Basic Reading — 第三冊

🔊This is a scarecrow. It is standing alone in a field. Scarecrows are used to scare away birds that may eat crops. They are supposed to look like people standing in the field. If the birds think the field is inhabited, they will probably not stop there.

🔊To make a scarecrow all you need are a couple of poles, some straw and an old shirt. First, you make a cross out of the poles and tie them together. Then you put a shirt on the cross and stuff it with straw. Next you need something that looks like a head to put on the top. Finally, put a hat on the head and you’re finished. Now all you have to do is to stick it in the ground in your field or garden.

🔊Without scarecrows, some farmers may resort to shooting or poisoning birds. In reality, scarecrows save crops and birds. Everyone is a winner.

🔊Luke is trying to win a stuffed toy for his daughter. To operate the claw vending machine, 3 he first needs to insert a coin. When he hears the music start, it's time for action. He uses the joystick to maneuver the claw forward, backward, left and right. When the claw is positioned over top of the toy, he hits the button on the right. The open claw then drops down and attempts to grab a prize. At this point the claw, and Luke’s prize, begin to return to the top of the machine. Usually when the grapple hook gets to the top, it drops the item and ends your turn, but not this time. The claw has a firm hold on the stuffed toy, it then moves toward the hole on the left side. Luke is excited because he has never had a toy make it this far. The claw slowly opens and drops the prize into the hole. Luke reaches in and proudly claims his prize. More often than not, people walk away without a toy and without any change left in their pockets, but on this day, Luke was one of the lucky ones.

🔊When making study notes, it is a good idea to keep them neat and legible. Sloppy notes will only lead to confusion and lost time when you study. Try to use pencil as much as possible because it is easier to correct mistakes and then when you do mess up, you can simply erase the mistake and write it again. This will help to keep your work nice and neat.

🔊If you must work with a pen, or are working with photocopied materials, using an eraser is not an option. In these cases you must use either correction fluid or correction tape for your mistakes. I find correction tape the tidiest and you can write over it almost as soon as it is applied, too. Correction fluid is okay as well, but it will require drying time and doesn’t look quite as nice. Sometimes dried bits of liquid paper end up on your work, making it difficult to write neatly. But in a pinch, I suppose, it is better than nothing.

🔊Paul’s pocket was heavy with change after a day of shopping. He reached his hand into his pocket and grabbed handful after handful of change, placing it on the coffee table. Sitting on the comfy armchair, he began to stack the change. He put the one dollar coins in stacks of 10 to make them easier to count. After he sorted them all out, he added them up. He had nearly 200 dollars in change. It was no wonder his pocket felt so heavy. He took the change and put it in his piggybank to save it for a day when he would want to buy something.

🔊Lester has just finished washing the dishes. After he washes the dishes, he places each of them into the dish-dryer above the sink. The wire rack in the dryer holds plates and bowls on their side. This allows air to flow freely between the dishes as they dry. It also helps to organize the dishes so that you can fit more of them into the dryer. There is a spot on the side for utensils, too. It holds them upright, which allows water to drip off of them.

🔊When the machine is fully loaded, he can turn it on, but he must close the door first. The glass door slides out from above and then swings down to cover the front of the unit. To turn it on, he needs to select the proper cycle and push the button. The machine will then dry the dishes with hot air.

🔊The whole process takes about ten minutes or so. For the sake of energy conservation, you should try to make sure the machine is full before you turn it on.

🔊Hi, my name is Andre and I love collecting basketball memorabilia. I collect pins, hats, stickers, shirts, banners and anything I can get my hands on. In my spare time I have also made a scrapbook.

🔊My favorite team has always been the Denver Nuggets, so the bulk of the book is of them. Every day I look through the sports sections of the local and national papers. If I find an interesting article about a Nuggets’ player, I cut it outand put it in my scrapbook. There are pages and pages of such newspaper clippings in my book.

🔊As long as I can remember, Allen Iverson has been my favorite player. I actually have another scrapbook just for him. Inside this book there are pictures that I have collected from various magazines and papers. They span his entire career. I have pictures of his first pro game, his first all-star game, and even some of his personal life. As well, every milestone he has passed is documented in my book. I think I must be his biggest fan.

🔊When I am old, I will be able to look back through my scrapbooks and remember my heroes in all their glory. Hopefully, my children will want to look at them, too. Maybe it will inspire them to start a scrapbook of their own.

🔊At one of the local markets, an artist has set up a shop. There are examples of his work hung on the walls for you to admire. If you want, he will draw your picture, too.

🔊Posing for a picture will require that you sit very still. If you move around too much, it will be difficult for the artist to sketch your picture. As you sit, he will study the lines and shape of your face, and then capture them on paper. He will try to make you as beautiful as possible by enhancing your good features and maybe overlooking some of the bad ones. Don’t expect miracles, though, as there is only so much he can hide.

🔊The whole process will take about 20 minutes or so. When he has finished, you will have immortalized yourself in a piece of art and can hang it on a wall in your house for all to see. Don’t buy too many pictures of yourself, though, as your family might get sick of looking at you on every wall in the house.

🔊Three red bins and a yellow basket are sitting along the wall in the back of a classroom. They are filled with recyclable materials, except for one which is used for garbage. They are part of the school’s recycling program.

🔊Each bin and the basket holds something different. One is used for juice boxes and tetra packs. One is used for plastics, such as tea glasses and plastic bottles. The third holds regular garbage and the yellow basket is used for paper and cardboard.

🔊Recycling waste is a good way to conserve valuable resources. Instead of cutting down more trees to make new paper, we can recycle waste paper and use it again. All sorts of things can be made from recycled materials. It also helps to keep landfill sites from overflowing by reducing the amount of garbage stored in them.

🔊Here students are sorting the bins. Any garbage is removed and items are organized and bagged according to what they are and what can be recycled with them. They will then be taken to a recycling depot.

🔊The computer prompt tells Alice to please insert a disc into the CD-ROM drive. She pushes the eject button and the tray slides out automatically. She puts the CD on the tray and gently pushes it in. The tray then slides back in and she can hear the disc begin to whirl as the computer reads it.

🔊Alice has also saved some of her homework as a Word file on her memory stick. It is like a small portable hard drive. All you have to do to use it is to plug it into an unused USB port. Once connected, there will be an icon in “my computer” or on your taskbar that will open it in a separate window. You can then use the file as you normally would on your own computer.

🔊Portable memory devices are a very convenient way of carrying your files around without having to burn them to CD, but they are not one-hundred percent reliable. With this in mind, you should always back up important documents or files somewhere else.

🔊This is a coin-operated water dispenser. Because the water in Taiwan is not safe to use for drinking or cooking, many people rely on these machines for their potable water. They are a cheap alternative to buying bottled water.

🔊These types of water dispensers are very simple to use. You only need to bring a suitable container and some change. Then you insert a coin into the slot on the machine, put the nozzle into your container and open the valve. Be sure your container is safe for potable water and that you use it only for this purpose.

🔊When you are finished filling your container, turn off the valve and place the nozzle back into the holder. Hopefully you haven’t bought more water than you can carry home or you might have to drink it until it is light enough to carry.