Hungry, Hungry Sharks!
by Joanna Cole
illustrated by Patricia Wynne
1. Millions and millions of years ago, the earth did not
look the way it does now. 2. Strange-looking plants grew in
1. ________
swamps. 3. Reptiles with wings flew in the air. 4. Everywhere 2. ________
3. ________
on land were dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs.
5. Out at sea there were strange creatures too.
6. Some looked like dragons. 7. Some looked like fish.
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5. ________
6. ________
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8. This big fish could swim very fast. 9. It had sharp teeth and 8. ________
a big fin on its back. 10. What kind of fish was this? 11. A
9. ________
10. _______
shark!
11. _______
12. There are no more dinosaurs left on earth.
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12. _______
13. But there are still plenty of sharks. 14. Today there are
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more than three hundred kinds of sharks.
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15. Not all sharks are big. 16. Many, many kinds are less 15. _______
than three feet long. 17. The dwarf shark is no bigger than your 16. _______
hand. 18. The small carpet shark lies on the ocean floor like a
17. _______
rug. 19. The leopard shark has spots. 20. It grows to be about
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19. _______
four feet long.
20. _______
21. The biggest shark is the whale shark. 22. It is longer 21. _______
than a bus. 23. The whale shark has three thousand teeth.
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24. But it will never bite you. 25. It eats only tiny shrimp and
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fish. 26. The whale shark is very gentle.
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27. A diver can even hitch a ride on its back.
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28. These are blue sharks. 29. They are far out at sea
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28. _______
hunting for food. 30. Suddenly they pick up the smell of blood. 29. _______
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31. The sharks speed up. 32. They shoot through the water like 31. _______
torpedoes. 33. In a few minutes they find a dead whale.
34. The blue sharks tear off big chunks of whale meat.
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33. _______
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35. Now the water is full of biting sharks. 36. If one shark gets 35. _______
hurt, the others turn on it. 37. They will eat that shark too.
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38. In a short time the whale is all gone.
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39. The sharks swim away. 40. Nothing is left.
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41. Nothing but bones.
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42. Blue sharks are called the wolves of the sea.
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43. This is because they stay together in packs. 44. Blue sharks 43. _______
often swim after a ship for days. 45. A long time ago sailors
44. _______
thought this meant that someone was going to die. 46. Why so 45. _______
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blue sharks really follow ships? 47. The sharks come because
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of noises from the ship. 48. Then they stay to eat garbage that
47. _______
is thrown into the water.
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49. The most dangerous shark in the sea is the great
white shark. 50. It is named after its white belly. 51. The teeth 49. _______
50. _______
of the great white shark are big and sharp. 52. Very, very sharp. 51. _______
52. _______
53. It can eat a whole seal in one bite. 54. The great white shark 53. _______
is the size of a speedboat.
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55. This great white shark has just had babies.
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56. Most fish lay eggs. 57. But most sharks do not.
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58. Their babies are born alive. 59. A baby shark is called a
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pup. 60. The pup of the great white shark is almost the size of a 59. _______
man. 61. As soon as they are born the pups go their own way.
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60. _______
61. _______
62. It is not safe to stay near a hungry mother.
63. The baby sharks swim off to catch their own food.
64. One eats a fish. 65. Another eats a crab. 66. The pups had
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63. _______
64. _______
65. _______
better watch out for puffer fish. 67. The puffer fish can blow up 66. _______
like a balloon. 68. If a shark eats it, its spines get stuck in the
67. _______
shark’s throat. 69. The shark will die.
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69. _______
70. Not many animals can kill great white sharks.
71. The stingray flaps through the sea like a giant bat. 72. Its
70. _______
71. _______
tail has a poison stinger. 73. The poison can kill most animals. 72. _______
73. _______
74. But a great white shark can eat a stingray—stinger and all! 74. _______
75. The swordfish is a very strong fish. 76. It can cut and 75. _______
stab with its long nose. 77. But even a swordfish almost always 76. _______
loses a fight with a great white shark.
77. _______
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78. Another big shark is the hammerhead shark.
79. It is easy to see how it got its name. 80. Like other big
78. _______
79. _______
sharks, the hammerhead never stops swimming. 81. Most fish 80. _______
have air balloons inside them. 82. But sharks do not. 83. If they 81. _______
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stop swimming, they sink.
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84. This hammerhead swims to a group of dolphins.
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85. It tries to catch one of the dolphins. 86. But sharks do not
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always get their way. 87. The dolphins fight back. 88. One
86. _______
87. _______
dolphin dives under the water. 89. It comes up and hits the
88. _______
hammerhead. 90. The shark flies up in the air. 91. It falls back 89. _______
90. _______
on the water. 92. SMACK!
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93. The dolphins keep hitting the shark. 94. After a
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while the shark stops moving. 95. It sinks into the water. 96. It 94. _______
95. _______
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is dead. 97. Dolphins are smart animals. 98. They can work
96. _______
97. _______
together to kill an enemy. 99. But sharks are not smart.
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100. They have tiny brains.
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101. A shark’s brain is small. 102. But its teeth are big.
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103. It has many rows of teeth. 104. When a tooth breaks off, a 103. ______
new tooth moves up to take its place. 105. A shark uses up
104. ______
thousands of teeth every year!
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106. What do sharks eat with all these teeth? 107. Fish
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and more fish. 108. Other sharks. Seals, turtles, crabs.
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108. ______
109. Almost everything that swims in the sea.
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110. Sometimes sharks eat things that are not food.
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111. No one knows why. 112. All these things have been found 111. ______
inside big sharks: a wallet, a fur coat, a drum, a bottle of wine,
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a chest of jewels, a barrel of nails, and a suit of armor!
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113. Do sharks eat people? 114. Yes they do.
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115. If a person is near a big shark, the shark may attack.
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116. But the number of people killed by sharks is very small.
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117. More people die from bee stings than from shark bites!
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118. Sharks do not go hunting for people.
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119. But people go hunting for sharks. 120. Some people like
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to go fishing for sharks. 121. They have to be careful. 122. A
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121. ______
shark may look dead. 123. Then all at once it can “wake up”
122. ______
—and bite!
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124. Scientists want to study sharks. 125. But it is hard
to study them at sea. 126. And it is hard to keep big sharks
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125. ______
alive in a tank. 127. Once scientists caught a great white shark. 126. ______
127. ______
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128. They put it in a tank with other fish.
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129. But the shark did not eat. 130. And it kept bumping 129. ______
into the sides of the tank. 131. After a few days the shark began 130. ______
to die. 132. So the scientists took the shark back to sea.
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132. ______
133. They set it free.
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134. There are many things we do not know about
sharks. 135. We do not know how long sharks live. 136. Or
134. ______
135. ______
how much food a shark has to eat to stay alive. 137. But we do 136. ______
know that sharks are here to stay.
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138. They are fast and strong. 139. They hardly ever get 138. ______
sick. 140. And there is always plenty of food for them.
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141. As long as there are oceans, there will be sharks.
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