13．The Sweetest Gift
　　It was on a cold morning that my mother came into my bedroom with a red (1)      . She said it was very cold outside and asked me to wear it to school. "I spent the whole night wearing (编织) the sweater." She told me.
　　The sweater was so unfashionable and ugly that I didn't like it at all. After mom went out to work, I (2)       the ugly sweater to a corner. Although I would catch a cold, I didn't wear the sweater. I thought my classmates would (3)       at me. I put on a thin uniform and went to school.
　　Before I walked into the classroom, I heard Lana's voice, "Look at my overcoat. My father bought it in Hong Kong." Connie said, "My scarf is expensive, too"
　　I looked through the window and was surprised to see all the girls in colorful winter clothes but I didn't have. They (4)       their clothes to each other and laughed happily. Suddenly, I felt inferior (低于他人的) to them. Why wasn't my family as (5)       as theirs? I wanted to wear beautiful clothes, too.
　　A strong cold wind blew and I sneezed. During class I didn't feel very well. The school doctor said I had caught a cold. "You should wear warm clothes today." she said. I suddenly thought of my mom. She said the same thing to me but I didn't listen.
　　As soon as I got home, I fell asleep on the sofa. I (6)       of a woman weaving. She was my mother! She spent the whole night making a sweater for me. But I didn't thank her or wear the sweater, either.
　　When I opened my eyes, my mother was smiling at me. Her eyes were full of worry and (7)      . I held her in my arms and said, "Sorry, mom, I should (8)      complained (抱怨) about that sweater."
　　Two days later, I wore the warm and comfortable sweater to school. Some of my classmates laughed at me. But I didn't care. I know mom's love is more important than money.

14．　　What do you want to do later in life? Here are 4 teenagers talking about their hometowns and their dreams.

15．Running Your Own Race
　　Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new. When I was a teenager, I volunteered to pass out water to the runners at a local race. I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past.
　　I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it, too! The next year I was told about the race. Although I had little running practice, I decided to run for the race. I didn't want to win. My only goal was to experience it. I just wanted to finish. On the day of the race, it was very hot. After running for about 8 km, I thought, "I must be crazy. I am not good at running. Why did I do this? What was I thinking?" And at one moment, I even said to myself, "I am never doing this again!"
　　That first 10 km race was quite an experience. I ran, I walked, I ran and walked. At times, I didn't know if I could finish.
　　Near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very fast, and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的). I was more than 50 years younger than him, but I couldn't even keep up with him. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. How often in life do we compare (比较) ourselves to others when we really shouldn't? I decided that I would not give up running races, and one day in the future I would be one of those 70-year-old men who were still running.
　　As I crossed the finishing line, I was proud of myself. I didn't regret (后悔) having such an experience.

16．The Elephant Herd
　　The Elephant is lovely and it is very big. It has two big ears and a long nose. It has four strong legs and it can help people do many things, such as watering the flowers with its nose and carrying heavy things and so on.
　　The elephant is another animal that lives in groups. An elephant herd (群) usually has from twenty to forty members. The elephants in the herd usually depend on one another for help when they are in trouble.
　　The leader of the group is usually a wise and strong female (雌性的). She travels at the head of the herd and the other females and their young children follow her. The male elephants follow last. When the danger comes, the male elephants form a circle (圈) around the weaker animals and protect them. The members of the herd are loyal (忠诚的) to one another. A sick elephant is not left behind to die. If an elephant is sick, the whole herd stops traveling until it gets well. When an elephant is hurt, two others walk on both sides of it and support it with their bodies. A member of the herd may be caught in a trap (陷阱). Then the others try to help it. An elephant herd is just like a family of our people.
　　Elephants love the young in the group and give them special care and love. For example, they help young animals stay afloat (漂浮着) when the herd crosses a river. They work together to help a child get to the safety when it goes to a dangerous place. The way elephants love and care the youngsters is like ours.
　　When a female elephant gives birth to her young baby, she will go out of the herd and she usually leaves the herd for a short time. However, she takes another female along to act as "aunt". The aunt stands beside and helps the mother with her new-born baby. In this way, the whole herd protects its newest member.
That's the elephant herd. Do you like it?

17．　　There are many ways to help improve your health, like eating healthy food, exercising and getting medical help. But the easiest and cheapest way to improve your health is just to sleep eight hours or more every night. The general sleeping is that the younger you are, the longer sleep you need. But some people need to sleep more while it is enough for some people to sleep for a few hours.
　　The problem with sleep is that more and more people in the world are not sleeping enough. According to the World Health Organization, over half the people in the world may be sleep-deprived. Having less sleep not only makes people feel tired but also causes accidents. In the United States alone, sleepy drivers cause at least 100, 000 traffic accidents a year. Also, sleep problems can cause medical problems such as high blood pressure (高血压).
　　Why are so many people sleep-deprived? Part of the reasons may be cultural. In American culture, people put a higher value (价值) on work than on sleep. In fact, people who sleep a lot are usually seen as "lazy" . Also, you can sometimes hear some people say proudly that they don't have much time to sleep, and they only sleep four or five hours at night. It seems that the less you sleep, the more work you'll do.
　　How do we teach these people to learn the value of sleep? Perhaps they may listen to the advice of Dr. James Maas, an expert (专家) in sleep. He says, "Sleep is like a credit card (信用卡). When you sleep less, you are only borrowing time. You always have to pay it back. The more hours you don't sleep, the more hours you should sleep to 'pay back' the hours on your sleep credit card."
　　For those who value work more than sleep, they should listen to what a famous person once said, "Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the night. That is a foolish idea which is held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to do more."

18．　　DIY, which means Do It Yourself, is quite popular in the UK. Lots of stores and supermarkets sell DIY things. TV programs show people how to DIY.
　　English people like DIY. Some started to do DIY in the 1960s. There is a saying in the UK "An Englishman's home is his castle (城堡)". About 5. 6 million people spend their holidays making their homes beautiful "castles" every year. If there is anything that needs fixing around their homes, such as painting the walls or putting in a new shower, they will do the jobs themselves. They share DIY experience with their friends. More and more people enjoy the joy of DIY. Sometimes people also DIY to save money. With the economy (经济) becoming worse at present, many people don't have enough money to buy a big house. They are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. It is not surprising that DIY is so popular.
　　DIY can be difficult. There is a huge market for DIY furniture. People need to get together pieces of furniture with a few basic tools. However, people often find it not easy to build a piece of furniture because they can't understand the instructions. Sometimes the instructions are simple and clear, but the furniture itself is difficult to build. One thing is for sure, though most DIY projects are started with the best ideas, many of them may not get finished. DIY can also be dangerous. For example, anything electrical should be done by a professional worker. Unluckily, many people don't care about this warning and put themselves in danger. It is reported that in just one year 230, 000 people were hurt while doing DIY in the UK.
　　Therefore, DIY can bring us fun and help us save money, but it is not always as easy as it looks. Maybe factories should make products that are easier and safer for us to DIY. All in all, it is a very good and suitable thing for many people.

1. Is DIY quite popular in the UK?
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2. When did people start to do DIY in the UK?
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3. What do people need to get together pieces of furniture with?
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4. How many people were hurt while doing DIY in the UK in a year?
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5. Why do people in the UK like DIY?
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19．假如你是李华，你的英国笔友Mike想了解你的生活习惯。请你给他写一封电子邮件，内容包括：你对自己生活习惯的看法？你有哪些好的和不好的习惯？为了改善你不好的习惯，需要做什么？
提示词语： good habits， bad habits， healthy food，junk food，wash my hands，take a shower，exercise more
提示问题：● What do you think of your living habits？
● What good and bad habits do you have？
● What do you need to do to improve your habits？
Dear Mike，
I want to tell you something about my living habits.__________________________________
Yours，
Li Hua