How Sam grew

Sam Jordan liked basketball. Every afternoon he went to the basketball court. Sometimes Sam played with his friend, Janet. Sometimes he played alone.

Sam wanted to play for the school basketball team but the basketball coach said, 'You should not play basketball. You're too small. Basketball players must be tall.' Sam was very sad.

'I want to be the best basketball player in the world,' he told Janet. 'But basketball players must be tall. I'm too short.'

'Don't worry, you'll grow!' said Janet.

'But I want to be tall now,' said Sam.

The next afternoon a teacher came to the basketball court when Sam and Janet were playing basketball.

'Good afternoon, Mr Becker,' said Sam and Janet.

'Good afternoon. Do you want some basketball magazines?' asked Mr Becker.

'Yes, but whose magazines are they?' asked Sam.

'They were Mr Smile's magazines,' said Mr Becker.

'Mr Smile was a science teacher at this school but he died ten years ago.'

Mr Becker took Sam and Janet to a room. It was fun of dust. He showed Sam and Janet Mr Smile's cupboard. There were some old boxes inside. There were science books and magazines in one of the boxes. 'You can have everything. Nobody wants them.' said Mr Becker.

Sam and Janet looked at the basketball magazines and the science books. They were very old.

Sam saw some bottles under the magazines and books. He looked at one of the bottles. The label said: 'GROWING MEDICINE- DO NOT DRINK.'

'I want to grow tall. I'll drink this medicine!' thought Sam.

He picked up the bottle and said, 'I'm going to drink this medicine.'Janet pointed to the label and said, 'You mustn't drink it, Sam.'

But Sam did not listen to Janet. He put the bottle back into the box and took the box home. That night Sam drank some of the growing medicine. The next morning he was taller! 'Good morning, Mum,' said Sam. Mrs Jordan dropped her cup. 'Sam what has happened?' she asked. Sam smiled and said, 'Nothing.' 'You've grown. Now you're as tall as me,' said Mrs Jordan.

Sam went to school. The other children were very surprised. They said, 'Yesterday Sam was small. Today he's the tallest boy in his class.'

After school Sam went to play basketball. Janet came to the basketball court.

'Did you drink the medicine?' Janet asked.

'Yes, I did,' said Sam. 'Look, I've grown! And now I'm going to be a basketball star!'

That night Sam drank some more of the growing medicine. The next morning he could not move his legs. He called his mother. Mrs Jordan came into Sam's bedroom. She looked at Sam and screamed. 'Sam, what has happened? Why are you so tall? You're longer then your bed!'

Now Sam was taller then his mother. He was as tall as his father! That afternoon the basketball coach said to Sam, 'Today we're going to play against Sunshine Primary school. We need a tall player. Now you're the tallest boy in the school. You can play for the school team.' 'Hooray!' said Sam.

So Sam played basketball with the other players in the team after school. Soon it was the basketball match. The two teams were on the basketball court. Sam was the tallest player! Sam played very well. He scored many points. His team won the match and everybody cheered!

After the match Sam said to Janet, 'Now I'm the tallest boy in the school and I'm the best basketball player.' That evening Sam threw the bottle of growing medicine away. 'I don't need it anymore,' he thought.

The next morning Sam saw himself in the mirror. 'Oh, no!' he screamed. 'I didn't drink the medicine last night, but this morning I'm taller! I don't want to grow any more.

Sam went to school. Now Sam was taller than all the teachers. That afternoon there was another basketball match. Sam went to the basketball court. But the coach said, 'You can't play for the school team, Sam. You're too tall.' Sam sat down. He looked around. All the boys and girls were laughing at him. Sam wanted to cry. Janet came and sat beside Sam. 'Don't be sad,' she said.

'I can't play basketball.' said Sam. 'I'm too tall. Everyone is laughing at me!'

'Did you drink the growing medicine yesterday?' asked Janet.

'No, I didn't. I threw it away,' said Sam. 'What can I do? I want to stop growing.'

Sam grew taller every day. He could not go to school. One day a doctor came to see him but the doctor said to Mrs Jordan, 'I'm sorry! I can't help him.' Sam's flat was on the third floor of a tall building. A few days later Sam was too tall to go through the door of the building. He had to stand outside the building. His mother handed him his food out of the kitchen window. At night Sam slept in the garden.

Many people came to see Sam. Newspaper reporters, radio reporters and television reporters all came. They pointed microphones and cameras at Sam. 'What is it like up here. Sam?' they asked.

One day Janet came to see Sam's mother. Mrs Jordan was very worried. 'Janet, why is Sam growing so fast?' she asked. Janet told Mrs Jordan about Mr Smile, the box and the growing medicine. 'Sam wanted to be tall' said Janet. 'He wanted to be a basketball star so he drank some of the growing medicine.' 'We must help him. Let's find Mr Smile's box!' said Mrs Jordan.

They went to Sam's bedroom and found the box under Sam's bed. There were some magazines inside the box. Mrs Jordan found some bottles under the magazines. The label on one of the bottles said: 'DRINK THIS MEDICINE TO GET SMALLER.'

Mrs Jordan picked up the bottle and said 'Sam must drink this medicine.'

'But How can we give it to him?' Janet asked. 'He is now taller than the building.'

Outside the building there were fire-engines, firemen and firewomen. Janet and Mrs Jordan went outside to talk to one of the firemen. Mrs Jordan asked him. 'Can I please borrow your megaphone?' The fireman have her the megaphone. Mrs Jordan and Janet ran upstairs to the roof of the building. The fireman followed them. Mrs Jordan used the megaphone to talk to Sam. 'Can you put your hand down, Sam?' asked Mrs Jordan 'We want to give you this bottle of medicine.' Sam put his hand down but he could not reach the bottle of medicine. He was too tall!

'I'll throw this bottle of medicine up to you, but you must catch it. We have only one bottle,' said the fireman. 'Drink the medicine and you'll become smaller,' said Janet. The fireman threw the bottle of medicine into the air. Sam caught it in his right hand. Mrs Jordan, Janet, the fireman and all the people in the street cheered.

Quickly, Sam opened the bottle and drank the medicine. Two minutes later, Sam began to get smaller. Soon his head was below the roof of the building. After two hours, he was small again. 'Why did you drink the growing medicine, Sam?' Mrs Jordan asked.

'I wanted to be a basketball star,' said Sam. 'Basketball stars must be tall.'

'Perhaps, you should play football!' said Janet.

'You can be a goalkeeper.'

'A goalkeeper?' said Sam.

'Yes,' said Janet. 'You caught the bottle of medicine. You're very good catching things. You can catch footballs, too'

So Sam became the goalkeeper of the school football team. And he never wanted to be tall again.

liked basketball. basketball 不加限定词，强调打篮球。

basketball court. 篮球场

Do you want some basketball magazines? some 出现在一般疑问句，希望对方回答 yes

It was fun of dust. be full of 充满...

one of the boxes. one+复数 = 其中之一

GROWING MEDICINE- DO NOT DRINK

I want to grow tall. To+特殊系动词+表语=动词不定式短语

drank some of the growing medicine. some作宾语 后面of 是定语

you're as tall as me be as 形容词 as sb 跟某人一样...

drank some more of the growing medicine. more、of... 修饰不定代词some

play against 同……比赛

I want to stop growing. To+stop+动名词

was too tall to go through the door of the building. be too .. to .. 太.. 而不能...

You're very good catching things be good at +动名词 擅长做某事

Basketball

James Naismith was from Canada. He was a teacher in the United States. In 1891 he thought of a new game so his students could play a game in the winter when the ground was frozen.

In Dr Naismith's game there were two teams of five players. They played with a ball and two baskets. It became popular very quickly. Now we call his game basketball. Today people play basketball in many different countries.

Basketball players can throw and bounce the ball. They can also jump with the ball but they must not run with it. Players throw the ball into the other team's basket to score points. Each game is divided into two parts of twenty minutes.

The best basketball basketball players in the world are tall. They need to be tall to throw the ball over other players. Some of them are over two metres tall. The tallest basketball player in the world was Suleiman Ali Nashnush from Libya in Africa. He was 2.45 metres tall. Good basketball players must be fast. They must also have good balance. Someone with good balance does not fall over often. Michael Jordan is one of the most famous basketball players in the world. He plays for a team called the Chicago Bulls in the United States.

People call him 'Air' Jordan. This is because he jumps so high in the air. People say, 'Michael Jordan can fly!'

Each game is divided into two parts of twenty minutes. 每场比赛分为两个部分，每部分20分钟。

fall over 跌倒，摔倒；绊了一跤

Tall or Short

Basketball stars are usually tall. The stars of other sports are sometimes short. Some of the best football players are not very tall. Short people often have better balance than all people, so they do not fall over very often. In some sports the players must have good balance, for example, table tennis and running. You do not need long legs to run fast! Some of the fastest runners in the world are not very tall. Some people are tall and some people are short. There is no medicine to make people grow or make people smaller.

The tallest woman in the world is Sandy Allen. She is 2.31 metres tall and lives in the United States. The shortest person in the world is Gul Mohammed from India. He is only 57 centimetres tall. Today young people in many countries grow taller than their parents. This is because they eat better food today. Good foog can help children grow.

Medicines

Medicines cannot help us grow taller. They cannot always help us when we are sick, but everyone needs medicines sometimes. A long time ago people did not have good medicines. Many people died when they were young. Today medicines are very good. They can help people to live longer.

In 1928 Alexander Fleming made a medicine called penicillin. Penicillin has saved many people. Today medicines are good but they are expensive. Poor countries, like some countries in Africa, do not have enough of them, so many sick people die.

Nobody wants to be sick and to need medicines. There are some things we should do or should not do if we want good health. To have better health, we should eat lots of vegetables and fruit. We should not eat too much food. Also we should not eat food with too much sugar because sugar rots our teeth. We should also exercise regularly and go to bed early.

penicillin 青霉素

do not have enough of them, enough=代词作宾语，of them 后置定语

exercise regularly 定期锻炼

Fire-fighters

Firemen and firewomen are also called fire-fighters. They work in teams. One fire-fighter drives the fire-engine. The other fire-fighters use the hoses and ladders. When there is a fire in a tall building, fire-fighters use long ladders. The longest ladders are 50 metres high. Sometimes there is a cage at the top of a long ladder. Fire-fighters stand in the cage to rescue people. Fire-fighters are strong and very brave. They go into burning building to rescue people.

Sometimes a fire-fighter is hurt or killed. Sometimes there are fires in forests when the weather is dry. When there is a forest fire, many trees are burned. If the fire is big, a lot of fire-fighters are needed to put it out. Sometimes fire-fighters use aeroplanes or helicopters to drop water from above to put out forest fires.

What should you do when there is a fire in your home? You should tell your parents or an adult immediately. Get everyone out of the flat, house or building. Close the door. Never go back into the fire. Call for a fire-fighter. If you cannot get out, you should close the door and cover up all the cracks so smoke cannot come in. Open all the windows in the room and shout so people can hear you. If you cannot open the windows, smash them with a chair!

are needed to put it out. 被动语态， to put it out 主语补足语

from above 从上面， from可以跟副词 above

cracks n. [高分子]裂缝，裂纹；