It was1 Mary's birthday. She received2 a letter from her uncle who was a farmer.
"Dear Mary," the letter said3.
"Happy Birthday. I am sending you some chickens. They will arrive tomorrow. I hope4 you like them. Best wishes, Uncle Toby."
Mary was very pleased5. She liked eating eggs and she liked eating chicken. "I can keep the chickens for their eggs or eat them," she thought6.
When the chickens arrived the next day, they were in a box.
Mary was very excited7. She took8 the box off9 the back of the truck and began to carry it into her garden.
However10, the box of chickens was heavy and she dropped it.
The box fell11 to the ground12 and broke13. The chickens all ran14 out.
They ran everywhere -- into neighbors15' gardens, into the road, into shops, even16 into the next street. Mary spent hours trying to find them and take them back to her garden.
A few17 days later18 her uncle came19 to visit her.
"Did20 the chickens arrive safely21?" he asked Mary.
"Yes, Uncle Toby," Mary said. "But I had22 a lot of trouble23 with them. I dropped the box. It broke open and the chickens ran everywhere. I spent the whole24 morning looking for them."
"Did you find them all?" her uncle asked.
"I hope so," Mary replied25. "I caught eleven of them."
"That's very interesting," her uncle said with a smile, "because I only sent you six."
