1.Cocoa-nuts grow in the hot countries where it is summer-time all the year round，and where the bushes and climbing plants are always gay with flowers.
2.The cocoa-nut tree is tall and slender，and it has no branches.Its long feathery at the very top in one great spreading leaves grow bunch.
3.The nuts grow in clusters among the leaves，and hang from the tree by tough little stems.They have thick，coarse husks ，which are used to make scrubbing-brushes and door-mats.
4.The natives do not eat the ripe nut.Barefooted，they climb the round trunk and cut off a bunch of nuts before they are quite ripe.They cut these open，and eat the soft meat.
5.When the nuts are ripe and the meat inside them is hard，they are ready to be gathered andshippedto other countries.
6.The men gather them in great baskets.The thick husks are stripped off，and the nuts are ready to be carried in ships many hundreds of miles away from their warm，sunny home.
7.Cocoa-nut trees are almost as hard to climbas our telegraph poles，so the men sometimes use a rope passing round the tree and round their body，as you see in the picture.But the best climbers are the monkeys，who run up the trees very fast.
8.One warm day a man was walking through a forest.He was very thirsty，and he thought how nice the milk of a cocoa-nut would taste.But the nuts hung so high up that he could not get at them.
9.He saw some monkeys in the trees，and he wished he could climb the trees as they did.They seemed to be laughing and making faces at him，so he got angry and began to throw sticks at them.
10.The monkeys tore off cocoa-nuts and threw them at the man.In this way he got as many nuts as he wished；but he had to take great care that the monkeys did not hit him.
GRAMMAR EXERCISE
1.Name the nouns in sections 1to 4.
2.Point out the subject and the predicate in the first sentence of section 4.
A RUN AWAY RIDE
1.One bright winter morning Minnie went for a railway journey all by herself.Not a word had she said about it at home，and why she did it nobody knows.
2.Perhaps it was not such a strange thing to do after all.There was the train standing at theplatform；the door of a first-class carriage was open，and the cushions looked very soft and cosy.Can you wonder that Minnie jumped in and curled herself up on the seat？
3.When the man came round for tickets，he did not notice Minnie.If he had asked her for her ticket it would have been awkward，for she had neither ticket nor money.
4.Then the train started，and Minnie sat up and looked out at the window.She began toenjoyher ride very much，for she was not a bit afraid of being all alone.
5.When the train stopped at the next station，a lady got in，and sat down beside Minnie，and gave her a nice sweet cake，which she liked very much.The lady talked to her，and asked her where she was going，but Minnie could not tell.
6.Rumble，r umble went the train，and Minnie began to feel sleepy；rumble，rumble a little longer，and Minnie fell fast asleep.When the train stopped again，she was wakened by a gentleman who jumped into the carriage，picked her up，and carried her into the station.
7.The gentleman was very kind to her，and patted her head.By-and-by a train going the other way rushed into the station.Minnie wasplaced in chargeof the guard，and he took care of her until she arrived at her home again.
8.How did the gentleman know where Minnie lived？Because her home was at the railway station where the train had started，and when she wasmissed the station-master sent a telegra.tothe station where the train was going.
9.Do you think that Minnie was a naughty little girl，and that she was scolded and sentto bed？She was not a little girl at all-only a pretty gray pussy.But this is a true story.
GRAMMAR EXERCISE
1.Give the first four verbs with nouns connected.
2.Give plural of railway ，journey ，carriage ，gentleman ，station，pussy.
ABOUT FIRES
1.It was a cold，wet day.Fred was tired of reading，and tired of looking out of the window，so he began poking the fire for a change.
“What a lot of coal all the fires in the world must burn！”he said to his mother as he laid down the poker.
2.“Yes，indeed，”she answered.“But there are a great many kinds of fires in the world besides our coal fires.Even in our own country it is not many hundreds of years since we began to burn coal.
3.”Long ago，when the land was covered with forest，the people made their fires of wood；andwood is perhaps the most common fuelover the world.
4.“Peat is used in parts of Ireland and Scotland，as well as in some other countries.Peat is a blackkind of turf，which is formed of decayedmoss and other plants.It burns almost like coal when it is dried.
5.”The people in Iceland keep all the bones of the fish they eat，and these fish bones are used as fuel.Then you have heard of the little Eskimos who live in the frozen North，and have no fires at all.
6.“They use a kind of lamp filled with oil made from the fat of the whale or the seal. Burning wicks float about on the oil，and this keeps their little snow hut quite warm.They do not need a fire for cooking，for they eat their food raw.
7.”In some parts of France and other lands near the sea-shore，a coarse yellow and brown sea-weed is gathered and dried for fuel.It has not a nice smell when burning.
8.“In many countries the people use fire-places very unlike ours.The French have a kindof stovewhich can be wheeled about from room to room，while full of burning coke.Coke is made from coal，and gives off no smoke.
9.”The Russians use a huge china stove，with a small fire inside.This stove has a flat top like a table，and very often the people use this as their bed.
10.“In hot countries no fires are needed for warmth，and you will see no chimneys in pictures of the natives‘houses.They make their fires for cooking in the open air.
11.”They dig a hole in the ground for an oven.Some large stones are heated in the fire，and put into this hole.The food is then placed on these hot stones and covered up with leaves and earth until it is ready.“GRAMMAR EXERCISE1.Write the nouns in sections 1to 4.
2.Give common nouns in place of Fred，Ireland，French.