s shop during
Teachers’ Day . The flowers cost a bit more
than normal days but I do not mind as Miss
Lin always wraps them __________ beautifully
for me .
Key
:
near , at , in , from , up

The male peacock __________ a
colourful bird . Its body is mostly green and
its tail feathers __________ full of pretty
colours . Another colourful bird is the parrot .
Although ___________ more common ones are
usually white in colour , there are some
species of parrots that are very colorful . The
chameleon , on the other hand , is not a
colourful reptile . However , it can change
_________ colour to suit its surroundings .
When it is among the leaves in a tree ,

__________ is seen as green . The chameleon
changes its colour to avoid being by its
enemies .

Aunt Rosie is very fond of flowers . She
_______all kinds of flowers in her garden .
There are roses , daisies , violets and many
other kinds . Aunt Rosie _______after her
plants well . She _________them every
morning . She ________out the weeds so that
her plants can grow well . Whenever Aunt
Rosie visits her friends , she __________some
flowers along . She always says ,
“ Flowers cheer people up “
Key
:
has , looks , waters ,
pulls , brings

Key

: is , are , the , its , it



Fresh fruits and vegetables are very
important __________ us . These food contain
vitamin C that helps our wounds and broken
bones to heal quickly . They ________ keep
our gums and skin healthy . Before we cook

vegetables , we should not soak them for too
long ____________ else the vitamin C will be
lost . Vegetables should not be cooked too
long to prevent the loss ___________ vitamin
too . Though fruits and vegetables can be
preserved ___________cans and also be salted
, eating fresh fruits and vegetables is still
healthier .
Key
:
to , also , or , of , in



The giraffe is a _________animal . It has
long legs and an even longer ___________ . It
uses its long neck to help it get the fresh ,
juicy ________at the top of a tree . The giraffe
has two short stumps on top of its head . The
giraffe is brownish orange in colour and has
black ________on its skin . Its long legs are
very powerful . A giraffe can run quite
___________ , especially when it is being
chased . A giraffe is a harmless creature .
Key
:
tall , neck , leaves ,
spots , fast




Coconut trees grow in tropical
countries . They are very ________ plants .
Parts of a coconut tree can be made into
everyday items . Its leaves can be used food
__________ . Coconuts are filled with cool and
refreshing __________ . We can grate the flesh
of coconuts and squeeze out the milk . The
___________ is used to cook curry and
desserts . We can also use the trunk of the
coconut tree to make furniture like _________
and chairs .



Christmas falls on the 25th of
December every ______
On that day , Christians all over the ________
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ . Most
people celebrate this festival by buying
________ for family members and friends .
The streets are also very beautifully
decorated with ________ , Christmas trees
and lots of lights . Many children believe
Santa Claus , a kind old _________ who lives in
the North Pole , will give out presents on
Christmas Day .
Key
:
year , world , presents ,

bells , man

tables

Key :useful , wrappers , juice, milk ,



Rambutans , mangos teens and
durians are _________ fruits in Singapore .
They can be quite _________ when they are in
season . The durian is the most popular and
the most expensive . Many Singaporeans like
to eat the durian . It is their favourite fruit .
The durian ___________ is big and tall . It has
small , green leaves and a straight trunk with
many __________ . The flowers are large . The
1


fruits are of different shapes and sizes . The
durian has a hard , ___________rind . That is
why the Malays call it
“ durian “ which means a thorny fruit .

false

Key : local , cheap , tree , branches ,
thorny


The banana plant can be used __________
more than one way . Besides eating the fruit
_________ is very delicious , we can ________
use the other parts of the banana plant . The
leaves can be made _________ food
wrappers . They can also be made into roofs
of at tap hoses . The stems ___________ the
banana plants can sometimes be used as
fences in villages .
:

in , which , also , into , of



All living things depend a lot on
_________. Plants provide us with food and
shelter . Many animals eat plants like grass
and wheat . We , in turn , kill them for
__________ . Green plants also provide us with
_________, something that we breathe in to
live . Plants also provide us with wood so
that we can make them into materials for our
__________ . Many animals like birds ,
squirrels and insects live in trees . Even
animals in the sea need plants . Seaweed
gives out oxygen so that there is oxygen in
the water for the _________ and other sea
creatures . Seaweed is also food to some of
these creatures .

fish

house

real

spins



traps

colour

has
are
eat
flies
A spider __________eight legs . Some
spiders are poisonous while others are not .
A spider _________ its web between leaves . It
_________ insects in its sticky web . These
trapped insects become food for the spider .
A spider is either black or brown in colour . A
black spider is normally a fighting spider
while a brown one is a house spider .
Key
:
has , spins , traps ,
are , eat




Key: plants , food , oxygen , house ,

leaves
caterpillars
wings
flowers
flying
beautiful
food
gardens
One of the most ___________creatures
in the world are butterflies . Butterflies have
long , slim bodies and two pairs of colourful
________ . Butterflies can usually be seen
flying among flowers ________ during daytime
. They lay eggs and their young are
caterpillars. Butterflies and _________ feed on
different food.
Caterpillars eat __________ while butterflies
feed on the sweet liquid from flowers called
nectar .
Key
: beautiful , wings , gardens ,
caterpillars , leaves




The mimosa is a common ________ that
you can see in fields . It has small flowers
and leaflets . It also has tiny thorns .
However , it behaves quite strangely . When
you touch the ______ of the mimosa plant ,
they shrink together and close up . This is
why this plant is also known as the “ TouchMe -Not “ plant. Another plant that behaves
in an odd manner is the morning glory . Its
flowers will close up in the late ________
when the sun is going down . In the
morning , when the sun shines , the flowers
will open up . Some of the flowers will
________ off when you press the base of the
flowers . Many small children like to pluck
the _______ and play with them by shooting
the blooms at each other .
Key:
flowers



houses

fierce
knights
news
stories
Dragons are not _________ . They are
mythical creatures that can only be found in
__________ and legends . In stories , these fire

breathing dragons were very _________ . They
lived in huge , dark _________. Most people
were afraid of them . They usually caught
young girls from villages . Brave soldiers and
__________ had to fight with these dragons to
rescue the young ladies .
Key
:
real , stories , fierce ,
caves , knights



Key

caves

plant , leaves , evening , shoot ,

also
2



which

who


some

very

few

many

hairs
smell
edges
plant

plenty

Many archaeologists have found the
fossils of prehistoric animals _________
became extinct long ago . According to them
, _________ of the bones , teeth , claws and
even fur of these amazing creatures are
found underground and in the rocks of the
earth . Archaeologists have made camps in
_________ parts of the world trying to uncover
these fossils . These fossils are ______
valuable and they are _______ very
educational . They tell us more about the
creatures that roamed the earth long before
man existed .
Key
:
which , some , many ,
very , also

store
stores
is
are
has
have
lose
loses
The cactus ________ a weird looking
plant . Its trunk is swollen with water or sap .
It _________ very small leaves that are very
sharp . Most cacti ________ found in the
desert . A desert is a very dry place where it
seldom rains so the cactus plant __________
as much water as it can . It does this to be
able to survive during the months when rain
is scarce . It has tiny leaves so that the plant
_________ as little water as possible . Some
miniature cactus plants are planted in pots
indoors . They are usually brightly coloured .
Key
:
is , has , are , stores ,
loses
sticky
common
leaves
collect

slippery


unusual

sweet

bitter

colour

part

insect

The
Venus
flytrap
is
another
uncommon looking plant. Its leaf has two
parts . The lower ________ looks like a blade
while the upper part is round in shape . They
come in a pair . The surface of the upper part
is reddish in _________ , making it look like a
tongue . There are sensitive _________ on the
surface and there are also stiff hairs around
the _________ . When an insect lands on the
surface of the upper leaf , the leaf closes on
the insect and feeds on it . After the plant
has finished feeding on the ________ it has
caught , the upper leaf opens up again and

waits for its next victim .
Key
:
part , colour , hairs ,
edges , insect





skin

and
with

before
by
be



later

down

from
up

Teak is one of the world’s hardest
________ strongest wood . Furniture made

_______it will last for a very long time . Teak
is found in many parts of the world .
However , good quality teak can only
______found in the forested hills of Northern
Thailand . To cut ______ the teak trees ,
forest officers choose and girdle the trees . A
deep ring is cut around the trunk , causing
the tree to die . Two years ________, when it
is dry , the teak tree is cut down and sawn
into logs .
Key
:
and , from , be , down ,
later

Mystery of

The
pitcher
plant
is
a
very
__________looking plant . It has leaves which
look like small jugs . These _______ extend
from the strong stalks of the plant . The
leaves contain sap that is ________ smelling .
Many insects crawl or fly into the jug-like
leaves to _________ the syrupy liquid .
However , once they get into the leaves ,

they get stuck as this liquid is very
_________ . The insects then die in the sap .
They become the pitcher plant’s meal .
Key
:
unusual , leaves , sweet ,
collect , sticky


a Secret
Script

Chinese scholars study a tongue
3


only women

knew

F

The women who knew Nushu
apparently made no attempt to conceal it
from men , who in any case probably
regarded it as inferior to Chinese .
Women were traditionally excluded from
receiving an education and not taught to
write Chinese . The use of Nushu
declined in the 1950s when education

opened up to women , and the
Communists sought to root out feudal
traditions , which included what they
decided us “ the witches ‘ script . “
Although there are still a few
elderly women who can speak the
language , scholars know of only one
living person who can write it ; she is
Yang Huanyi , an 83- year-old peasant
from Jiangjong county in Hunan . In
hopes of keeping Nushu alive , a few
young women in the region have now
begun to learn it .

or at least a millennium ,

perhaps much longer , women in the
western part of China ‘s Human province
wrote to one another or kept diaries in
Nushu , a secret language known only to
them .
“ With you gone , I feel so slowly , “
lamented a young woman in a poem to a
girl-friend who had married and moved to
her husband’s home . Other women
expressed their bewilderment when their
husbands left them to go to war , or
sorrow over the death of loved ones . A
few described their impressions of
historical events like the Opium War with

Britain in the 1840s and the Japanese
invasion of China in the 1930s .
Today Nushu , which means
women’s calligraphy , has all but
disappeared and is known to only a
handful of elderly women . In an effort to
preserve the language , scholars in
Beijing have been collecting examples
and researching its origins . “ Nushu is
important because it’s the unique
language of women, “ says Chen
Qiguang , a Beijing professor . In March ,
Chen , together with two other scholars ,
Zhou Shuoyi and Zhao Limi , will
published a 900-page book titled A
Collection of Nushu
Texts
, which
include 400 examples and translations of
the language .
After five years of studying Nushu ,
scholars are still perplexed about its
origins . Some think it dates back 2,000
years , Chen , noting that it contains
elements of both ancient and modern
Chinese , thinks it is more like 1,000
years old . With at least 2,000 characters
, it is a fairly complex language , and
whereas
Chinese

ideograms
have
different meanings , Nushu ideograms
represent sounds .

BUTTERFLIES
T

he butterfly is a marvel . It
begins
as
an
ugly
caterpillar and turns into a work of art .
Caterpillars eat plants and cause
damage to some crops but adult
butterflies feed principally on a nectar
from flowers and do not cause any harm .
Some people collect butterflies for
a hobby . There are collectors capture
them with a net and put them in a jar
that has poison in it . The dead
butterflies are the mounted on a board .
The sight of a butterfly floating
from flower to flower on a warm sunny
day brightens anyone’s heart . A
butterfly ia a charming and gentle
creature .
When cold weather comes , some
butterflies travel great distances to reach

tropical climates .
Butterflies are admired throughout
the
world
because
they
are
beautiful .They can be found on every
continent except Antarctica.

4


Flowers
T

Five
Senses

he rose , the national flower of

England , is usually thought to be the
most typically British flower . It has
frequently been used in poetry as a
symbol of romantic love . The violet is
often seen as symbolizing modesty , and
a shy retiring person can be called “ a
shrinking violet “ The daisy is one of the
most common British wild flowers and
carries the association of summer picnics

and making daisy chains , by threading
the stalk of one daisy through a slit
made in the stalk of the next , and so on
. Dandelions and buttercups have bright
yellow petals and are also associated
with the summer . Snowdrops ,
bluebells , daffodils and primroses are
popular spring flowers, often found
growing wild in woods . Honeysuckle is
associated
with
typical
country
cottages , and wisteria with stately
homes . Popular garden flowers include
roses , pansies , lupines , dahlias ,
gladioli , chrysanthemums , asters ,
carnations , irises and wallflowers .
Flowers are used at weddings and
funerals
and
have
certain
connotations .For example, carnations ,
especially white ones , are often worn by
men at weddings in the buttonholes of
their jackets , and chrysanthemums and
white lilies are associated with funerals .
Rose , Daisy , Iris , Violet and Lily were
popular as girl’s names in Victorian times

, but are less common nowadays .

M

ost of the creatures in the world
possess the five senses of sight ,
hearing , touch , taste and smell .
However , these senses are often more
highly developed in one species than
another . Birds have a highly developed
sense of sight . For example , an eagle
can spot a small lizard from high in the
air . The lizard would be undetectable by
a human being from the same distance .
Animals that hunt by following a trail on
the ground may have poor eyesight but a
keen sense of smell. For example , dogs
see a blurred , gray world because they
are nearsighted and can’t see colours .
However , they can smell thousands of
times better than human beings can .

Coral reefs

C

oral reefs are beautiful gardens
under the sea . The corals may
look like branching trees , large
domes , or flower blooms . Many see

animals live among the corals . They
paint the gardens bright shades of
orange , yellow and purple .
Coral reefs are made of the
skeletons of tiny sea animals called
polyps . A polyp’s skeleton grows outside
its body . When the polyp dies , the
skeleton is left . Coral reefs are formed of
billions and billions of these tiny
skeletons .
Coral reefs are found mostly in
warm , shallow water . The Great Barrier
Reef of Australia is the largest coral reef
in the world . It is about 1,250 miles
long .
5


Elephants

Our
Earth

O

ur

E

lephants use their trunks the


way people use their hands . At the end
of the trunk are parts that act like
fingers. These allow elephants to do
wonderful things . They pick up their
food –parts of trees or may be just a
peanut . They use their trunks to drink
water or to spray the water over their
bodies to cool off. Because elephants do
not see well , they use their trunks as “
eyes “ . They do not walk where their
trunks cannot feel the ground .
Carole
,
a
twenty-two-year
elephant at the Diego Wild Animal Park ,
paints with her trunk . At her trainer’s
order , Carole swings a brush across a
canvas . Her paintings are sold to make
money for the park .

Earth is one of nine

planets revolving around the sun , a fairly
small and ordinary star , which lies in the
outer areas of the Milky Way Galaxy .
There are about 250 billion stars in our
galaxy , and billions of galaxies in
universe . People have always wondered

about the possibility of intelligent life
forms on other planets . In recent years ,
this has become serious scientific
speculation . Some scientists believe that
there must be large numbers of stars
with planets which could support living
intelligent beings . Perhaps we shall
never known . The nearest star is 4.3
light years away . A light year is the
distance covered by light ( travelling at
almost 300,000 kilometers a second ) in
one year . It would take the fastest Earth
spacecraft about 40,000 years to reach
the nearest star . For a number of years
radio telescopes have been trying to pick
up signals from outer space , so far
without success . There are , however ,
millions of possible radio frequencies ,
and there is no reason why a completely
alien civilization should not use a
different type of communication , such as
X-rays or even a type of wave we have
not yet discovered . Suppose contact
were made with beings 300 light years
away . By the time we had sent our
reply , and received their response the
earth would be 600 years older . It would
be an interesting , but rather slow
moving conversation !


W

hat

do

people

in

your

country think of bats ? Are they mean
and scary creatures , or are they
symbols of happiness and good luck ? In
Western countries , many people have an
unreasoned fear of bats . According to
scientist Dr Sharon Horowitz , bats are
beneficial and harmless mammals.
Contrary
to
popular
western
myths , bats do not attack humans and
are not blind . Though a few bats may be
infected , they are not major carriers off
rabies or give other dread diseases . Bats
help natural plant life by pollinating
plants , spreading seeds and eating
insects . If you get rid of bats that eat

overripe fruit , then fruit flies flourish and
6


can destroy the fruit industry . According
to Dr Sharon Horowitz , they make loving
, trainable , and gentle pets . Not many
people , however , are known to have
bats as pets , and bats themselves prefer
to avoid people .

L

Leonardo
da Vinci

eonardo da Vinci lived in Italy in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries .
He was a student in Florence ,
where he studied painting , sculpture and
design . He began a lot of paintings , but
didn’t finish many of them . His picture of
the Mona Lisa is the most
famous
portrait in the world .
Leonardo was interested in many
things . He wanted to know about
everything he saw . He examined the
human body . He thought that the sun
didn’t go round the earth . He wrote

music . He designed a flying machine
400 years before the first one flew . Many
people didn’t understand his ideas . It is
difficult to think that one man could do so
much .

7