1. Emma went downtown. She had to take a test. It was a big test.

It was her test

to become a U.S. citizen. The test had 100 questions. She studied all 100 questions.
She knew the answers to all 100 questions. She knew the colors of the flag. The flag is
red, white, and blue. She knew how many stripes are on the flag. Thirteen stripes are on
the flag. She knew how many stars are on the flag. Fifty stars are on the flag. She knew
the capital of the United States. Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States. She
knew all the answers! She entered the federal building downtown. She waited for them
to call her name. They called her name. She went into the interview room. The
interviewer asked, "What is your social security number?"

2. I am happy. I have many friends. I have a large family. I have four brothers and
four sisters. I am in the middle. Four brothers are older than me. Four sisters are
younger than me. I go to school. I am in the sixth grade. I like my teachers. My teachers
like me. I have friends in every class. My favorite class is history. I like to read about
history. History is a story about our past. Soon we will all be history. Then kids in school
will read about us. I hope they like our stories. My best friend is Bobby. Bobby and I do
many things together. We swim together. We play basketball together. We ride our bikes
together. I have many other friends. We all go to the mall on weekends. We go to the
movies. We go to restaurants. We tell jokes. We laugh. We have fun. Life is great.

3. She is young. Her shoes are old. She wears them to work. She goes to work
five days a week. She is a waitress. She works at a restaurant. She loves her work. The
restaurant is near her home. She walks to the restaurant. She stands up all day long.
She is young and strong. Her shoes are not. They are old. She saw an ad in the paper.
All shoes were on sale at the shoe store. She walked into the store. She looked around.
She saw some black shoes. They looked good. She tried them on. They were very
comfortable. They felt good. They were only $25. She paid cash. She wore them home.
She felt good. She was ready for work the next day.
 4. She found a book in her basement. It was an old book. She opened the book. It
was a library book. It was an old library book. The library card was still inside the front
cover. The due date was on the library card. She looked at the due date. The due date
was 30 years ago! Oh my goodness, she thought. I wonder how much money that is,
she thought. I wonder how much money I owe. She didn't know what to do. She thought
about it. I can just throw the book out, she thought. No one will know. No one will know if
I just throw the book out. She threw the book out into the trash can. She thought about it.
She felt bad. I shouldn't throw a book into the trash can, she thought. She took it out of
the trash can.

5. "Don't call me Honey anymore," Fanny said. "Okay, Honey," Rich said. "I mean
it!" she said. "Don't call me Honey. Don't call me Sugar. Don't call me Sweetie." Rich
was confused. "I am confused, Darling," he said. "Why can't I call you Honey? Why can't
I call you Sugar? Why can't I call you Sweetie?" Fanny said, "You used to call your ex-
wife those names. When you call me those names, I think of your ex-wife. When I think
of your ex-wife, I get angry. Don't make me angry." Rich was still confused. "What can I
call you, Darling?" Fanny said, "Don't call me Darling, either. Call me Fanny." "Yes,
dear," said Rich. Fanny said, "Dear? Don't call me Dear, either. Call me Fanny. My
name is Fanny." Rich said, "I don't want to call you Fanny, I want to call you something
special."

6. We do not live in a black and white world. We live in a rainbow world. Colors
are everywhere. Colors are beautiful. A toilet bowl is white. A panda is white and black.
A crow is black. The sky and the ocean are blue. An apple is red or green. An orange is
always orange, but the sun is sometimes orange. A stop light is red, yellow, and green.
A lemon is yellow. People are white, brown, or black. Fishes and birds are many
different colors. Hair is white, gray, brown, black, or red. A golf ball and a baseball are
white. A basketball is orange. A tennis ball is green. A fire engine is red. A police car is
black and white. The moon and the stars are white. Grass is green, but dirt is brown. A
fried egg is yellow and white. Your blood is red. Your teeth are white. A stop sign is red
and white. You cannot talk about colors to blind people. They have never seen colors.
That is sad.
 7. The phone rang. It was her son. She left her home country eight years ago.
She sold her business. She wanted her son to get an education in the US. She spoke no
English. Her son spoke little English. Her friends and family said she was crazy. She
moved to the US. She put her son in school. School was difficult. He had to take
remedial English classes. She walked him to school. She hired tutors for him. He hated
school. She put her foot down. She made him study. His English improved. His grades
improved. He became a good student. He graduated from high school. He went to junior
college. He finished junior college. He applied to transfer to a four-year university. "Mom,
I got accepted to USC!" he said. "Oh, congratulations!" she said, over and over. She was
so proud of her son. She sat down and cried.

8. Gary and Bob were talking. They were talking about girls. They were talking
about how hard it is to pick up girls nowadays. What do girls want? They were confused.
Jerry walked by. He joined the conversation. He told them what girls want. They want a
guy with confidence. They want a guy with money. They want a guy with a cool
apartment downtown. They want a guy with a nice car. They want a fun guy. "It's like
that song," he said. "Girls just want to have fun. You two are no fun." Jerry left. "Maybe
Jerry's right," said Gary. Bob said Jerry was wrong. "Yes, girls want a guy with
confidence, money, a nice car. Yes, they want a fun guy, some girls want a nice guy".
"We are both nice guys". "What do we do?" asked Gary. "We do what nice guys do
best," said Bob. "We wait. We pray. We wish. We hope."

9. The TV weatherman says a lot of things. He gives us a lot of information. He

says it will be hot and sunny. He says it will be cold and rainy. We will get showers. We
will get two inches of rain. We will get three inches of snow. The temperature tonight will
go down to 50 degrees. The temperature tomorrow will be 73 degrees. The sun will rise
at 6:30. The sun will set at 6:15. The beaches will have early morning fog. A winter storm
is coming. The mountains will have snow. The waves at the beach will be high. The
Santa Ana winds are coming. It will be hot and windy. We must be careful. We must
watch for fires. The TV weatherman goes on and on. He talks and talks. He tells us
everything about the weather. He has pretty pictures and maps. He points at the maps.
He has lots of fancy technology. We don't have fancy technology. We don't need fancy
technology. If we want to know what the weather is like, we just look out the window.