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If you are a fan of the Newbery-Award winning book Bridge to Terabithia, then you're going to love author
Katherine Paterson's new creation The Day of the Pelican (鹈鹕). In the book, Paterson takes readers on a
journey with 12 year-old Meli Lleshi and her Albanian family of seven.
The family lives in Kosovo, in eastern Europe. The country is at war with neighboring Serbia. Eventually,
life becomes too dangerous in Kosovo, so the Lleshis have to pack up and move out of their home. To Meli,
leaving meant giving up her whole life. She will have to say goodbye to her friends, home, school and Baba's
market. Worse, the family's trouble began, in Meli's mind, when she drew a picture of her teacher with a
pelican nose and had to stay after school as punishment.
As the Lleshis travel along the road at night, they come across burning homes and other refugees just like
them. Living in a tiny tent surrounded by many other people becomes tiring, and but for Baba's and Mama's
efforts to keep the family together, the family would probably have given up. Every night, Meli longs to go
home and Baba tells her, "Your home is with your family." With everyone already crowding together for food,
now is not the time to complain. The family needs all their courage to keep going."We have to be very patient
and very brave," Meli says.
Soon, traveling from place to place becomes too much of a hassle (争论) and nearly breaks the family
apart. Baba makes an important decision. The family will be moving to an exciting new country. There will be
no enemies and no one to run from. They will be able to stay in one place and build a new life. Although Meli
still longs for home she wonders if this will finally mean freedom for her family.
The Day of the Pelican is a book you won't be able to put down. Those who enjoy realistic fiction will love
this moving story about Meli and her family.
1. What's the author's purpose in writing this passage?
A. To tell us how happy we are to live a peaceful life.
B. To explain how the Lleshis survived the war.
C. To get us to learn about a new book.
D. To introduce a book Bridge to Terabithia
2. Why did the family move to other countries?
A. Because they wanted to find well-paid jobs.
B. Because they had to escape from the war.
C. Because Meli and her family needed food.
D. Because they just looked for adventure.
3. The third paragraph is mainly about _____.
A. Baba's importance during the trip
B. complaints about the life journey
C. various difficulties as travellers
D. ways to get the family together
4. From the passage we can learn that _____.
A. The Day of the Pelican won the Newbery-Award
B. Meli no longer longs for home in the new place
C. the family found the freedom and settled down
D. without Baba's encouragement the family would have broken
