1. I used to think there was few tasks more difficult than picking out birthday presents for my friends. 2. Since my husband and I don’t have much extra money, bug luxuries are out, and the household goods on sale at Walmart is not the kind of present they enjoy getting. 3. But birthday shopping has become simpler since I decided that what everybody really like is toys. 4. Forget the big, expensive department stores; children’s catalogs and novelty shops is where I do my buying. 5. My favorites of the whole toy collection has been the rubber stamp sets. 6. One of them contains funny pictures of parts of the face: eyes, ears, nose, and so on. 7. With it anyone become a cartoonist, creating silly faces to decorate all kinds of things. 8. To another friend was sent flying saucers that soar into the air when you pull their strings. 9. There is now saucers all over the roof of her apartment building, and she tells me her neighbors and the building superintendent have no idea where the flying saucers come from. 10. I’m actually looking forward to shopping for another friend’s birthday—I think a couple of trick hand buzzers and a glow-in-the-dark yo-yo is what I’ll buy next.

1. Millions of tons of trash floats in our oceans. 2. There is all kinds of items including fishing nets and bottles. 3. Currents in the ocean carries this debris so that it collects in big areas known as garbage patches. 4. These areas of garbage has been increasing in size since plastic came to be commonly used, about sixty years ago. 5. Anything made of plastic materials are durable and buoyant, so it will float in the ocean for many years. 6. The biggest one of the garbage patches lie about half way between Hawaii and San Francisco; it is about the size of Texas and at least 100 feet deep. 7. Why is these garbage patches such a problem? 8. For one thing, birds and fish mistakes the plastic for food and are dying. 9. In addition, if they eat these fish, animals and people risks harm from the plastic or from poisonous substances in the garbage. 10. Until everyone finally stop making so much trash, there is no point in trying to clean up the garbage patches.

1. Where (is, are) the keys to the minivan?

2. Underneath that big rock lives a rattlesnake.

3. There (was, were) seventeen people ahead of me in the bank line.

4. Why (do, does) dogs always bark are two in the morning?

5. Inside each cardboard carton (is, are) a dozen boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

6. (There’s, There’re) seven people absent today.

7. (There’s, There’re) lots of complaints about the parking.

8. (There has, There have) been many attempts to solve that problem.

9. (There’s, There’ve) been several car designs throughout the years.

10. (Here’s, Here’re) the people responsible.

11. (Here’s, Here’re) the one I was talking about.