Cory was poor. His parents had recently divorced. He lived with his dad. His dad only made $9 an hour. Cory had four other siblings. Rent was expensive. Electricity was expensive. Water was expensive. Everything was expensive. Cory was so hungry. He decided to steal. He knew it was bad, but he was poor. He saw a delicious-looking apple. He looked around him. No one was looking at him. It was safe to steal. He put the apple in his pocket. He walked towards the store's exit. A moment later, he walked back to the apple section. He put the apple back. He did not want to be a bad person. Stealing was wrong.

Veronica is 21 years old. She has not had a driver's license yet. Her friends make fun of her. She does not care. She loves walking. She can walk fast. She can walk for hours. She walks to school every day. She walks to work every day. She walks to the market when she needs to. She does not get tired easily. She thinks walking is very relaxing. Running is a different story. She does not like to run. Running is tiring. Her stomach hurts when she runs. Veronica's new job is far away. She still won't get a car. She plans to take the bus.

America is so big. It has 50 states. Some states are bigger than other countries. Texas is the biggest state in America. Texas itself is bigger than France. People sometimes consider states as countries because they are so different. Even cities can be very different from each other. Los Angeles and Bakersfield are both in California. Los Angeles is urban. It is very busy. There are a lot of shops. There are a lot of businesses. There is a lot to do in Los Angeles. Bakersfield is rural. It is quiet. There is not much to do. Houses are cheap there. America is very diverse.

Finn has a strange sleeping schedule. He goes to sleep at 5 a.m. and wakes up at 3 p.m. He has a weird eating schedule, too. He eats breakfast at 3:30 p.m. He eats lunch at 7 p.m. He eats dinner at 1 a.m. One day, he was feeling hungry at 1 a.m. He did not want to cook though. He decided to go to a 24/7 diner. 24/7 means always available. He drove down to the diner. There were a few people there. Finn sat on a stool by himself. He ordered a burger and a milkshake.

Rick loves food. He loves food too much though. He is overweight. He eats food when he is bored. He eats food when he is stressed out. He eats food when he hangs out with his friends. He eats huge meals. He eats waffles, fried chicken, and eggs for breakfast. He eats pizza, french fries, and soda for lunch. He eats a hamburger and onion rings for dinner. He also eats a lot of snacks between meals. He never exercises. He gets tired very easily. He is okay with his weight though. He laughs when people call him fat.

Heather has funny eating habits. She likes soggy cereal, so she waits 10 minutes after she pours the milk. She eats pizza with a fork and knife. She eats french fries with chopsticks. She drinks ketchup from the packet. She puts ketchup on her chips. She likes to eat mustard with dumplings. She likes to eat pizza cold. She likes to eat melted ice cream. She likes eating seeds. She likes eating bananas with pretzels. She is not shy to eat weirdly around her friends. People usually stare at her, but Heather does not care.

Rosie went to the supermarket. She wanted to buy milk, cereal, and chicken. She took a shopping cart. She went to the meat aisle. She grabbed a pack of chicken, and put it inside the shopping cart. She went to the dairy aisle. She grabbed a gallon of milk, and put it inside the shopping cart. She went to the cereal aisle. She grabbed a box of sweet cereal, and put it inside the shopping cart. She saw a long line of people. She was curious what they were lining up for. She looked at the front of the line. They were giving out samples of pizza! Samples are free. There is always a line for samples. Rosie decided to stand in line, too.

Maya likes to save money. She likes wholesale stores better than markets. Wholesale stores sell things in large quantities for a lower price. They have things like a gallon of mustard. A regular market only sells a bottle of mustard. Maya wants to buy apples, ketchup, and chips. The apples come in a pack, which has 20 apples. The pack costs $6. That means each apple is only 30 cents. At the market, each apple costs 40 cents. Maya's husband does not like wholesale stores. He gets tired of things easily. He would rather buy fewer apples for a higher price. "Maya, we can't finish 20 apples before they go bad," her husband said. "Of course we can!" Maya said.

Marina likes clothes. She likes being unique. A lot of girls in her school shop at the same stores. Marina hates to have the same outfit as another girl's. That is why she shops at thrift shops. A thrift shop sells things that people donate. They are usually clothes that have been worn before. Sometimes there are stains and holes on the clothes. They are very cheap. Marina enjoys looking through clothing racks. She usually finds at least one thing she likes. Last weekend she found a dress. It was black and long. She thought it would be good to wear to a fancy dinner.

Kenneth is a good tennis player. He has been playing since he was 7 years old. He is now 16 years old. He competes against other players all around the country. They are also very good. He is competing against the best teen tennis player tomorrow. He is nervous. He has heard rumors about him. The other player is named Antonio. Antonio is mean. He is very competitive. He is not afraid to hurt people. He has punched someone before. Kenneth told his dad he wanted to quit. "Why? You have been doing so well!" Kenneth's dad said. "I'm scared of Antonio," he said. "Never give up," Kenneth's dad said.