13．　　It was Christmas. I wanted to do something very special for my fifteen-year-old son, who is always the perfect child. He worked all summer to (1)       money to buy an old dirt motorcycle (摩托车). Then he spent hours and hours fixing (修理) it until it looked almost (2)      .
　　I was so proud (自豪的) of him that I bought him the shiniest helmet (头盔) and riding outfit (装备) to wear. I could not wait for him to open up his (3)      .
　　The next morning, I went into the kitchen to start making breakfast. When I looked into the living room, I saw a beautiful keyboard (电子琴) with a big red bow (蝴蝶结) and a note: "To my wonderful mother, all my love, your son."
　　I couldn't believe my eyes. I had always wanted a piano so that I could take lessons. But my husband only (4)      : "Learn to play the piano first, and then I'll get you one."
　　I cried very hard, asking myself how my son could get me something so expensive. We kissed and hugged, and I wanted him to open my (5)       gift.
　　When he saw the helmet and outfit, he had a strange (6)       on his face. Then I suddenly knew what happened. He (7)       the motorcycle to get me the keyboard.
　　Of course I was the proudest mother ever on that day, and my feet never hit the ground for a month. The next day, my husband and I (8)       our son a new shiny motorcycle.

15．The Greatest Marathon (马拉松) Runner
　　About 20,000 runners enter the Boston Marathon every year. Some runners might be in wheelchairs (轮椅) or have an artificial (人工的) leg or arm. They start the marathon two hours before the other runners.
　　I will never forget the first time that I ran in that world-famous marathon. When I was halfway through it, there was a man who had only one leg ahead of me. He was using a pair of crutches to help him run. Every runner who ran past him called out some words of encouragement (鼓励), I also wished he could finish the race.
　　I finished my race in just under 3 hours and 30 minutes. After finding my family, we went back to our hotel room, and I shared the story of the runner with one leg. I wanted my children to know how special he was.
　　At around 6 p.m., we went to watch the last runners pass the finish line. We began to hear people cheering. The cheers grew louder (更大声的) and more powerful. Then I saw the man on crutches getting closer and closer to the finish line. It took him 8 hours and 15 minutes. As he reached the end, he suddenly held his crutches up in the air and finished his running on one leg. It was wonderful to watch him pass the finish line. I thought he was the most successful marathon runner in that race. And my children and I still talk about him now.

16．The power (力量) of the wind
　　Light winds help us fly kites in spring and cool us in summer. Strong winds take away people's lives. Winds can be friendly or dangerous. They can also work for us.
　　Wind power is not new. Five thousand years ago, the Chinese first used windmills (风车). In 700 A.D., the Syrians and Persians used them too. In the seventeenth century (世纪), the people of the Netherlands built windmills to get seawater. Now we can use the wind to make electricity (电).
　　In many countries, wind turbines (风力发电机) are very common (普通的). A group of turbines is called a wind farm. Wind farms are usually in fields (田地).
　　Wind energy (能源) has several advantages. One advantage is that there will always be wind. Wind power is also clean. It doesn't cause (引起) air pollution (污染). Farmers like wind power because electric companies pay them to use their land. And they can still grow crops (庄稼) and keep animals on their farms.
　　Wind power also has some disadvantages. One is that turbines are expensive, although the cost has gone down these years. A second disadvantage is noise pollution. This was a greater problem in the past. Today, if you stand under a turbine, you hear only a soft sound. You won't hear turbines at all 100 meters away. For some people, a third disadvantage is visual (视觉的) pollution, but other people like to see turbines turning together.
　　Today, wind power is growing fast. A lot of countries get their energy from wind. Denmark (丹麦) gets 20% of its energy from wind. China is going to get 26% of its energy from wind in 2030. Perhaps one day, all countries will use this safe, clean energy to make electricity.

17．　　Do you have any trouble when you try to choose a gift? Perhaps you need a birthday present for a friend who is hard to please. How about clothing? You might be worried about choosing the wrong size or color. Books or DVDs? You may not know enough about the person's likes or dislikes. And giving money may not seem right. Well, how about a gift card?
　　A gift card is a card that comes from a certain (某一个) store. A gift-card holder can spend the amount of money on the card in the store. These cards can help stores make a lot of money. One reason is that when gift-card holders go to the store, they often see other things to buy and spend more. Unused cards also help stores make money because many people never use their cards. They lose them, forget about them, or decide that it's not worth (值得) the trip.
　　Gift cards are becoming popular in many countries around the world. Why? People love the cards which are easy to buy and easy to use, whether in the store or online. The receiver can choose his or her own gift, and the giver does not have to worry about finding the right thing.
　　Receiving a gift card, however, is not the same as receiving a gift. A real gift always helps us think of the person who gave it. The message (信息) of a real gift is like this, "I spent some time trying to find the right gift for you because I care about you." Often a gift card does not have the same message as a real gift. It may seem to say, "I was in a hurry. I didn't have time to think about what you would really like."
　　In today's busy world, gift cards make gift-giving easy. However, they can make us easily forget the true meaning of giving gifts. When we give gifts, we want to build a closer relationship (关系) with the people who receive them.

18．　　Hans Christian Andersen was a famous writer of stories for children. He was born in a poor family in Denmark in 1805. Andersen's father was a shoemaker and his mother worked as a washerwoman. His father died when he was eleven. Hans found a few jobs. Finally, at the age of fourteen he moved to the capital of Denmark to work as a singer in a theatre — he had a beautiful voice. But after two years he had to leave it when his voice began to change. Then he went on to study and later he traveled around Europe.
　　His first book came out in 1835. He wrote many stories for children, but older people also liked them. Some of his stories are very famous, such as The Ugly Duckling and The Little Match Girl. He died in his home in 1875.
　　Today people still like to read the stories and they can read them in many languages.

Life Story of Hans Christian Andersen

19．From Hamburg to hamburgers
　　People think that American people first made hamburgers, but that is not true. Hamburgers only arrived in the country in the middle of the nineteenth century. German immigrants (德国移民) who came from the city of Hamburg brought them to the USA.
　　At first, American people called them "hamburg steak". Only sailors (海员) ate hamburgers in the United States. They put the meat between two pieces of bread and enjoyed it while they worked on the ship. In 1904, while industry (工业) was growing, workers needed something fast and cheap to eat. In 1921, the first chain (连锁) of fast food places started. Its name was "White Castle" and it sold very cheap hamburgers. In the 1930s, "drive-ins" became very popular. People could stay in their cars and waited for their food. In 1937, Dick and Maurice McDonald also opened a small drive-in California. Drive-ins became meeting places for young people, but families didn't go there, because they were too noisy. The McDonald brothers decided to change all that in 1948. Waitresses (女服务生) stopped serving (接待) people in their cars. The families started coming in. Then other drive-in owners copied McDonald's and soon many fast food places became popular all over the United States.
　　Now this round flat cake of ground beef is one of the most popular food in the USA and the world. With or without cheese, onions or tomatoes, the hamburger can be found in Austria or Australia, Jamaica or Japan.

24．题目①
假如你是李华，你们班计划下周六要去儿童福利院做志愿者活动，打算邀请交换生Peter参加。请你用英文写一封电子邮件，告诉他集合的时间和地点，去那的交通方式，以及活动安排。
提示词语：school gate, bus, play games, sing, tell stories
提示问题：
●When and where are you going to meet?
● How are you going to the Children's Home?
●What are you going to do there?

25．题目②
某英文报社正开展以“快乐旅行”为主题的征文活动。假如你是李华，请你用英文写一篇短文给报社投稿，谈谈你的一次快乐旅行。
内容包括：你去了哪儿，什么时候去的，在那儿看到或者做了什么以及你当时的感受。
提示词语：last summer, take photos, eat, buy, happy
提示问题：
●When and where did you go?
●What did you see or do there?
●How did you feel?
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