16．　　I was a single parent of four small children. Money was always tight but what we had, if not a lot, was always enough. My kids told me that those days they didn't know we were (1)      .
　　It was Christmas time, and (2)       there wasn't money for a lot of gifts, we had our plans to celebrate. The big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas shopping at the mall. They talked and (3)       for weeks ahead of time, asking each other and their grandparents what they wanted for Christmas. I only (4)      ＄120 for all five of us.
　　The big day arrived and we (5)       early. I gave each of the four kids a twenty-dollar bill and (6)       them to look for gifts about four dollars each. Two hours later we met back at the entrance.
　　Back in the car driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, (7)       and teasing (取笑, 戏弄) each other. My 8-year-old younger daughter, Ginger was (8)       quiet. I noticed she had only one small, flat bag. I could (9)       that she had bought candy bars-fifty-cent candy bars! I was so angry. what did she do with that twenty-dollar bill I gave her? I wanted to yell at her, but I didn't say anything (10)      we got home. I called her into my bedroom and (11)       the door, ready to be angry.
　　"I was looking (12)      , thinking of what to buy, and I stopped to (13)       the little cards on one of the 'Giving Trees'. One of the cards was for a 4-year-old girl, and all she wanted was a doll. So I took the (14)       off the tree and bought the doll for her."
　　"I only had enough money left to buy candy bars for us," Ginger continued. "She doesn't have anything, but we have so (15)      ."
　　I never felt so ashamed (惭愧的) as I did that day.

17．　　What do mothers think of housework? Let's read the following ideas.

18．　　While many young people were enjoying the summer vacation, Zach Bonner was working his hardest. Zach started walking from Valrico, Florida, on Christmas, 2009. He reached Los Angeles nine months later in September, 478 miles and raised 120,000 dollars for kids in need. Along the way, brother and sister took turns to walk or drive together with him.
　　Although he is very young, Zach has a long history of helping others. When a terrible storm hit down in 2004, Zach, pulled a wagon(小推车) through his community and collected food for people in need.
　　He has raised 400,000 for his Little Red Wagon Foundation since then. It gives money to projects which help homeless children. In 2007, Zach began walking to support a children's charity (慈善组织), Florida. He finished his journey 23 days later, 280 miles away in Tallahassee. Then in the summer of 2009 trekked about 670 miles from Atlants to Washington, D. C. , in just two months.
　　"As long as there are homeless kids, I will never stop walking for them." Zach says.

19．　　Most people agree that a pet adds joy to a person's life. Scientists are now finding that having a pet may keep its owner healthy. And good health may add years to a person's life.
　　Scientists have been studying the connection between pets and health for years. In 1990, a study was done with people aged 65 and older. It shows that pet owners go to the doctor less than people without pets. Do pets make people happier? Do they help people live on their own longer? If the answer to these questions is yes, then having pets may be a good idea.
　　Can pets really help people live longer? Rebecca Johnson did a survey to find out. Johnson taught nurses how to care for older people. She shared the findings of her study at a meeting about pets and the aging. Her study shows that having pets may cause people to age more slowly.
　　The human body makes many chemicals (化学物质). Some of the chemicals make people feel good. Others make people feel bad. In Johnson's study, levels of the good chemicals rose when people were around pets. Levels of the"bad" chemicals went down. The good chemicals seemed to slow the aging of cells (细胞), maybe people should spend more time with their pets. Then the levels of good chemicals will go up. People might feel better and age more slowly.
　　They might even live longer.

20．　　Alan Tattersall, from Australia, was preparing to go to Houston for business. He would spend 20 hours on a plane. His 17-year-old daughter, thought her father's snoring (打呼噜) was so bad that the passengers around might be upset. Then she did something really special.
　　"I've learned it from some young moms. They give out little care bags when they have babies on planes, ① their babies might be crying," Grace explained.
　　With the help of her mother, Grace bought some chocolates and earplugs (耳塞) and put them into 10 little care bags for Alan to hand out on the plane. They also put handwritten notes into them to say sorry for Alan's snoring.
　　"Enjoy your trip today," the note began. "We think you might need a little help if Alan falls asleep. So, we hope this little care bag ② "
　　"The snoring usually only lasts a short time."
　　Alan himself had no idea, Grace and her mother were preparing the bags. When they arrived at the Melbourne airport, they handed the bags over and told Alan to give them out.
　　Alan did as he was told, or at least he tried to. He said the people were busy listening to music or watching movies, so they didn't really care.
　　Anyway, he handed some out before the plane took off.
　　And some passengers really loved them.

21．选择单词或词组，用其适当的形式填空，使句子意思正确、通顺。每词限用一次。

27．假如你是Mike，你的朋友Alan给你写信说他最近很不开心。请你根据表格中的提示，给Alan回一封80字左右的信，不计入总词数。

Dear Alan,
　　I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy these days. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Mike