Dev Reads to Fix a Flat Tire
1On Saturday morning, Dev found his bike tire flat as a pancake. He wanted to ride to the park with his cousin Rosa, so he needed to fix it fast. His uncle handed him a small booklet called Bike Care for Beginners. "Read it first," Uncle Sam said. "Then we will work together."
2Dev did not read the booklet from the first page to the last. He had a purpose, so he looked at the headings until he found the one called Fixing a Flat. Then he read that part slowly and carefully.
3The booklet said to take off the wheel and pull out the soft tube inside the tire. Next, Dev had to find the hole. Dev pumped a little air into the tube. Rosa filled a bucket with water, and Dev dipped the tube in it. A stream of tiny bubbles floated up from one spot. "There it is!" he said.
4Then Dev came to a word he did not know. The booklet said to roughen the tube near the hole with sandpaper before gluing on a patch. "What does roughen mean?" he asked. Rosa reread the sentence and the one after it. "The glue sticks better to a rough tube," she said. "So roughen must mean to make it rough, not smooth." Dev rubbed the spot, spread the glue, and pressed a patch over the hole.
5At last, Dev put the tube and wheel back on and pumped up the tire. It was firm and round. He and Rosa rode to the park, and Dev felt proud. He had read with a plan, and the plan had worked.