Excerpt 1 May in bed. quivering underneath my blankets, staring up at the ceiling above me. I heard the pattering of feet. like a small child running on
tiptoe. I turned onto my side and closed my eyes. Something was in the attic.
"It's just my Imagination,* I said quietly.
Scenes from earlier that day played like a movie in my mind. I saw my family's car turning off the highway. I watched as our car turned onto :
winding road. The sky was cloudy, and the wind rustled through the Spanish moss hanging from the cypress trees. We drove into the
darkness of the trees' shadows.
Excerpt 2
The earth's natural resources are being depleted rapidly. Millions of tons of waste are generated each year, and much of this waste will be
disposed of in landfills and burned in furnaces. This waste takes a heavy toll on natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals, which
are not easily replaced. If you consider it, burning reusable materials is like burning money: neither can ever be used again. By using recycled
materials such as paper and aluminum to make new products and packaging, we can reduce the consumption of natural resources. Recycling
can even produce better products than those made from non recycled materials.
Excerpt 3
After a few days, you will see a "cloud" form at the top of the jar. The cloud will thicken, and "rain" will begin to fall. Water will trickle down the
sides of the jar and collect in the soil and plants. This water will evaporate a few days later, and another cloud will appear. This cycle will
continue as long as you keep your rain forest in a sunny spot.
Excerpt 4
Jeremy raced to the beach and scrambled up onto a log. He pretended it was a spaceship. "Vroom! Roar!" The spaceship blasted off. Jeremy
pretended he was soaring through space, searching for flying saucers.
That's when he noticed a small black head poking up from the water. Its two beady eyes
stared at him. This creature was definitely not
pretend. "Yikes, a space alien!" he screamed, leaping off the log. He dashed for the cabin and burst into the kitchen.
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