13． Families That Care, Care about Families.
My 10th Christmas was the one that I was not looking forward to. Money was limited. Mom said we were old enough now not to expect (1)      .
"How can I even wear the same old dress one more time?" I (2)       to my sister. "I know," said my sister. "I have asked for a horse forever but it never happens."
The next day, Mom told us that she had been saving up and shopping around so that we could give the Walters family a Christmas basket. "If anyone needs some (3)      , it's the Walters, "Mom reminded us. Looking like a family of hobos (流浪汉), the Walters could hardly afford their food.
I noticed that Mom had prepared a small gift for each of the children. How could Mom be so generous (慷慨的) with someone else's kids when we didn't have enough?
We (4)       the basket to the Walters', knocked hard on the door and then ran fast to hide behind a tree. When the family came out and picked up the basket, I saw their faces. They looked happy. But mostly, they looked like, well, like they were thinking, maybe we do belong here.
Christmas morning arrived. (5)      , I received a beautiful dress and my sister got a horse!
"Mom, how did you manage to do all this?" I asked. "We were (6)       for a no-present Christmas. " "Oh, everybody helped. Mrs. Olsen at the dress shop sold me your gift at half price. Mrs. Marshall paid me to hang up her tree lights. Mr. Jones gave us one of his horses because we got your sister to love it. And the Larsens, down the way, (7)       some of their pasture (牧场) for us to keep the horse."
"But the Walters don't have anything to give in return."
"Doesn't matter who can or can't give. If we just listen to our hearts, the right gifts will end up with the right families," Mom said.
That was the Christmas that I learned about the magic of (8)      . The "belonging" feeling was more valuable than any of the gifts. And I thought families that care, care about families. All families.

14． Interesting Festivals around the World

15． It was Willie, the parrot, who saved the life of two-year-old Hannah. The young child was eating when something got stuck in her throat (喉咙). Hannah's babysitter, Megan Howard, was in the bathroom at the time. She suddenly heard the bird screaming (尖叫)and making noises with its wings. "Then he started saying 'mama baby' over and over and over again until I came out. " Megan said. Megan saw that Hannah's face was blue. Megan was quickly able to remove the food from Hannah's throat, but she says that Willie is the real hero. Willie was the one who later received an award for saving Hannah's life.
When he was eight weeks old, Buddy, a little dog, came to live with Joe Stalnaker. Stalnaker sometimes experiences seizures (癫痫) that make him unable to move easily. Stalnaker taught his new dog to bring him the phone when he started to experience a seizure. Stalnaker also trained Buddy to hit the phone to call 911. So when Stalnaker had a really bad seizure one day, Buddy was the one who called for help and began making sounds into the phone. Doctors arrived within minutes and found Stalnaker. They took him to the hospital where he recovered. Stalnaker later said this about Buddy: "He's my world. He's my best friend, no question. He's always there, and I just hope I can be as good to him as he's been to me."
One night, there was a gas leak (煤气泄漏) at Keesling's home. The family was sleeping. Their cat, Winnie, began to push her owners and made loud meowing (喵) sounds. "It was a crazy meow, almost like she was screaming," said Cathy Keesling. Keesling woke up and was already feeling sick. It was hard for her to wake up her husband and son because they already breathed in a large amount of gas. But thanks to their heroic cat Winnie, Keesling was able to call 911 and get help before anyone was hurt. The family says that Winnie is the one who saved their lives.

16． You Can Be a World Memory Champion!
Every year, people with amazing memory skills compete in an event called the World Memory Championships. The tasks require huge powers of memory retention: remembering the order of 52 cards in a deck (副); memorizing the names of 110 people after looking at their pictures; and other tasks. Completing any of these tasks may not seem easy for the normal person, but scientific proof seems to show that even someone with normal skills can, through training, improve his or her memory skills and become a memory champion.
One memory champion explained his methods of recalling the order of the cards in a deck. Firstly, he connected a person, an action and a thing with each card. For example, the king of hearts is Elvis Presley, eating, a chocolate sandwich. The three of spades (黑桃) is Rocky Balboa, boxing, Madison Square Garden. The ten of hearts is William Shakespeare, writing Hamlet, a broken pen. Take a person from the first card, an action from the second card, and a thing from the third card so that any group of three cards creates a vivid (生动的) image that is easier to recall. For example: king﹣ten﹣three becomes Elvis Presley writing Hamlet in Madison Square Garden — a memorable image.
Still, even having created images for each group of three cards, it is difficult to keep them in order. This is done using the loci method, or what some call a "Memory Palace" — a term created by Frances Yates in his 1966 book The Art of Memory — which is a simple but effective method discovered by the ancient Greeks.
But are there people with naturally amazing memories? The winner of the 2011 World Memory Championships was 21-year-old Chinese Wang Feng. He said he had a "normal memory as a child, " and no special talent except for the hard work and attention to detail.
Although many still think that people have either good or bad memories from birth, that need not be true. By using the methods of grouping, connecting with vivid images, and the loci method, we can all improve our memories. Who knows ﹣ you might even become the next World Memory Champion!

17． In recent years, there has been a general direction for new buildings to be more environmentally friendly. These buildings use energy and water nicely, reducing waste and pollution. However, setting up solar panels and water recycling systems involves higher costs than in a traditional building. The question is whether people are willing to pay these additional costs.
One school in the UK has shown us that environmental principles (原则) are just as important to small projects as to large ones. Howe Dell primary school has its own wind turbine (风力发电机) to produce energy, uses rainwater to wash toilets, and uses desks made from recycled materials. These environmental parts of the building are relatively inexpensive, and over the life of the building, should provide a large return for the early costs. They also perform as valuable teaching materials when educating students about the environment.
Another example in the UK is a private house in Wales, known as the "Hobbit House". It is made from wood and the walls are made from straw. Solar panels provide electricity for lighting and electrical equipment. Water is supplied directly from a nearby river and is also collected from the rain for use in garden to avoid wasting clean water. Houses like this one are green because they do not use oil or gas, but instead use renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power.
However, critics of these kinds of environmentally friendly building say that while they may be good for the environment, there are practical problems with their affordability, as they are too expensive to become a method of construction ( 建 筑 ) that can be widely used. There are further worries about their long-term efficiency. Not much energy can be produced by solar panels in the UK, and not every location has natural water source. In order to pay for environmentally friendly construction and produce an affordable building, compromises have to be made. These may be that the building will have to be smaller or made of less durable materials and with less energy﹣hungry technology.
The benefits for constructing green buildings are clear. The United Nations Environment Programme believes that the construction accounts for (占 ) 30-40% of energy use in the world. We need to reduce this energy use for the good of the Earth. However, it remains to be seen whether we are now able to accept the cost and practical problems of producing and living in environmentally friendly buildings.

18． HUTONG
Every year thousands of tourists come to China. They come to see the great sights of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City but often it is the hutongs that leave the strongest impression (印象), as they offer travelers an unusual view into Beijing's past. Hutongs connect courtyards of traditional houses and are a feature of ancient Chinese building. Beijing's hutongs are especially famous, however, as there are thousands of them. Nowadays, the word "hutong" has come to mean more than just the alleys (小巷) , which connect the courtyards. It also refers to the courtyards themselves and even the communities.
Most of Beijing's hutongs were built between the 13th and 19th centuries during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. To help them manage the city, the Emperors (皇帝)during these periods organized different areas of Beijing and had houses built around courtyards. The Emperor's home, the Forbidden City, was in the centre of Beijing and the homes of the nobles (贵族) and rich people were in hutongs closest to the palace. Normal people lived in the hutongs further away from the palace.
By connecting people's homes, the hutongs in fact connected people's lives, whether the lives of the rich or the lives of the poor. Because the houses were built facing each other around courtyards, the families who lived there were an important part of each other's lives. They supported each other when help was needed and shared the happiness and sadness of everyday life. Because of the hutongs, courtyards were joined together for miles around creating a network of people working, playing and living together — a real community.
Hutongs are still an important part of Beijing's life and it is not surprising that tourists love the hutongs. They can walk up Sanmiao Street, which dates back 900 years, wander down Dongjiaominxiang — the longest hutong at 3km, or squeeze through Qianshi — the narrowest ( 窄 )at only 40cm wide! The hutongs not only connect Beijing's streets and communities, but also its past and present, showing that Beijing is truly an ancient yet modern city.
1. What do hutongs offer travelers?
                                                                                
2. Besides the alleys, what does the word "hutong" refer to nowadays?
                                                                                
3. When were most of Beijing's hutongs built?
                                                                                
4. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
                                                                                
5. What is special about Dongjiaominxiang?
                                                                                

19．假如你是李华, 将代表班级参加你校组织的以"垃圾分类"(litter sorting)为主题的英文演讲比赛．比赛前, 你打算给你校的外教老师 Mr. Green 写一封邮件, 请他帮忙指导．请告诉他你的演讲内容, 以及需要他提供什么帮助．
提示词语: reason, ways, grammar, correct
提示问题:
● What are you going to talk about in your speech?
• What do you want Mr. Green to help with?
Dear Mr. Green,
I'm writing to ask for your help with my English Speech Competition.                                                                                 
I'm looking forward to your early reply.
Yours,
Li Hua