23 A2+ only in America

CHAPTER 1 Sports and Recreation AMERICANS LOVE TO INVENT NEW WAYS TO HAVE FUN. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE ACTIVITIES? Do you like to surf? How about your dog? Dog surfing is getting popular in California. There are even dog surfing competitions! Dogs get two points for lying on the surfboard, three points for sitting, and five points for standing on four legs. There is also a competition for people surfing with their dogs, on the same surfboard. Others try to get lots of dogs on the same surfboard. The world record is 17 dogs surfing on one board! Many people go to these competitions because they want to do something fun with their dogs and meet other people who like dogs and surfing. And many of these competitions raise money for charities. So, everybody wins!

People around the world love golf. But some Americans play golf in the middle of a city! Golf is usually played on grass in the countryside. But one man, Brian Jerome Peterson, did not like seeing golf courses destroy the countryside. In 1992, he decided to play golf in his town. He used a tennis ball instead of a golf ball and things like streetlights, trucks, telephone poles, and mailboxes as the "holes." He called it urban golf. Today, people play urban golf in many towns and cities. Here are the rules: 1. Pick nine targets as "holes." 2. The ball must hit or go under big targets, and it must get near small targets, no more than one meter away. 3. Each time you hit the ball you get one point. A lost ball is three points. 4. The person with the fewest points wins.

Usually, people use a fishing pole to fish. But some Americans use only their hands to catch catfish. This is called grabbling. First, find warm water. Catfish lay their eggs in holes under water that is about 21C. And they like to stay close to their eggs. When you find a hole, put your hand in it and move your fingers. The catfish will think your fingers are food and will bite them. Now grab the catfish quickly with your hands and pull it out of the water. You may need a friend to help you— a catfish can weigh 40 kilograms! Grabbling is popular in the south of the USA. You can even watch it on TV!

A fun competition for charity is the Redneck Games. "Redneck" started as a funny name for people who work outside all the time, like farmers. They were called this because their necks get red from working in the sun. Today, "redneck" usually describes people who don't really like things like art, museums, or reading serious books. They prefer to spend time outside playing games with friends and family. Here are some of the events at the Redneck Games: Redneck Horseshoes— throwing a toilet seat onto a short pole in the ground Watermelon Seed Spitting spitting watermelon seeds as far as you can Armpit Serenade— moving your hand under your arm to make sounds and "play a song"

CHAPTER 2 Gadgets and Machines AMERICANS HAVE INVENTED MANY USEFUL THINGS -AND SOME THINGS THAT ARE JUST FUN! Most people like ice cream. But what happens in hot weather? You have to lick around the sides again and again because the ice cream drips down the cone. Well, not anymore! The motorized ice cream cone turns around and around and makes it easier for you to enjoy every little bit of ice cream! How about pasta? It's difficult to eat long pieces of pasta, right? You have to turn the pasta around your fork again and again. So try the motorized pasta fork. You put this special fork in your plate of pasta. The fork turns around and around and picks up the pasta. It does all the work for you!

Do you want to fly like a bird? Many people do. But maybe your pet bird doesn't want to fly anymore. Maybe it wants to drive! The motorized bird buggy is a little car for your bird. The bird "drives" the buggy with its beak. It just hits the joystick to move the buggy in any direction. And don't worry about your bird. It's safe. If the buggy goes on small rocks or somewhere that's dangerous or difficult, the buggy stops. So, your favorite pet bird can't run into something and get hurt. Of course, it could just fly away.