Lesson 1 Micro the Metal Dog (1)

Susan Gates

1、On Daniel’s birthday, he woke up and found a big box by his bed. It looked like a kennel??. “A dog!” cried Daniel. He’d wanted a dog for ages. He leapt out of bed and opened the kennel door. There was Micro. He was shiny and silver, with yellow flashing eyes.

2、“That isn’t a real dog,” said Daniel. “I know,” said Mum. “But real dogs aren’t allowed in our flats. Just look what Micro can do.”

3、Mum turned to Micro. “Walk,” she said. Micro stumped across the carpet on stiff, jerky legs. “Bark,” said Mum. Micro opened his metal mouth. Was he barking? It was hard to tell. It was such a soft little sound. “Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip.”

4、“Wag your tail,” said Mum. Micro’s metal tail made a whirring sound as it went one way, then the other. “But I wanted a real dog,” said Daniel. He was deeply disappointed.

5、“Micro’s better than a real dog,” said Mum. “He’s not noisy or messy. He always does what he’s told. Go on. Tell him to do something.”

6、“Go back in your kennel, Micro,” said Daniel. Micro turned round and clunked back into his box. “What a good dog!” said Mum to Micro. “I think you’re the perfect pet.”

7、But Daniel didn’t seem to think so. He said, “Thanks, Mum.” Then he ripped open the rest of his presents.

8、All day and all night, Micro waited. But Daniel played with his other presents. He didn’t take Micro out once. Slowly, inside his dark box, Micro’s eyes lost their brightness.

9、Next morning, as Daniel left for school, Mum called after him, “You’re late, Daniel. WALK FAST!” Alone in his dark box, Micro heard “WALK FAST”. His robot brain started whirring. His little yellow eyes lit up as bright as ever. He came trundling out of his kennel.

10、He raced along on his stumpy legs, across the carpet. He went out through the open glass doors and he only stopped when his red nose hit the balcony. “CLANG!”

11、Daniel’s mum didn’t see him. She was too busy getting ready for work.

12、Micro looked down from the seventh floor. He could see the park, with green trees and grass. He saw people and furry things with four legs running about. Suddenly,Micro’s brain started thinking for itself. “Those are real dogs,” thought Micro.

13、He saw the real dogs running after sticks and balls. “Those real dogs are playing,”

thought Micro. They weren’t shut up and left alone by their owners in dark boxes.

14、His bright eyes glowed like fire. His robot brain whirred again. With every thought, it got more and more clever. Now it was making plans. “I will go down there,”decided Micro, “and I’ll watch the real dogs. I will learn how to be like them. Then Daniel will play with me.” But how could he get to the park? He was high up and the park was a long way down.

15、Micro went back and hid behind the sofa. Then he saw his chance. Daniel’s mum went to work and Micro sneaked out through the door after her. He saw her press a button in the wall. Then she vanished through some sliding doors. His robot eyes flashed. “That is the way down,” he decided.

16、He got up on his back legs. With his metal nose, he pressed the same button.DING! The lift came. Micro walked in. He rode down to the ground floor. The people in the lift with him stared. They looked puzzled, but no one said anything.

17、In the park, Micro peeked out from behind a tree. He saw the dog owners shout,“Come here!” The real dogs took no notice. They ran off. He saw the dog owners shout,“Be quiet!” But the real dogs barked even louder, “RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!”

18、The dogs didn’t do what they were told to do. But their owners still seemed to love them. They patted their heads and scratched them behind the ears.

19、Micro thought, “If I do what real dogs do, Daniel might scratch behind my ears.”Micro knew he still had a lot to learn. So he followed a dog called Scruffy.

20、Scruffy ran into his house like a mad thing, chasing his own tail. Micro stood on his back legs and peeked through an open window. Scruffy chewed the carpet. He drank from the toilet bowl. Then a little girl came in and put her arms round Scruffy’s neck and hugged him.

21、“You’re the best dog in the world,” she said.

22、“I want to be the best dog in the world,” thought Micro, and now he knew how to do it.

(781 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Give the reason] Why can’t Daniel get a real dog?

A. Because his mother can’t afford a real dog.

B. Because people are not allowed to keep real dogs in their flats.

C. Because real dogs are hard to feed.

2. [Check the details] What did Micro see from the balcony of the flat?

A. Micro saw some green trees and grass.

B. Micro saw people and real dogs running about.

C. Both A and B.

3. [Draw a conclusion] What did Micro decide to do to make its owner, Daniel, like it?

A. It decided to be cleverer.

B. It decided to play with the real dogs.

C. It decided to learn how to act like a real dog.

Ⅱ. Read for words.

1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.

(1) “He’s not noisy or messy. He always does what he’s told. (Para. 5, Line 1)

A. clean B. dirty C. lovely

(2) He raced along on his stumpy legs, across the carpet. (Para. 10, Line 1)

A. ran quickly B. played a game C. took part in a competition

(3) His bright eyes glowed like fire. (Para. 14, Line 1)

A. 发热 B. 燃烧 C. 闪闪发光

2. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined expressions.

(1) Daniel’s mum went to work and Micro sneaked out through the door after her. (Para. 15, Line 2)

A. went out without being noticed ?

B. ran out?freely

C. rushed out happily

(2) In the park, Micro peeked out from behind a tree. (Para. 17, Line 1)

A. 向外看 B. 仔细看 C.偷窥

(3) He saw the dog owners shout, “Come here!” The real dogs took no notice. (Para. 17, Line 2)

A. paid no attention B. didn’t look C. didn’t care

Ⅲ. Writing practice.

1. When did Daniel get the robot dog?

2. Did Daniel like Micro, the robot dog?

3. What did Micro do the next morning?

4. How did Micro get to the park?

5. What did it learn from the real dog?

6. What did it decide to do after watching the little girl hug a real dog?