13．A Surprise for Mother
　　Jim, Nancy and May went to bed. Mother said good night, but the children were not (1)      . "Now," said Jim, " let us all think about a surprise for Mother. What shall we give her for her birthday?" "We have no (2)      ," said Nancy. "Maybe we can make something for her."
　　The children thought and thought. At last May said, "Oh, I'll tell you." And she began to (3)      very fast. "Oh, oh!" said the other children. "That is just the thing!Mother will like that best of all. "Before long they were asleep.
　　All the next day the children were very busy (4)      something. They did not let their mother see what they were doing. "It will be fun to surprise Mother, "said Nancy. " She will never (5)      what we are doing for her. "" We must try to get up very early tomorrow morning," said Jim. "I wish tomorrow would come soon," said May.
　　Next morning the children got up early. They were very busy making breakfast. After some time they called Mother. "Happy birthday!" they said. "(6)      is ready, Mother." When Mother came down, she went to the breakfast table. "Oh, what a surprise!" she (7)      . Then Mother saw three big cards on the table. Each card had something on it.
　　One of the big cards said, "Happy birthday, Mother!I will water the yard and cut the grass. "Another card said, "Happy birthday, Mother!I will be your errand girl. "Then Mother saw this card, "Happy birthday, Mother!I will make the beds and take care of the pet."
　　Mother said (8)      , "Thank you, children. This is a nice birthday surprise!"

15．Painting to Make a Difference
　　Bria Neff is a young artist. She loves painting and animals. When she was eight years old, she entered an art contest (比赛) hosted by International Fund for Animal Welfare (国际爱护动物基金会) and she won!She was so excited, but she didn't even know what 'endangered animals' meant. That night, her mum gave her the answer and also told her that many animals might disappear (消失). She felt sad, angry, and helpless. She told her mom she was going to help these wild animals.
　　She decided to paint the animals and sell her paintings to help protect and save them. She started studying endangered animals and painting them. She took many trips to the library to study the animals' lives, and she watched videos about them too. Then she would carefully think about how to paint them. It often took her from a few days to a few months to finish one painting.
　　When she learned she could sell her paintings on the Internet, she asked her mum to set up a website (网站) for her. Bria, 14, has painted over 300 paintings and she used her website to sell them. So far, she has donated more than ＄69, 000.
　　She is glad she can make a difference. "It doesn't matter how old you are, "she said. "You can change the world. No idea is too small."

16．Tears and More Tears
　　Sometimes people cry when they are sad. Other times people cry tears of joy. But your eyes make tears all the time, whether you are crying or not. In fact, you make 15 to 30 gallons of tears each year. Do you know that tears help keep your eyes healthy?
　　Tears keep your eyes from drying out. A special area of the eye drips all the time. It keeps the eye damp. If you look in a mirror, you can see tiny holes in the corners of your eyes. Each hole leads to a small tube (管) that runs to your nose. Tears run slowly into this tube drip by drip. Day and night the holes drain (排出) the tears away. If they didn't, you would always look as if you were crying!If you begin to cry, there are many more tears. The holes can't drain all of them. The extra tears flow out onto your face.
　　Tears help keep your eyes safe. If there is something harmful (有害的) in the air, the eyes fill with tears. These tears coat your eyes. They keep the harmful air out. They can also protect your eyes from bacteria (细菌). Tears aren't just water, they contain something called lysozyme, which can kill 90 — 95%of all bacteria in five to ten minutes.
　　The next time you find yourself crying, don't be ashamed (羞愧的): it's healthy to cry!

17．　　Most of us have told a lie (说谎) at one time or another. Some lies are harmful. Others are mostly harmless. But no matter what kind of lie you tell, it takes lots of brainpower (脑力) to pull it off. It may stop you from doing other important tasks.
　　When you tell the truth, your brain doesn't have to do any extra (额外的) work. But lying takes much more work.
　　Imagine you're late to class. The teacher asks why and you decide to lie. You might say:"I picked up a book from the library. "Your teacher asks:"The book I assigned (布置) last time?" You must decide how to answer the question. If you say yes, the teacher might ask to see the book. Then you might say: "No. It was a different book. "Now you have to think of a book title. You need to make sure it's a book the library actually has. See?When you lie, your brain works a lot to keep the lie from falling apart. It is easier just to tell the truth :"I got up late "
　　A lot of that brain work is done in a region called the prefrontal cortex. It's the part in charge of working memory (负责工作记忆), scientist Jennifer Vendemia told Science News for Students. Besides working memory, the prefrontal cortex also takes care of tasks such as planning, problem-solving and self-control. When young people are busy with lying, they'll have a harder time doing other things, like making study plans or eating a healthy diet. Therefore, think twice before lying next time!

18．　　After a full week of working or studying, you're probably too tired to get up early on Saturday morning. When you finally get up, you've already missed breakfast, but lunch is still a few hours away. So, what do you do?Well, brunch is a good choice (选择).
　　Where did this named meal come from?It got its name from the first two letters of breakfast (br-) and the last four letters of lunch (-unch). English writer Guy Beringer first used this word in 1895. Rich British people were the first to have brunch. They liked to go hunting. In between their day of hunting, they would stop to enjoy a mid-morning meal that included meat, eggs and many other things. This trend (趋势) first came to the US around the 1920s, mostly in Chicago.
　　At the very beginning, people only had this special meal on Sundays. Common dishes include eggs benedict, pancakes, French toast and bacon.
　　Today, brunch is very popular, but some people, including chefs, think brunch is almost too popular. People say that brunch is too expensive and top restaurants always have long lines. So sometimes people like to make a brunch meal at home with their family.

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