Alice was getting very tired. She was sitting with her sister by the river and her sister was reading
a book.
     Alice had nothing to do. Once or twice she looked into her sister’s book, but it had no pictures
or conversations in it. “And what is a book for,” thought Alice, “without pictures or
conversations?”  
     So she was thinking of making a daisy chain when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran by
her.  
     There was nothing strange about that. And she didn’t think it was strange when she heard the
rabbit say, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I’ll be late!” But when the rabbit took a watch out of its pocket
and looked at it, Alice got up. A rabbit with a pocket and a watch? She ran across the field after it.
She saw it go down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.  Then Alice went down after it and never
thought about how she was going to get out again.

1.  How was Alice feeling?  _____.
2. Where were Alice and her sister?  ______.
3. Why didn’t Alice like her sister’s book?_____.
4. What was the rabbit like?  ______.
5. According to this passage, where did Alice go at last? _____.

     Read this dialogue between Karen Lu and Alice Evans on a daily television talk show called  "Our
World". Alice has recently travelled around India on an elephant.
Karen:Welcome to the programme. First of all, Alice, what gave you the idea to travel around India on
an elephant?
Alice:Well, it all started when I went to a photographic exhibition of elephants. Then, a few days later, I
started reading a book about an Englishman travelling all the way to India on foot. I suddenly had the idea
to travel on an elephant.
Karen: So what did you do next?
Alice: I rang a friend in India and told him 1 wanted to buy an elephant. He told me about the prices of
elephants. He said that 1 would need two people to help me: one person to cut the animal's food, because elephants can eat up to 200kg of food each day, and another person to drive the elephant.
Karen:Is it expensive to buy an elephant?
Alice:We bought a female elephant called Tara for about US$6,000.
Karen: Well, Alice, you'd found your elephant. What did you do next?
Alice:Next, we had to plan our route. As we had to sell Tara at the end of the journey, we decided to
travel to Sonepur in northern India where the world's oldest elephant market is located. The market lasts
for two weeks every year and elephants can never be sold there before the special date of 23rd
November. The whole journey would take about 64 days to complete.
Karen:I see. And did you have any problems on your journey?
Alice:Yes. a few, but nothing too serious. At the beginning, Tara hurt her foot. But that got better after a
week. The weather was very bad as well. And we often found uninvited guests in our tents-snakes-which made sleeping rather difficult!
Karen: That sounds awful! And what finally happened when you reached the end of your journey?
Alice: I had grown very fond of Tara, and I didn't want to sell her, even though I knew I had to. Luckily,
however, I met some old friends at the market. They were looking for an elephant for their national park. I knew that Tara would be safe in the national park, so I gave her to them. I was very sad to say goodbye.

1.Did Alice get the idea of traveling on an elephant from a film?
_________________________________________________________
2.How many people did Alice need to help her travel on an elephant?
______________________________________________________________
3.Why did they decide to travel to the elephant market in northern India?
____________________________________________________________
4.Alice mentions three problems they had during the journey, doesn't she?
______________________________________________________
5.Where did Tara go at the end of the journey?
_____________________________________________
6.What do you think of Alice's experience?
______________________________________________