Robot-bot-bot Illustrated by Fernando Krahn Text dictated by PS183’s 2008 newcomer ESL class Edited by Erzsebet Harskuti

1. Once upon a time, there was a girl whose name was Andrea. One day she was sitting on the ground, waiting for her dad. Her dad was supposed to come home at 6:00.

2. Hi, Dad!” Andrea said. Dad said, “Hello, Andrea. I have a surprise for you!”

3. Andrea saw a very big box in the car trunk. “What’s in the box?” trunk

4. Andrea thought to herself, “I hope it’s a puppy!” Dad saw Mom and he gave her a kiss.

5. They opened the box. Mom had a big smile.

6. There was a robot in the box! They all were excited about the new robot. Andrea said, “I love that robot!”

7. Andrea’s parents were happy with the new robot, too. Dad played with the remote. Suddenly the robot’s antennas said, “Zzzzzzzzzz!”

8. The robot went in the kitchen. Dad said, “Let’s see him working in the kitchen.”

9. Dad told the robot to wash the dishes. The robot stood on a stool and quickly cleaned a plate.

10. Dad told the robot, “Wash the floor.” The next minute, the robot finished mopping the floor. The mother was glad that the robot was doing the housework.

11. The father made the robot take the trash outside to throw it in the garbage can.

12. Later, the robot put slippers on Dad’s feet.

13. The father and the mother hugged each other, because they were so happy. Andrea touched one of the robot’s antennas. Her parents didn’t see Andrea touching the robot. antenna

14. Andrea wondered what the robot’s brain looked like. She held his nose with her right hand, and she opened his head with her left hand, to see his brain.

15. She put her right hand inside to feel what was inside his head. She pulled out some plugs and heard something rattling.

16. Next she spoke into the remote, “Make me some cupcakes!” But the robot shook his head and his arms. He didn’t say, “Zzzzzzzzzz.” He said, “Bot bot bot bot bot bot bot bot bot…”

17. Suddenly the robot ran very fast. He turned the chair over where Dad was reading. The rug was rolling on the floor. Dad’s slippers fell from his feet.

18. The mother was taking some hot soup to her husband. The soup spilled on the chair and the table. Dad's book fell, too.

19. The robot ran through the window and broke it. The mother fell down on top of the father and the chair broke.

20. The robot jumped through the window and into the garbage can.

21. The garbage man didn’t see the robot inside the garbage can. He picked up the can.

22. He threw the garbage into the truck. The family yelled, “Wait! Wait!” The garbage man said, “What’s the matter?”

23. The garbage man waited for the family to come outside. He pushed his hat from his eyes and looked at the robot. Then the family took the robot inside.

24. Dad tried to fix the robot in the garage. He put all the plugs back inside it. Andrea felt bad that she had broken the robot. She watched her father use a screwdriver.

25. The robot and Andrea played table tennis on the ping pong table. Everybody was happy again, because the robot was fixed. He was fine now.

1Aantenna 1Bbrain 1Cexcited 1Dto fix 2Agarbage can 2Bhousework 2Cto mop 2Dping pong 3Aplug 3Bto rattle 3Cremote 3Dscrewdriver 4Aslippers 4Bto spill 4Cstool 4Dsupposed to 5Atable tennis 5Bto take the trash outside 5Ctrunk 5Dto wash dishes