The Galapagos tortoise (加拉巴哥象龟) is a kind of tortoise. In Spanish, "Galapagos" is a word for "tortoises". The Galapagos tortoises gave their name to the Galapagos Islands because they were first found there.

    Do you know what Galapagos tortoises look like? They can grow to be five feet long and weigh over one hundred and fifty kilograms. An adult tortoise is strong enough to lift a man.

    Galapagos tortoises can walk for a long time without food. They can survive on very little water for a few weeks. The female tortoises lay eggs in a hole in the sand or among the rocks. The babies are very small with soft shells. The babies always face dangers from other animals. There are many animals which eat the eggs and the baby tortoises. In fact, only one in about three thousand survives to become an adult tortoise. Adults often live for more than one hundred years.

    Now Galapagos tortoises are endangered because people eat the eggs they lay and the adult tortoises are hunted for their big shells. Also, the pollution of the Galapagos Islands is hurting the Galapagos tortoises as well. The number of them is becoming smaller and smaller. We should start to protect them.

We named the lake Rebecca her.

—I agree.

—That's true. It's cruel to keep the king of the forest in a cage.

—Of course. I've _______ that before.

    Ryan's life was nearly perfect. He had lots of friends on his block. They walked to school together every day, and after school they always had time to play.

    Ryan did have one problem. It was his two-year-old sister, Allie. She was too small to play ball games. She couldn't climb trees yet.  Ryan and his friends didn't want her around.

    Ryan tried asking his mum to keep Allie at home. "Why does my sister have to come along?" he asked. "Troy's sister doesn't. Jimmy's sister doesn't. Why me?"

    Ryan's mother just laughed, "Troy's sister is only six months old, and Jimmy doesn't have a sister. Allie is nice, isn't she?"

    Today, Ryan was going to play baseball with his friends after school. Allie followed him as usual. The boys used to play football, but one of them broke a window at Mr Mcwhirter's house. Mr Mcwhirter wouldn't give them their ball back.

    The game got started. Allie sat on a stone nearby. Minutes later it was Jimmy's turn to hit the ball. Unluckily, it fell right into Mr Mcwhirter's yard.

    The boys ran over to Mr Mcwhirter's fence (栅栏). The ball was just out of reach.

    "None of us can fit through the fence." Jimmy said.

    The boys looked glum.

    Suddenly, Jimmy got an idea. "Allie, come over!" he called. "Would you like to get that ball for us?"

    Allie looked at the boys. Then she slipped through the fence, picked up the ball and came back out of the yard.

    "Wow," said Troy. "So quick! Thanks, Allie."

    "Nice job," said Jimmy.

    "Come on," said Ryan, suddenly proud of his kid sister. "I'll teach you how to swing the bat."