Read the story and answer the questions 1 - 9.
Captain of the Carrots
1 My younger brother Daniel likes to work in our garden. Last summer he grew carrots to enter in the county fair. He won first prize and received a blue ribbon. There is more to the story, however. To win, Daniel needed the sun, the rain, and a little help from a scarecrow we named “Captain of the Carrots.”
2 One morning Daniel and I walked outside to the garden. The feathery, green tops of ten carrots had been chewed to the ground. We looked around the garden trying to discover what had happened to the carrots.
3 “Jason, who did this?” Daniel asked, frowning.
4 “Not me,” I said. “I’m pretty sure rabbits are eating your carrots. You’ll just have to scare them off.”
5 “Well, I’ve read books about farmers building scarecrows to put in their fields. Should we build one?”
6 “Why not?” I said. “If it works for crows, why not for rabbits?”
7 Our scarecrow was a bit unusual. We dressed it in an old band uniform Grandpa gave us. Daniel had a pretend policeman’s hat that we placed on top of the head. At last the scarecrow was complete. We placed it in the garden.
8 “He looks like a guard,” Daniel said.
9 “Of course,” I said. “He’s the Captain of the Carrots.” The silly name stuck. The rest of the day Daniel kept saying that the Captain of the Carrots would scare those rabbits away.
10 The next morning, however, more carrots had been nibbled. Daniel was upset. The rabbits must have discovered that the scarecrow was not a real person after all. We stood looking at the carrots.
11 “Can’t you enter them in the fair without the green tops?” I asked.
12 “No, Jason,” Daniel snapped. “It’s against the rules.”
13 “Well, part of the row is still here. You need only a couple of carrots to enter.”
14 “True,” Daniel said. “Let’s ask Dad if we can stay up tonight and watch over the carrots. Maybe he will want to camp with us too.”
15 Dad thought Daniel had a clever idea. He believed Daniel’s carrots were worth guarding and could win the big prize at the fair. So we packed a blanket and some snacks and headed to the garden after dark.
16 Not long after we had settled in, my brother fell asleep. All of a sudden, Dad and I could hear munching sounds. The rabbits were back to finish eating my brother’s carrots, so I told Dad that I would take care of the situation. I stood up, walked to the useless scarecrow, and took the hat. If my brother was going to win that blue ribbon, someone had to take control. Protecting the carrots was all up to me, the new Captain of the Carrots.
