re-xaE$f-

Brats

FEW years ago a French toy company hadan unusual contest-a "biggest brat" contest.The company had a prize for the child whose

behavior was the worst in the world. Over 2,000 parentsentered their children in the contest. "Our child is theworld's biggest bratl" they wrote. The parents madelists of all the bad things their children had done.Judges lead the lists and chose the winner. She was

-

a little girlfrom the United States. Her name was Lizzie,and she was four years old. Here are a few of the thingsLizzie did to win the title,'The World's Biggest Brat":. She put a garden hose into the gas tank of her

father's car. Then she turned on the water.r She painted a leather sofa with spray paint,.' She threw her mother's wedding rin$'into the toilet.' Then she flushed the toilet.

' . She put an ice cream sandwich into the VCR.. She set the table for dinner. Jhen she glued the

silverware to the table. lmagine her parents'surprisewhen they sat down to eat and tried to pick up theirforkslLizzie may be the world's biggest brat, but she is

certainly not the world's only brat. Alo is a five-year-old boy from Bangladesh. One afternoon, while hisfather was asleep n the sofa, Alo cut off his father'smustache. A few days later, he cut off his brother'seyebrows when his brother was

.sleeping in the

bedroom. A few weeks after that. he cut off most ofhis mother's hair when she was asleep at night. Alo'sfamily now keeps every pair of scissors under lock andkey and always sleeps behind locked doors.

The behavior of a Mexican boy named Manuel isperhaps even worse than Lizzie's and Alo's because it

is more dangerous. Manuel likes to play with matchesOne day he found some matches near the kitcha4stove. He took the matches, sneaked into his'parent5bedroom, and set fire to the curtains. FortunatelyManuel'd mother walked into the bedroom just in timeShe pulled down the curtains and put out the fire-before it spread.

Hiroshi, a young Japanese man, says that he rarel ,misbehaved when he was a young child but turne,-1into a real brat when he was about 13. "My friends anrlused to sneak around at night and let the air out t{tlres. We were terrible," he says. "Our parents tried tO'control us,'but they didn't have much success. VtL-drove them crazv."

No mother or father wants to be the parent of c-brat. Parents everywhere try to controltheir children 9behavior. Some parents spank their children when themisbehave. Other parents won't let their children watc.hTV or eat dessert. ln Japan, parents often send thgchildren outside when they misbqhave and tellthethey can't corne into the house. ln the United Stategparents do just the opposite: they send their childre"rtotheir bedrooms and tellthem they can't go outsidtz

Lizzie's parents don't know what to do about Lizzie,Her mother says,

"l keep telling myself that Lizzie bgoing through a stage, but sometimes I don't know.It seems like she's always getting into trouble." Lizzie-father says, "One day we'll look back on atl this anJlaugh." '

What does Lizzie think about her behavio r? Lizzia-'doesn't like to talk about it. When a reporter askdLizzie if she was "a bad girl," Lizzie kicked his leg. Thashe yelled, "l'm not a bratl l'm an angell Get out of rn1houset" I

2. VOCABUTARYA. TOOKING AT THE STORYThink about the sfory and anewer the questione,1. When people win prizts, are they usually happy or sad?

2. What goes through a garden ftose-electricity or water?

3. What are made of leather-btouses or shoes?

4. If you glue tuto things, do they stay together or do they stay apart?

5. rs silaenuare knives, forks, and spoons, or is it fugr, earrings, and necklaces?

5. Does a man with a mustache have hair on his anns or on his face?

7. Do scissors cut or write?

8. When Manuel sneaked into his parents'bedroour, did he walk quietty or noisily?

9. Are curtains on windows or on beds?

Manuel's mother satd, "Forfunately,I walked into the bedroom just in time.,, Diddhink, 'I had bad luck,, or did sh'think, ,T had good luck,?

11' Jenny misbehaves every day. Mary misbehaves only once or twice a month. I{hirarely misbehaves?

12. Do people kick with their hands or with their feet?

Unlt I