1. deadly Dragons

Did you thing that dragons only _________ _____ fairy tales?  Wrong!  The Komodo ____________ is a _________ animal.  It is one of the world's ______________ ______________ lizards.  It is in ______ _________ family ______ the mosasaur, a  __________ that lived millions of years ago.

Komodos are also the _____________ living lizards in the ____________. ____________ grow to be 10 feet _______ and can ____________ 200 pounds.

Komodo dragons are ___________________.  They feed ______ deer, pigs, water buffalo, and even ________________ komodos.  They have ____________ __________ and teeth.  Their ___________ are short, but their ___________ are long and ________________.  They are fast _____________ and good _______________.

With their snakelike ______________, Komodos can _____________ their food before they ________ it.  They _____________ their ___________ feet first.  They ___________ it __________ and then ___________ into it.  The ____________ in a Komodo dragon's mouth has dangerous ____________________.  It _____________ the blood of the prey.  One bite from a Komodo can be ______________.

Komodo dragons are ______________ on four Indonesian _____________, including Komodo.  The islands are close to the ________________.  The equator is an _________________ ___________ around the middle of Earth.  People, fires, and too little food ______________ their homes.  They are ______ ____________ of all dying out.  There are only between 3,000 and 6,000 of them _________ in the ___________.  They are now _________________.  If people aren't _____________ to ______________ the Komodo dragons that ______________, dragons may _____________ be found only in __________ _____________.

2. Hina matsuri -- A Day for Girls

____________ in Japan have a ____________ day they ____________ each year on March 3.  It is called Hina Matsuri, or Girls' ______________.  _____ this day, people ________ for the _______________, health, and ____________ of the girls in their ______________.  Girls ____________ friends to a party.  The drink shiro-zakee (a ________ rick drink) and eat _______ ____________.  The rice cakes have three ____________, each a ___________ color.  The white layer is ____________ _______ snow.  The green layer ___________ _____ ______________.  The pink layer is for ___________ flowers.  Peach flowers are a symbol for this special day.

Families with young daughters _________ special dolls, called Hina-mingyou.  These __________ were _______________ of beautiful Japanese _____________.  They are placed on ____________ covered with red cloth.  Emperor and ____________ dolls stand at the ________.  Three ______________ and five ______________ come next.  _____________ dolls sit with trays of food on the ____________ shelf.  At the bottom stand the guards.  These dolls are believed to ____________ the girls in the house _________ _________________ and _______ ___________.

The ___________ of using these dolls began long ago.  A ____________ doll was made as a __________ of each __________ in a _____________.  All the _______ __________ that might come to that person was ___________ ______ the _________.  Then the dolls were ____________ _____ the river, to __________ _________ and ___________ the bad luck with them.  In some parts of Japan, people still __________ paper dolls ______ ____________ after Hina matsuri _________.  They hope that the paper dolls will ___________ ________ ____________ and bad luck form their families.

3. Roberto Clemente: A Hero on and off the Field

______________ ___________ Roberto Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in 1934.  As a child, he found he was a ____________ ____ _____________.  This ____________ played ____________ sports very well, but he loved baseball _____________.  After years of _____________, Clemente ____________ the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He played ____________ ____________ for 18 years.  He played in ______ ____________ Series, was the National League __________ _______________ four times, and _________ 12 Golden Glove ____________.  Clemente made his 3,000th _______ on September 29, 1972.  It was the __________ hit he would ever _________ in baseball.

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1972, Clemente _____________ a small plane with food, clothing, and _______________.  He was _______ a ________________ to Nicaragua, a country in _____________ ________________.  People there were _____________ after a big _________________.  Clemente's plane _____________ _______ the Caribbean Sea ______ the coast of Puerto Rico.  Clemente and five others _____________.

After his __________, Clemente ________ ___________ into the Baseball Hall of ___________.  He was the __________ ____________-speaking player to join this ____________ group of baseball players.  Clemente left a ___________.

The Roberto Clemente Award ______ ____________ _____ baseball players _______ _________ _________ in their communities.  The Roberto Clemente Sports City is a ___________ sports center in his ____________ of Carolina.  In 1999, a bridge in ____________ Pittsburgh was ___________ ______ him.

Clemente once said, "Any time you have an ______________ to make things ____________ and you don't, then you are ____________ your time _____ this Earth."  He is ________________ as a great man ________ ______ and __________ the baseball field.

4. Through a Dog's Eyes

It is said that a dog is man's _________ friend.  This is especially _______ ____ __________ dogs, sometimes called _____________ _______ dogs.  Guide dogs help __________ ___________ _______ around.  Guide dogs can give blind ________________.

The best _________________ for guide dogs are ____________ retrievers, and German shepherds.  These dogs share a _______________ that is very much ______________.  They are ___________, ______________, and able to ______________ well with people.

Guide dog puppies are _____________ in people's homes.  They learn to _________ _______________ and to be _____________ in many different situations.  They _______ ___________ _____ loud noises, bad weather, and __________.  This __________ _____________ helps them later, when they _______ ___________.

_________ a puppy is ____________, it goes to a guide dog school.  Training __________ five months.  Guide dogs learn to __________ in a _____________ line and to move around ___________ that could _______ or _______ a blind person.  They learn to stop _______ _________ and to be safe around cars.  They look and listen ______ _________.  A good guide dog _____________ training with _____________.  An instinct is anything the dog knows _______________.

After training, a guide dog and its _______ __________ work together _______ _____ ____________.  This is the "people-training" part of the ______________.  The blind person ___________ everything the dog knows.  He or she gets used to the _________ the dog ___________.  By the time they ____________ school, dog and owner are a great __________.

5. The Boy Who Loved Snow

__________ you ___________ that no two ___________ are ____________?  How do we know this is __________?  A boy named wilson Bentley ______________ it.  He was _________ in 1865, _____ Jericho, Vermont.  Jericho was a __________ area.  Its _____________ were mainly farmers.  Willie liked music, painting, and _____________ ___________.  His favorite thing was ____________.  __________ 10 feet of snow ________ each year in Jericho, his father and friends _____________ this was __________.  "What's so ___________ about snow?" they asked.

Willie knew __________ was special about snow.  At 15, he got his first ________________.  It _________________ the snowflakes, making them __________ much _____________.  Willie could see every __________ of each __________ snow _____________.  He _____________ ______ two crystals that were alike.  He tried to draw pictures to help him _______________, but the snowflakes always ___________ too __________.

Then Willie read about a _________________ with a ____________ in it.  Now he could _________________ the ice crystals!  His parents ____________ him the camera.  Willie worked hard ________ two winters, ____________ pictures with his camera.  Finally, he had found a ________ to ________________ the ____________ of the snowflakes.  He was the first person to ________________ snowflakes.

Willie spent his life ___________ and photographing snow _______________.  he became _____________ _____ "Snowflake Bentley."  Snowflake Bentley was also the ____________ of a book called Snow Crystals.  People still use this book to ___________ snowflakes.  And if you look _____________, you will see ___________ Willie ________.  No two snowflakes are _______________.

6. Corn Dance at the Pueblo

Pueblo ____________ have lived in the _____________ for hundred of years.  They __________ in valleys and on large, _________ mountains called _________.  Pueblo means "town" or "___________" in _______________.  A Spanish ______________ who came to the area in 1540 named people Pueblo because they lived in _______________.  Many Pueblo Indians _________ live in these same ______________.  They ________________ many of their old _______________ today.

The most important Pueblo _____________ is the Corn Dance.  The Pueblos are an ________________ people.  This means they ___________ their own food.  Corn is one of their main ____________.  The Corn Dances __________ at planting time, in April.  A Corn Dance ___________ song, dance, plays, and _____________.  People _________ ________ rain, a big corn ______________, and for good __________.

The pueblo ________________ into two dance teams of men and boys, and _____________ and ___________.  Male dancers wear _____________ and parrot ___________________ on their heads.  They __________ noisy ____________.  They wrap their _______________ in skunk fur and pine tree branches, ____________ is a ___________ of _______________.  A young female dancer is dressed _______ the Corn Maiden, a symbol of _____________.  She wears a __________ feathers and __________ ears of corn.  Female dancers _________ painted ___________ crowns called "tablitas."  Between dances, the dance teams _____________ to the kiva, a ____________ ________ used for the _______________.

Many Pueblos ____________ visitors _______ __________ the Corn Dances.  This gives others a chance ______ _________ some of the Pueblo Indians' rich ___________ and interesting _____________.

8. Climbing in the Dark

In Tibet, it's called ______________ Mother of the World.  IN Nepal, it's called Goddess of the __________.  We ___________ it Mount Everest.  This Asian ___________, at 29,028 _________, is the _______________ mountain in the world.  Many people have _______________ to the _________, but many more have _______________ to reach the ____________.  Some ________________ never make it back at all.

Can you _______________ climbing Mount Everest in the ___________?  That's what Erick Weihenmayer did.  Erik has a ______________ that left him ____________ at age 13.  He decided to find things he could do _____________ his __________.

Erik tried ______________, but he found it was ________________.  He ___________ on rocks and _____________ into trees.  Then he tried ____________ ________________.  He could feel his way up the side of a _______________, finding ____________ and ledges with his ____________.  After becoming an _____________ rock climber, he began to climb __________________.

Erik's climbing team on Mount Everest __________ _________ so he could ___________ their ________________ and follow them.  Erik used special __________ to __________ the trail.  One of the _________________ parts was the Khumbu Icefall, a trail through a ______________.  Erik walked ______ ____________ ice.  He jumped across big cracks and _______________ on hanging ladders.

The climbers moved slowly.  They wore big snowsuits and ______________ _____________ from tanks.  Because Everest is so high, the air blanket that _______________ Earth is thin.  There is ___________ oxygen in the ___________________.  But Erik and his team kept ____________.  They crossed an icy edge and climbed a ____________ ____________.

After two ______________ of climbing, they stood at the _____________ of Mount Everest.  "You did it!" Erik's friends told him.  They were at the _________ of the ________________.

9. The Longest Wall

More than 2,200 years ago, Qin Shi Huangdi became the first Chinese _____________.  He wanted _____ __________ his country _______ the ___________ of other lands.  So he _________ a long, ________ wall.  It _______________ for 3,000 ___________.

Workers used ___________ to build the Great Wall of China.  When they couldn't find stone, they used ___________ _____ _________.  They filled a wooden _________ with _________ ________.  Then they _____________ it down.  The wall was ____________ built inches at a time.

In 2006 B.C., emperor Wu-Di of the Han dynasty has ___________ fix the Qin wall.  They ____________ 300 miles ____ it across the Gobi Desert.  The soil in the __________ was dry and ______________.  Workers laid _________ and ___________ at the _____________ of a wooden frame.  The ___________ the ___________ with water and tiny _______________.  The _____________ dried into a _______________ building ______________.

The Han added _____________ _____________ to see far and wide.  They sent up long, ___________, smoke ________________ to ___________________ when they were under ______________.  One long, thin column __________ fewer than 500 ___________ coming.  Two columns meant ______________ _________ 3,000.

Much later, in 1368, an emperor in the Ming _____________ used a new ________________ to build onto the wall.  The wall became longer and ____________.  The new parts were made of ________ wrapped in _________ __________.  The bricks were ______ ____________ ______ _____________ used today.

The Great Wall of China is the _______________ ______________ ever built.  The main wall _______________ for 2,150 miles.  Other pieces _______ ______ _____ 1,780 more miles.  Six Great Walls laid in a __________ would ___________ around the Earth!

10. A Swim for All Women

Today, women can ___________.  They can _____________ their _________.  But back in the early 1900s, women ______________ for _________ ____________.  They wanted to be able to do many things men __________ _________ ____ ____.

Gertrude Ederle, an American ________________, made up her mind to do one of those things.  Gertrude had been an Olympic ______________.  Her team ________ the gold medal in 1924.  Then, in 1926, at age 19, she _____________ to become the first woman to swim _________ the English _____________.

The English Channel ______________ the North Sea with the Atlantic ____________.  At its ______________, it is 21 miles across.  It is very cold.  There are strong water ______________, wind, and fog.  The water is _________ _____ jellyfish and even ____________.

On August 6, Ederle left Cape Griz-Nez, on the ___________ of France, at 7:09 A.M.  She _____________ her body with layers of ____________ to protect herself _________ the water's ___________________.  The channel was so ___________ that steamship crossings had been _____________ ________.  But Ederle was determined to swim.  She was _____________ by ________________ waves.  She became ______________ and __________________.  But she climbed out of the water at Dover, England, at 9:40 P.M.  She had made the _________________ in 14 hours, 39 minutes--a world ____________!  She had _____________ the old record, held by a ___________, _______ seven _____________.

Ederle was a ______________.  New York City, her _________________, threw her a big _________________.  She was ____________________, not only as a fast swimmer, but as one who showed _________ ______________ women can be.  "People said women _____________ _________ the Channel, but I _______________ they could," she said.

11. Secrets of The Hoh

When you think of ______ ___________, you ____________ think of South America.  You probably didn't know there's a rain forest right here in the __________ ___________!  The Hoh is in the __________ of Washington.  It is one of the last _____________ rain forests on Earth.  _______________ rain forests always have ____________ _______________.

The Hoh gets more than 140 _____________ of _________ every year.  That's about 12 feet!  Some of the world's _______________ trees ___________ in this _________________.  They can be 3,000 feet tall.  That is about as __________ as a ______________ with 30 ________________.

The Hoh Rain Forest is ________________.  The forest floor ___________ ________________ in 10,000 years.  It is so _____________ with plants that _________ can't reach the _________.  Instead, they grow on "__________ ________."  These are trees that have _______________ over in the ____________.

Most of the trees in the Hoh are _________________.  _______________ tree cones have ____________ inside.  Squirrels and birds eat the seeds in these ___________.  If you ___________ quietly, you might also see black bears, beavers, coyotes, cougars, flying ________________, or bats.  _________________ birds such as the spotted __________ live there, too.

The Hoh Rain Forest is an important place.  Like other rain forests, it is ________ with ________ and ___________ life.  The ________________ of a rain forest is ________________.  Even small changes can __________ it.  Many of the world's rain forests _________ __________ ______________.  People have cut down trees and ____________ plants.  _______________, the Hoh is a part of a _______________ park.  Everything inside a national park lives _____ ____________.  The Hoh will live as ________ as we _____________ it!

12. May Chinn: A Lifetime of Firsts

May Chinn believed she would be a _____________ when she grew up, but a teacher _____________ her to think about _____________ instead.  This ___________ led to a ______________ in medicine.  May Chinn became one of the first African American ____________ in New York City.

Chinn _______ _________ in 1896.  Her father had _____________ __________ when he was 11.  Her mother was a Native American from the Chickahominy tribe.  Chinn's mother worked hard to __________ enough money to send her daughter to ___________.  After college, Chinn _____________ Bellevue Hospital Medical School.  She was the first African American ever ______ ___________ that school.  She began her work ______ a ______________ _________ at Harlem Hospital.  There she became the first woman _____ _________ along ambulances that _____________ to ____________ calls.

Because of _______________ __________ African Americans, Chinn had a _________ time _____________ work as a doctor in a hospital.  She opened her _________ ___________ to serve the people of Harlem.  She made ____________ ___________ and went _______________ people needed help.  Chinn began to study the _______________ of her older ________________.  Many of them had ______________.

Chinn studied cancer ________ she was 81 years old.  She became ___________ for her _______________ and is remembered today _____ a ______________ in medicine.  She believed in ___________ others whenever _____________.

"Become _______________ with the problems of your country, your state, your city, and especially your ___________________," she said.  "Help _______ those problems."

13. Animal Mummies

The ancient Egyptians believed in a ___________ after ___________, called afterlife.  They thought the __________ needed a body to live in and they prepared the body to _________ ____________.  They ________________ dead bodies as ________________ and ____________ them in the ground.  The ancient Egyptians believed the souls needed many things to enjoy the ______________.  They _________ jewelry and food with a ____________.  Sometimes they even buried _____________ mummies!

Some animal mummies, such as cats, were special pets.  They _______ _________ so their ______________ were not ____________.  Others were ______________ animals.  They were believed to belong to a ________ or a goddess.

Making a mummy ________ a lot of __________.  First the _____________ was _______________.  Then the skull was stuffed with a thin linen __________.  _____________ such as the liver, the ___________, and the stomach were also ____________ ________ of the body.  Only the _____________ was _________ inside.  The body was _____________ with salt water and left to dry.  Then it _______ ___________ with salt, more linen, and sometimes ____________.  The body was then ___________ up and ___________ in linen.  Finally, it was buried.

The hot, dry _________ was the perfect place for mummies.  Many ________ ___________ thousands of years.  A team of scientists in Egypt __________ ______________ eight rat mummies from 300 B.C.  At the Cairo Museum, scientists _____________ mummies of crocodiles, fish, snakes, cats, dogs, and birds.  By ______________ these ____________, scientist hope to fine more ___________ about _________ in Ancient Egypt.