ORANGES EVERYWHERE. Bentley was wandering through the trees. The air smelled of oranges all around him. The weather was perfect, and the oranges were growing bigger by the day. He liked to walk through the groves, and loved the smell of the oranges, but he didn't like that heand his family ate oranges all the time. Sometimes, he wanted to avoidthem for weeks at a time. He wished his family could grow other things, like corn, or the ingredients for his favorite dip that his mom made. His mouth watered just thinking about his favorite dip. Yes, those ingredients would be better than oranges all the time."Mom, why do we have to have oranges almost every day?" Bentley asked. "Well, since we grow them, there are plenty around," his mom replied."Does every kid eat as many oranges as we do?" he asked."No, definitely not. There are parts of the country and parts of the world that don't have the type of weather that oranges grow in. We're actually very lucky!""So some kids don't eat oranges at all?""We actually send oranges all over the world, so that if people can't grow their own oranges, they can still buy and eat them," said Mom."Hmmm... so people move foods all over the world? Are there foods that I like that don't grow here?" "There is an ingredient in the dip you like.Artichokes do not grow well here, so they have to be sent from somewhere where they grow well," replied Mom."I never knew!" exclaimed Bentley. "What else moves around like food?""Plenty of things! The factories that make your favorite toys are not all in our little town here. The companies make the toys then send the toys to other places. So food and products move from where they can be grown or made easily to places where they can't be grown or made easily. People move themselves, too. Maybe they're looking for a specific job that isn't around where they live, or they want to be closer to their families, or they just want a change of scenery.""Wow! I never thought about where all of our food and toys come from, or about people moving far away. It's veryinteresting," Bentley said."It sure is. I'm glad you asked. I'm sorry you get tired of eating oranges all the time, but I hope now it makes sense why we do.""Yes, but I still might take a break from them every once in a while. Maybe I'll try to grow my own artichokes!" Bentley replied.Mom laughed and said, "Sure, honey. Now let's go make dinner."
1.Retell the story in your own words. // 2.Describe Bentley's character. What evidence from the text helps you describe her? // 3.What does "avoid"mean in the first paragraph? How do you know? // 4.Why do foods get sent different places around the country and the world? // 5.Do you think Bentley will be able to grow his own artichokes? Why or why not?
