English

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The Elementary Reading Handbook

The texts and questions in this book have been adapted from information found at the California Distance Learning Project’s excellent website.

Adapted and edited by Adam Simpson (August, 2003).

Cover photograph by Shane Ellis Coates.

My thanks to all Sezen Kalyoncuoğlu.

Grammar Information

The texts in this book have been designed to beused by Alpha students. Consequently, the grammatical structures have been simplified to aid understanding.

A checklist is given at the start of each text so that the student will know what to expect. Please note taht there are occasional sentences that use grammatical structures that elementary students will be unfamiliar with.

Vocabulary Information

The texts are grouped so that textswith similar themes can give the chance for vocabulary to be recycled. Some common academic words and phrases are introduced and repeatedly used.

There are spider diagrams at the start of each section, showing the common vocabulary that runs through each of the texts, along with exercises to introduce unfamiliar vocabulary, and to assess the stıdents’ understanding of how the academic words andphrases are used.

Index of Contents

Section One: Sport

1. The 49ers Win a Stadium Vote 4
2. Sprewell Returns to the NBA 9

Section Two: Crime

3. Police Arrest Parents 14
4. Hate Crimes 19
5. Asian Gangs 24

Section Three: The Environment

6. Alaskan Oil Spill 29
7. Biosphere: Self Sustaining Environment 34
8. TheGrand Canyon is Crowded 39

Section Four: Society’s Problems

9. Teen Suicide 43
10. Boy Threatened at School 47
11. Assisted Suicide : The Right to Die 52
12. Gun Control 57

Section Five: Protecting Animals

13. Buffalo War 62
14. Mass Murder of Wild Horses 67

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These are words we use to talk about sport. You will see thesewords in Section One.

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1: The 49ers Win a Stadium Vote

✓ What is your favorite sports team? Where does the team play its games?

✓ In Turkey can football teams move from one city to another city?

A: Vocabulary

Write the letter of the definition that matches the word.

1. billboard A. a choice you make in an election.

2. share B. this means that you own partof a team or a club..

3. business C. a lot of shops together in one large building.

4. mall D. a paper that a business sells. Because of this, the buyer owns part of the business.

5. mayor E. a trade, work, shop or factory.

6. bonds F. money you pay to a government to pay for roads, education, health, etc.

7. tax G. the leader of a town, city, or villagegovernment.

8. vote H. a large sign with adverts on it.

The 49ers Win a Stadium Vote

People in San Francisco voted to build a new stadium for their football team. There will be a shopping mall built with the stadium. They will sell shares to pay for it. They won by just a few hundred votes.

The 49'ers don’t like the stadium they have now. They don’t have big crowds for their games. They saidthey want to leave San Francisco. People didn’t want them to leave because the 49ers are a successful team. They won many championships in the 1980s and 1990s. Football teams have already left other cities.

Some people don’t want the new stadium and mall. They think the taxpayers will lose money and the rich team owners will have more money. Therefore, a stadium and mall together is not a goodidea.

Some people want the new stadium and mall. They say there will be many new businesses and jobs. The city will have new taxes to pay for the bonds. As a result, the 49ers will stay in San Francisco.

The local government spent a lot of money to make people vote for the bonds. The mayor said to vote for it. They had adverts on TV and radio. They had billboards to tell people to vote....