The puppy Rex and a Mystery of the Golden Bone. Щенок Рекс и тайна золотой кости.

Chapter 1
Arrival on the Island

“Oh, we are so far away from home now”, said Mary getting out of the plane in the Far East; Vladivostok.

“I can’t believe that we just spent 8 hours flying.”Bill smiled.

“I watched three big cartoons and ate two times. It was great!” little Timmy rubbed his tummy.

We will spend the whole summer in a puppy’s camp. The camp is called “Eagle’s nest”. It is located on an island not far from Vladivostok.

My name is Rex and I am a puppy. I just flew to this wonderful place with my younger sister Betsy, my little brother Timmy and my best friends and classmates Mary, Bob and Bill. Bill and Bob are twin brothers. The last vacation we spent in Turkey together and we had a lot of fun. Now, I can’t wait to start our journey here in the Far East.

“Look, this dog is here to meet us.” Bob pointed to the big bulldog that held a sign: “The Puppy Rex family and friends”.

“This is Mr. Johnson” I said. “Let’s go!”

“Good morning puppies. I am very glad to see you.” Mr. Johnson said.

“Good morning? How?” Timmy looked disappointed.–“We flew from Moscow eight hours ago and it was 4 p.m. 8 plus 4 is is…”Timmy thought for several seconds, “…is 12! It is 12 p.m. – midnight now. But why is the sun shining so brightly?”

Mr. Johnson smiled.

“Timmy, don’t you remember I told you there is a seven hourtime difference between Moscow and Vladivostok” said Betsy.

"I kind of remember, Betsy.”

“It is midnight in Moscow, but it is 7 a.m. here.”

“Really? Wow.”

“You are very smart, dear puppy girl.”Mr. Johnson smiled again.

“Her name is Betsy.” I introduced Mr. Johnson to my sister. “Yes, she is a very smart puppy. When we go on a vacation to a new place she always reads a lot about it. Last time she read a whole book about Turkey.”

“Glad to hear that! It is always good to be prepared for the journey!”Mr. Johnson said. “Well, now it is time to go. I will drive you to Golden Horn Bay. Mr. Michael Foxter, a leader from your camp will meet you there. He will take you to an island on a motorboat.”

“A motorboat… wow! That sounds fun!” Timmy smiled.

***

Mr. Johnson drove us to Golden Horn Bay. This bay looked really great. It had a large bridge that connected both sides of the bay. If you look carefully, you will notice that huge columns of the bridge look like two “V’s”, introducing the name of the city: ‘VladiVostok’.

A big white motorboat was waiting for us. The Capitan, Doberman Pinscher, was wearing a sailor’s shirt with blue and white stripes and a captain's cap. He waved his friendly paw. “Hello guys! Welcome to my boat!”

“Hello Mr. Michael Foxter! Thank you. We are coming!”I said.

We carefully walked along the ladder and got into the boat. The captain started the engine and our motor boat began to race through the waves. The wind was blowing in our faces and our mood was perfect.

“Is it your first time in the “Eagle’s nest” camp, puppies?”asked Mr. Foxter.

“Yes, sir” I answered.

“You can call me Michael.”The captain smiled. “I am just a little bit older than you. I am also new here. I started to work in the camp just two weeks ago. I like to be a leader; it brings me a lot of joy.”

“Are there a lot of puppies in the camp, Michael?”Mary asked.

“There are fifty-four. Now with the six of you, there will be sixty.”

“Oh that is so nice. I can’t wait to meet all of them.”Mary smiled.

“Yes, and our boss Mr. Rish, is a very good dog, too. If you are lucky, he will show you his greatest treasure.”

“Greatest treasure? What is it Captain Michael?” Timmy was very interested.

“It is a golden bone.”

“A golden bone? Really?”Timmy looked surprised.

“Yes, it is a bone thirty centimeters long made from pure gold. Mr. Rish got it from his ancestors who came to Vladivostok a long time ago from China. He is very proud of this thing and likes to show it to the puppies. So if you will behave well, you can look at it one day.”

“Wow! I would love to see it!” Timmy sighed dreamily.

“Ok, puppies. Here we are.” The captain stopped the boat.

“Thank you for the wonderful trip, Mr. Foxter,” Betsy said.

“You are welcome! But don’t forget, I am just Michael to you. I am not an old dog. I just graduated from the university this year!”

“Thank you for the trip, Michael,” we said all together.

SPEAKING

Answer the questions

Name the puppies who flew to Vladivostok.

Who met the puppies at the airport?

What is the time difference between Moscow and Vladivostok?

What does Betsy usually do to learn about a new place before visiting it?

What huge columns of the bridge in the Golden Horn Bay are introducing?

How many puppies are there in the camp?

What is the greatest treasure of the camp’s boss?

TEXT UNDERSTANDING

True or false

The puppies arrived in Vladivostok at 6 a.m.

The name of the big bulldog who met the puppies is Mr. Johnson.

The camp leader, Mr. Foxter, met the puppies in the Golden Bone Bay.

Mr. Foxter came on a motorboat.

The name of the camp is “Sparrow’s nest”.

The golden bone is thirty meters long.

The camp’s boss’s name is Mr. Rish.

VOCABULARY

Complete the sentences with one word

(ancestors puppy midnight engine motorboat summer great)

We will spend the whole_______ in a puppy’s camp.

My name is Rex and I am a_______.

It is _______in Moscow, but it is 7 a.m. here.

This bay looked really_______.

A big white _______was waiting for us.

The captain started the _______and our motorboat began to race through the waves.

Mr. Rish got it from his_______ who came to Vladivostok a long time ago from China.

PRONUNCIATION

Underline the stressed syllable

ancestors wonderful captain graduate motorboat introduce cartoon

Chapter 2

Our First Day in the Camp

The camp “Eagle’s Nest” was located on an island surrounded by the Sea of Japan. We could hear seagulls that were flying in the sky. The sun was shining, and the weather was fine.

“Oh, I like it here!”

“All of the nature looks so beautiful!” the girls said one after another.

“You are right, the nature here on the island is amazing,” said our captain with a smile. “Look there, can you see the forest?”

“I can see many trees, is it a forest?” Timmy asked.

“Yes, this is a very beautiful forest. There are many good places for hiking in it. I love to go there.”

“Will we go hiking too, Michael?” Bill asked.

“Oh yes, you will!”

“Cool!”

“And now look in this direction. Do you see mountains?”

“Yes, we do!”

“There are a lot of wonderful waterfalls and caves there.”

“Wow, I love waterfalls and caves!” Bob said.

“And the best thing here is a beach! Look, the water is so clean and clear here!”

“I have read that there are a lot of starfish in the Sea of Japan. Is it true Michael?” Betsy asked.

“Oh yes, my dear, there are so many starfish that puppy girls like to collect them and put them around their necks like necklaces and make amazing pictures. After that they put them back in the water of course”.

“Oh, this is so wonderful!” Betsy was excited.

“Yes, you can find a lot of interesting things here in the far east. Anyway, look here guys!” Michael pointed toward the nice houses that were standing on the island.

“See, there are fifteen cottages in our camp. Ten of them are for puppies like you and two are for leaders and other dogs who work here. That big cottage belongs to our boss, Mr. Rish. His apartment is on the second floor and his office is on the first floor. And those two other cottages are for puppies’ parents in case they would like to visit the camp”.

“Wow that looks great!” said Bob and Bill at the same time.

“But what cottage are we going to live in?” asked Timmy.

“One moment, let me show you.”

Michael led us to the nice yellow house.

“Here you are, guys,” he said. “This place is going to be your home for the next three months. A room for girls is on the second floor, and boys will live here on the first”.

“Nice! I cannot wait to look at our room. Let’s go Betsy”. Marry took my sister’s paw and the girls ran upstairs.

Bill, Bob, Timmy and I stayed on the first floor. We saw two rooms and there were two beds in each room. Timmy and I took the room on the left and the twin brothers took the room on the right.

“Now puppies, you have one hour to take a shower and to get ready. At 11 a.m. we will wait for you outside on the big field. All puppies and leaders will be there. Don’t be late!” Michael turned to go out, but then he stopped, “I almost forgot. In your wardrobes you will find your uniform. Please, put it on!”

Every one of us took a shower and ate snacks that we found in the fridge. There were delicious sandwiches with red fish, cucumbers, lettuce and special sauce; also, there were tomato juice, mango juice and salads with sea food: octopuses, mussels, shrimps and crab sticks (from real crabs). Oh how yummy they were!

It was almost time to go. We opened our wardrobes to find the uniform. For puppy boys we found blue shorts, sailor’s t-shirts with blue and white stripes and a captain's cap. For girls there were white skirts, sailor’s shirts and captain's caps.

When we put everything on, we looked like little sailors.

“Let’s take selfies very quickly before we go,” said Mary and took out her phone. “Smile, guys!”

We took several pictures and then finally left the cottage. When we came to the big field, there were already a lot of puppies. All of them were wearing the same uniform as we were. We saw Michael talking to the pretty young lady dog who was in a short white dress. She had long straight blond hair and big blue eyes. Her breed was Komondor.

“Look at Michael,” Mary whispered to Betsy.“I bet he is in love with this Komondor lady.”

“Why do you think so?” Betsy whispered to my classmate.

“Look, he is talking to her with such a big smile, and he looks very interested.”

“Maybe they are just good friends, who knows.”

“You will see that I am right.”

“Dear puppies,” somebody said in a microphone.

We looked at the stage which was standing in the beginning of the field. A dog about the same age as Michael was standing there and he was wearing the same uniform as Michael.

“I think he is also the camp leader,” Bob whispered to me.

“My name is Mark, and I am a camp leader.”– Bill winked at me. Mark continued, “I am very glad to see all of you here. We, as leaders will do everything so you will have a great vacation. And now it is an honor for me to introduce the next speaker, the chief of camp “Eagle’s Nest”, Mr. Andrew Rish! Please, your applause!”

Loud applause was heard from all sides. A middle-aged dog of the Chongqing breed came on the stage.

“Hello my dear puppies. Welcome to our camp, the best camp in the whole Far East. Here you will play the best games, eat the best sea food and you will enjoy the best nature. And for those of you who will show themselves in the best way, we prepared a very special award. It is an icon with the image of an eagle carrying a golden bone!”

Loud applause was heard again.

“This icon is going to be mine!”said somebody. We turned our heads and saw a puppy girl, she was wearing the same uniform as us, but there was a big golden necklace above her t-shirt and big golden earrings on her ears.

“Hello, puppy girl.” I really wanted to be polite and to show my best manners to a new girl. “My name is Rex and here are my family and friends. What is your name?”

“I am Clara.”

“Nice to meet you, Clara.”

Clara winced. “Very nice to meet you and your huge company.”

“Sorry, what did you say about the icon?” I asked.

“I said that the best award, the icon with the image of an eagle carrying a golden bone, is going to be mine!”

That girl sounded funny, but I tried not to laugh. I didn’t want to offend her.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because I always get the best things in this life.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I do! Let me guess. There are six of you huddled together in one of those small houses?” Clara pointed toward the cottages.

“Yes, and we love it!”

“I see. And I live in the cottage by myself! My parents paid a lot so I could enjoy all the amenities myself and not share space with puppies like you.”

“This girl is not nice,” Mary whispered to Betsy.

Clara turned abruptly to the girls. “I heard what you said, but I do not care! You will see the icon is going to be mine! I love golden jewelry and I want to get it! And I always get what I want in this life, unlike you. Bye!” Clara turned around and went away.

All of us started to laugh now.

“Such a proud puppy!” Bill said.

“Let her live alone and enjoy her own company,” Bob said.

“And I feel sorry for her. I think that the poor puppy has no friends at all,” said Betsy.

SPEAKING

Answer the questions

What is the name of the sea near which the camp ‘Eagles nest’ is located?

Describe the nature found on the island.

How do puppy girls like to play with starfish?

Do they put the starfish back in the water after playing?

How many cottages are there in the camp?

What food did the puppies find in the fridge?

Why did Mary think that Michael is in love with a Komondor lady?

TEXT UNDERSTANDING

True or false

The puppies found their uniforms in the fridge along with food.

Before leaving the cottage the puppies took several pictures.

Michael was talking to a young pretty Lady who wore a long red dress.

The puppy girl Clara wore a big golden necklace on top of her t-shirt and big golden earrings in her ears.

Clara was a very nice and polite puppy girl.

The best award that puppies could get in the camp was the icon with a golden tiger.

Clara lived in the cottage by herself.

GRAMMAR

Circle the right word

We could hear seagulls that were flying/is flying in the sky.

All of the nature look/looks so beautiful!

There are so many starfish that puppy girls like/likes to collect them and put/puts them around their necks like necklaces.

There are/is a lot of wonderful waterfalls and caves there.

His apartment is/are on the second floor and his office is/are on the first floor.

It was/were almost time to go.

When we puts/put everything on, we looked like little sailors.

CREATIVE THINKING

Guess the riddles

It is a sea creature. It can be different colors. It has a shape of a star.

It is clothes. People have to wear it at school sometimes. It should look the same in the same school for all pupils.