The story is about two polar bears and a penguin. Everything in their life was fine until a situation decided to "heat up". I hope you all enjoy!
Be Cool!
Derek
READING COMPREHENSION:
Polar Opposites
Way up in the North Pole, there were two polar bears: Penny and Poppy. Both of these bears are playful, fun, and enjoy the cold weather. Many of the days, you can find these two galloping across the open sheets of ice coated upon the North Atlantic Ocean. Penny and Poppy were living the good life.
One day though, when the two bears woke up from their long naps, Penny dashed across the ice only to realize that the ice was about to crack. “Penny! Wait! Come Back!” Poppy yelled at her. By then, it was too late. Penny fell off the ice and had trouble getting out of the freezing cold water. Poppy raced over to Penny but was cautious because he did not want to fall into the cold water as well. Penny braced Poppy with her one good paw and Poppy pulled as hard as he could to get Penny out of the water. “Thank you so much Poppy.” Penny said to him I relief.
The two of them looked around them and saw all of the ice cracking into pieces and breaking off. “What’s going on, Poppy?” “I don’t know, Penny.”
Just as the two were watching the ice melt, their trusted friend named Perksy the penguin wobbled up to them. “Well, hello friends!” “Hi Perksy.” The two polar bears said with a frown upon their face. “Well why do you two look so sad? Is there something wrong?” said Perksy with a perplexed look. “Yeah, there is! The ice is cracking and we do not know why.” “Would you like for me to research this problem?” The two bears looked at each other and immediately said, “Yes!” because they both knew that research was a good thing to do.
Perksy had the best computer in all of the North Pole and somehow laced himself to get to the internet. “I am going to a search place called Google.” He then typed in some keywords such as “poles, glaciers, melting” and up came a term called global warming. “Global Warming? What is that?” Penny said to the little penguin. “Well, according to wikipedia.org, global warming is the rise of the earth’s temperature and oceans.” “What!? A rise in temperatures? But it is too hot already?” Poppy replies, “Well the only thing that is causing the global warming is something called the greenhouse effect.” “Well what is that!?” Penny said in concern. “Well, the greenhouse effect is the effect of trapping harmful gasses in the world’s protective layer and causing the earth to heat up.” “Heat up!? No, this can not be happening.” “Well I am afraid it is.” The nerdy penguin says, “And according to this website, the United States of America is the main leaders for releasing these harmful gasses.”
Poppy looked at Penny with a serious face, “Penny, we have to do something about this, we can not keep living like this or else we won’t have any land to live on!” Penny looked on and nodded, “You are absolutely right!” “Perksy, where does the leader of the United States live?” Perksy went back to quickly typing on his computer and up came the president’s face. Perksy looked on and said, “The president of the United States is George W. Bush. He lives in Washington D.C. in a big white house…guys?” Perksy quickly turned around and saw that neither Poppy nor Penny were around.
Penny and Poppy were straight off to the United States Capitol to see the president face to face. Within a week, the two polar bears survived the long swimming to America. The two big sweating polar bears were exhausted as they marched up to the gates of the white house. The guards at the gate were terrified with the sight of Poppy and Penny. “Excuse me, but is this the White House where the president lives?” One guard fainted after hearing what Poppy had said. The other quickly opened the gate and ran for his life. “Thank you!” Penny said as the guard took off across the road.
When the two entered the house, they saw a couple little kids and went up to them and asked, “Do you know where the president is?” Many of the kids started to run and scream after seeing Poppy’s huge teeth, but one brave child tugged on Penny’s fur and said, “The president is in that room, polar bear.” “Well thank you little human.” Penny says. The two barged into the office of the president. The president dropped all the files in his hands and ran underneath his desk and yelled, “Please! Don’t hurt me! Take whatever you want, just please don’t eat me!” Penny and Poppy just looked at each other. “But Mr. President, we don’t want to eat you, we just want to talk.” The president peaked his head out from underneath his desk, but was still frightened, “I didn’t think that panda bears could talk.”
Poppy than rushed up to his desk and gritted his teeth, “First of all, sir, we are not panda bears. We are polar bears. My name is Poppy and this is Penny.” “Hi, Penny.” the president says as he cautiously waves at the other polar bear. “And secondly!” Poppy says after Bush coddles back under his desk, “we heard you were a little bit slow, so I can understand if you didn’t think we could talk.” Poppy says as both have a seat near the president’s desk. The president slowly gets up from under his desk, “How can I help the two of you?” “Well Mr. President.” Penny says, “We have a problem up in the north pole. All of the ice is melting up there and we don’t have anywhere to walk. We can’t swim all the time.” The president looks at Penny and asks, “Well, what will happen if I do not do anything at all?” Poppy looks in disgust and yells, “Then we all die! Don’t you understand that?” “Ok, ok! Just please don’t hurt me. What would you like me to do?” “You’re the president!” says Penny, “you’re supposed to know what you are doing!” President then goes up to his window, “I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask you two to leave.” Poppy and Penny then look down in cheerlessness. Penny leaves slowly but surely, but Poppy turns to the president just before he leaves, calmly he says, “Mr. President, all we are asking is for you to help us with our situation. Not only will you save us, but you will save the world. Don’t you want to be a president known for saving the world?” Poppy shuts the door quietly as the president, touched by his words, stares out the window onto the surrounding environment.
A couple weeks later, the two polar bears are back at the North Pole, as soon as they get back to their little patch of ice, Perksy runs up shouting, “Hooray! You guys did it! Hallelujah!” Penny looks at Poppy in confusion, “What do you mean we did it?” Perksy motions both the bears over to his computer. “Look at this article!” “We can’t read, Perksy.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot.” Perksy clears his voice, “After much speculation in recent debates, President George W. Bush comes to Japan to announce the ratifying of the Kyoto protocol.” “Kyoto protocol? What’s that?” Penny says “it’s a signed agreement among different countries to reduce carbon emissions...” Poppy interrupts “In English please, Perksy!” “It’s an agreement among the world to help stop global warming!” Perksy says in excitement. “Penny smiles and looks at Poppy, “Did we do it?” Poppy slowly begins to grin, “Yes! We did it, Penny! We did it!” The two jumped around for hours playing in the water which would soon be turned back in ice.
QUESTIONS:
What are the three characters names and what kind of animals are they?
Where do they live?
What is happening to the North Pole in the beginning of the story?
What is global warming?
What country is the main producer of harmful gasses?
Who is the president of the United States?
What is the Kyoto protocol?
What are some ways you can help the environment?
Polar Opposites
Way up in the North Pole, there were two polar bears: Penny and Poppy. Both of these bears are playful, fun, and enjoy the cold weather. Many of the days, you can find these two galloping across the open sheets of ice coated upon the North Atlantic Ocean. Penny and Poppy were living the good life.
One day though, when the two bears woke up from their long naps, Penny dashed across the ice only to realize that the ice was about to crack. “Penny! Wait! Come Back!” Poppy yelled at her. By then, it was too late. Penny fell off the ice and had trouble getting out of the freezing cold water. Poppy raced over to Penny but was cautious because he did not want to fall into the cold water as well. Penny braced Poppy with her one good paw and Poppy pulled as hard as he could to get Penny out of the water. “Thank you so much Poppy.” Penny said to him I relief.
The two of them looked around them and saw all of the ice cracking into pieces and breaking off. “What’s going on, Poppy?” “I don’t know, Penny.”
Just as the two were watching the ice melt, their trusted friend named Perksy the penguin wobbled up to them. “Well, hello friends!” “Hi Perksy.” The two polar bears said with a frown upon their face. “Well why do you two look so sad? Is there something wrong?” said Perksy with a perplexed look. “Yeah, there is! The ice is cracking and we do not know why.” “Would you like for me to research this problem?” The two bears looked at each other and immediately said, “Yes!” because they both knew that research was a good thing to do.
Perksy had the best computer in all of the North Pole and somehow laced himself to get to the internet. “I am going to a search place called Google.” He then typed in some keywords such as “poles, glaciers, melting” and up came a term called global warming. “Global Warming? What is that?” Penny said to the little penguin. “Well, according to wikipedia.org, global warming is the rise of the earth’s temperature and oceans.” “What!? A rise in temperatures? But it is too hot already?” Poppy replies, “Well the only thing that is causing the global warming is something called the greenhouse effect.” “Well what is that!?” Penny said in concern. “Well, the greenhouse effect is the effect of trapping harmful gasses in the world’s protective layer and causing the earth to heat up.” “Heat up!? No, this can not be happening.” “Well I am afraid it is.” The nerdy penguin says, “And according to this website, the United States of America is the main leaders for releasing these harmful gasses.”
Poppy looked at Penny with a serious face, “Penny, we have to do something about this, we can not keep living like this or else we won’t have any land to live on!” Penny looked on and nodded, “You are absolutely right!” “Perksy, where does the leader of the United States live?” Perksy went back to quickly typing on his computer and up came the president’s face. Perksy looked on and said, “The president of the United States is George W. Bush. He lives in Washington D.C. in a big white house…guys?” Perksy quickly turned around and saw that neither Poppy nor Penny were around.
Penny and Poppy were straight off to the United States Capitol to see the president face to face. Within a week, the two polar bears survived the long swimming to America. The two big sweating polar bears were exhausted as they marched up to the gates of the white house. The guards at the gate were terrified with the sight of Poppy and Penny. “Excuse me, but is this the White House where the president lives?” One guard fainted after hearing what Poppy had said. The other quickly opened the gate and ran for his life. “Thank you!” Penny said as the guard took off across the road.
When the two entered the house, they saw a couple little kids and went up to them and asked, “Do you know where the president is?” Many of the kids started to run and scream after seeing Poppy’s huge teeth, but one brave child tugged on Penny’s fur and said, “The president is in that room, polar bear.” “Well thank you little human.” Penny says. The two barged into the office of the president. The president dropped all the files in his hands and ran underneath his desk and yelled, “Please! Don’t hurt me! Take whatever you want, just please don’t eat me!” Penny and Poppy just looked at each other. “But Mr. President, we don’t want to eat you, we just want to talk.” The president peaked his head out from underneath his desk, but was still frightened, “I didn’t think that panda bears could talk.”
Poppy than rushed up to his desk and gritted his teeth, “First of all, sir, we are not panda bears. We are polar bears. My name is Poppy and this is Penny.” “Hi, Penny.” the president says as he cautiously waves at the other polar bear. “And secondly!” Poppy says after Bush coddles back under his desk, “we heard you were a little bit slow, so I can understand if you didn’t think we could talk.” Poppy says as both have a seat near the president’s desk. The president slowly gets up from under his desk, “How can I help the two of you?” “Well Mr. President.” Penny says, “We have a problem up in the north pole. All of the ice is melting up there and we don’t have anywhere to walk. We can’t swim all the time.” The president looks at Penny and asks, “Well, what will happen if I do not do anything at all?” Poppy looks in disgust and yells, “Then we all die! Don’t you understand that?” “Ok, ok! Just please don’t hurt me. What would you like me to do?” “You’re the president!” says Penny, “you’re supposed to know what you are doing!” President then goes up to his window, “I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask you two to leave.” Poppy and Penny then look down in cheerlessness. Penny leaves slowly but surely, but Poppy turns to the president just before he leaves, calmly he says, “Mr. President, all we are asking is for you to help us with our situation. Not only will you save us, but you will save the world. Don’t you want to be a president known for saving the world?” Poppy shuts the door quietly as the president, touched by his words, stares out the window onto the surrounding environment.
A couple weeks later, the two polar bears are back at the North Pole, as soon as they get back to their little patch of ice, Perksy runs up shouting, “Hooray! You guys did it! Hallelujah!” Penny looks at Poppy in confusion, “What do you mean we did it?” Perksy motions both the bears over to his computer. “Look at this article!” “We can’t read, Perksy.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot.” Perksy clears his voice, “After much speculation in recent debates, President George W. Bush comes to Japan to announce the ratifying of the Kyoto protocol.” “Kyoto protocol? What’s that?” Penny says “it’s a signed agreement among different countries to reduce carbon emissions...” Poppy interrupts “In English please, Perksy!” “It’s an agreement among the world to help stop global warming!” Perksy says in excitement. “Penny smiles and looks at Poppy, “Did we do it?” Poppy slowly begins to grin, “Yes! We did it, Penny! We did it!” The two jumped around for hours playing in the water which would soon be turned back in ice.
QUESTIONS:
What are the three characters names and what kind of animals are they?
Where do they live?
What is happening to the North Pole in the beginning of the story?
What is global warming?
What country is the main producer of harmful gasses?
Who is the president of the United States?
What is the Kyoto protocol?
What are some ways you can help the environment?