The Reading Lab

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Animals make great friends. They’re all super

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cool, and each is special in its own way.
Different animals look and sound different.
        

My Animal Friends
They act, eat, and move differently, too. Can

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you act like an animal? Let’s move along with
these special friends!

Level 1 2 3

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CEFR Pre A1 Pre A1 A1 A1

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Cambridge
Starters Starters Movers Movers
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TOEFL Step 1 Step 1 Step 1, 2 Step 1, 2

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Can you find the odd one out? Look and point.

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Welcome inside The Reading Lab, a series of picture books designed to
help learners not only strengthen their reading skills, but also expand their
content-area knowledge. With enjoyable stories and related STEAM fun facts,
learners are encouraged to explore science, technology, engineering, arts, and
mathematics, all in interesting and thought-provoking real-world contexts.
An additional activity section serves to review and expand learners’

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understanding of the theme. Here, learners can practice their newly acquired
language skills through a range of diverse and engaging listening, writing, reading,
speaking, and drawing exercises. Last but not least, each Mission section at the end

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features fun crafts and experiments which allow readers to creatively apply what
they have learned from each story. All in all, it’s a jam-packed lab full of language,
learning, and laughter!

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Animals are awesome!
Come! I’ll show you all
my favorite ones.
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 ALL
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3 Look at me. I can jump like a frog.

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How many fish

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are there?

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 4 Look at me. I can run like a cheetah.

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E A K
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Act like the bird in

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the picture. What
do you want to say
to the zebra?
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 5 Look at me. I can walk like a duck.

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ACT
Choose a duck in the

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picture and act like
it. Can she/he guess
which duck you are?
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 6 Look at me.
I can dance like a bear.

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ACT
Use anything you can

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find in the classroom
to dress like the
dancing bear!

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 Art Science

Fast but Friendly!

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7

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In ancient Egypt, for example, they
When we think of cheetahs, we think were often trained for hunting, and

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of wild animals. These big cats are, even kept as pets!
however, quite easy to train.

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 8 That horse is hungry.
Horses eat hay.

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Can you ride a

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horse? What do you
need to look like a
cowboy or cowgirl?

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 9 That squirrel is hungry.
Squirrels eat nuts.

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What may these
three squirrels be
saying or thinking?

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 10 That dolphin is hungry. Dolphins eat fish.

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Point to the dolphin
eating fish. Can you
point to the girl’s
diving goggles, too?

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 11 That crocodile is hungry.
Crocodiles eat everything!

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H INK
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Do crocodiles really
eat everything? What
animals do you think
they like to eat?
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 Math Science

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12 Born Hunters

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This stirs up mud and
Dolphins are smart hunters. In makes the fish

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shallow waters, they swim at jump out of the
speeds of over 30km/h around water, right into

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schools of fish. the dolphins’
mouths!

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 13 Take a look at this.
Parrots have two feet.

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Talk like a parrot and

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say: “Two legs, two
legs. I have two legs!”

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 14 Take a look at this.
Sheep have four feet.

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How many sheep

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have flowers in
their mouths?

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 15 Take a look at this. Centipedes have many feet.

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Would it be cool to have
more than two legs?
Why or why not?

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 16 Take a look at this.
Snakes have no feet.

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ACT

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How do snakes
move without feet?

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 Art Science

Dancing Snakes
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Snake charmers are performers who
control snakes. They play music on an

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instrument called a “pungi.”

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Actually, snakes have no ears and
can’t hear the music. Instead, they just
follow the movements of the pungi.

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 18 1. Listen and write the numbers. 2. What can these animals do? With a friend, write the
answers.

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A B C

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D E F G

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I can swim. I can fly. I can climb.

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I can jump. I can walk. I can run.
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19 3. Read and check the right answers in the table below. 6. A food chain shows what each animal eats. Circle
Then, listen and check your answers. and draw your answers to complete each food chain.

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Animal Eats Meat Four Legs Eats Plants Two Legs Example 1 2
Horses 4 4

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Squirrels
Crocodiles
Ducks
Sheep

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Frogs grasses bees nuts frogs worms

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4. Add three more animals of your own at the bottom

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of the table. Check the right answers and compare
with a friend.
zebras squirrels sheep horses ducks

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5. Fill in the correct plurals below.

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1. a crocodile → two crocodiles
2. one foot → four
3. a sheep → three

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4. one horse → many cheetahs snakes centipedes me parrots
5. one snake → five
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20 7. L ook at the pictures and complete the sentences. 8. Look at the picture, read, and check Yes or No.
Then, listen, point, and check your answers.

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1. Two _____ are walking. 2. Three horses are _____.

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3. Frogs can _____ very 4. A snake has no feet, it
far. can’t _____.

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1. There are six animals in the picture. □Yes □No

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2. The brown bear is dancing. □Yes □No
3. The ducks are running after the cheetah. □Yes □No
4. The cheetah is swimming. □Yes □No

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5. A brown _____ is 6. Here are four _____ on 5. There are two frogs in the river. □Yes □No
swimming in the river. the beach! 6. One of the frogs is jumping. □Yes □No
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 3. Cut off six pieces of
Friendly wool for each bowl.
Each piece should be

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Jellyfish around 50 cm long.

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three paper bowls
4. Wrap them tightly 5. Unwrap the wool and
around a chopstick to tie the wool together
You will need:

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make them curlier. at the top.

brightly colored wool scissors

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neon paint a paintbrush a chopstick 6. Pull the wool through 7. Now, hang up your
the holes in the bowls, jellyfish and watch

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2. When the paint is dry, so they hang down like them glow!
1. Paint each bowl with a make a hole in the colorful tentacles.
different neon color. center of each bowl.

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My Animal Friends
by John D. Smith
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Simple STEAM Facts & Mission by Andre Louw
Publisher: Paul Chen
Publishing Manager: Chris Yang
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Developmental Editor: Mika Peng
Executive Editor: Enya Weng
Editors: Ester Wu, Julie Chou, Lauren Tang, Claire Liu
Illustrator: Alex Patrick
Art Editor: Jill Wu
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pp. 10-11:War trophies Deir el Bahari. Credit: Wellcome Collection.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Photo Credit: [Link]
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Copyright © 2021 Caves Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
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without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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