13．My Joyful Hobby
Do you have any hobbies? Many of us exercise, do volunteer work, or learn interesting skills in our spare time. What do you enjoy doing the most in your free time?

14．A Special Card
　　"Attention, everyone!" Miss Dalrymple looked at her class of ten-year-olds. "Today we are going to create a special card for Father's Day, which falls on this weekend." Then she busied herself handing out the paper and art materials to her noisy pupils.
　　They were a mixed punch. Some came from the rich side of the town, but the majorities (大部分) were from parents who struggled to get jobs. So she had not been eager to carry out this activity.
　　"Think about all the things that your dad does that makes him special, "she said loudly as she came up to the last table. "You can write a poem or short story that makes your dad special. The written part of this activity should be completed before you start to decorate your card."
　　Andrew looked at the blank page. He had never met, spoken to, or been hugged by his dad, so how could he write about him?Once when he was looking in his grandma's photo box, he had seen an old black and white photo but it was badly creased (弄皱) and difficult to recognize any clear features (特点). Grandma had quickly taken it from him and buried it deeply among the rest, never to be found again. After thinking for a while, he wrote:
　　Dear Dad,
　　You are a person I do not know and would probably not recognize as I only saw an old photo of you a long time ago. I think and wonder about you often, especially when I have no one to talk to. One day when I grow up I will do an Internet search to find you, but I am not sure whether I will be successful as several efforts by the Child Support Agency have not been successful.
　　Happy Father's Day, Dad.
Love,
Andrew

15．　　If you're a book lover, you have a pile of books on your bedside, or a bookshelf in your library with a"to read" sign on it. Yet you can't stop yourself from adding to the pile. This can lead to feelings of guilt over your new purchases. But I'm here to tell you to stop worrying.
　　What you have is an antilibrary, and it's a very good thing. The term comes from writer Umberto Eco. He is the owner of a large personal library. He separates visitors into two groups;those who react with "Wow!What a library you have! How many of these books have you read?" and the others who get the point that a private library is not something to show off but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection an antilibrary.
　　If you think you already know everything about a subject, you're cutting yourself off from a steam of information at an artificial (假的) point. So a growing library of books you haven't read means you're consistently curious about the unknown. And that attitude is a great basis for a lifelong love of learning.
　　So don't feel guilty over your unread books. Those books will be there for you when you do want them, and as you build your library of read and unread books, you can start using it as you would use a bigger library. Certain books may become references (参考书) more than read﹣throughs. Or you may find that a book you bought five years ago has special relevance today.
　　Letting the role of books evolve in your life is a healthy sign of curiosity. That's good for you and good for the world around you.

16．　　Do you know we are living in the world of mass media?Mass media are tools of communication and allow us to record and pass information rapidly to a large, scattered (分散的) audience. However, have you imagined what life would be without the media?Are you a media user who would go mad after two hours without TV, friend requests, exciting online games and your mobile—or would you easily survive?
　　Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban (禁止) by unplugging (拔插头) all forms of media devices (设备) for 24 hours.
　　Unplugged is being run by Dr. Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University. The experiment is now over but he doesn't yet know the full findings. However, during the experiment, Dr. Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers. He said: "They're reporting withdrawal (孤僻) signs, overeating, feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected."
　　During their 24﹣hour unpleasant experience, three volunteers had to put up with one interruption from the media:a BBC reporter plus cameraman who followed them around for the day. They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops. Elliot Day wrote: "Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air. Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers."
　　From Caroline Scott, we read: "I didn't expect it, but being taken away from the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual... I didn't break out in a cold sweat like Dr. Roman Gerodimos expected us all to, but it's not something I would like to do again!"
　　And Charlotte Gay wrote: "I have to say the most difficult item for me to be has been without my mobile;not only is it a social thing, it's my main point of communication. "
　　Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once. And a recent study by Nielson found that on average, US teenagers send and receive over 3, 000 texts per month — that's about six texts per waking hour.
　　So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?

17．Meet-a-scientist: Anne
　　Have you ever played with K'nex, Lego, or Mechana?Anne loved playing with toys to build things. She was interested in trying to understand how different pieces could fit together. She made up a system that turned on the light switch, like a Rube Goldberg machine!
　　Although she loved trying to do new things, this early science exploration wasn't always easy for Anne. She remembers getting upset when she couldn't understand how to get a Lego Robot to do what she wanted. Her dad told her: "Getting upset with a lack of progress is normal. When that happens, just take a break and then come back to it when it feels fun again!"
　　When Anne went to middle school, she was required to do a project for the science fair. Her first project was on soaking (浸泡) different kinds of wood in water and then seeing how much of a load (负载) they could hold before breaking. By following the steps of the scientific method and then creating a good presentation, she received recognition at the science fair. She says: "Even though I didn't win, that helped prove myself that I was possibly good at science."
　　So why go into science professionally?Anne says, "It was the most interesting thing I'd ever done. I have never run out of interesting things to learn about and I really like learning things. There are always unanswered questions, and they are the kind of questions that I find interesting!Even if other people already know the answers and you could look it up online, teaching yourself the process of finding answers is more important than finding the answers."

18．假如你是李华, 你们学校的英国友好校下周将要来访．学校国际部正在招募接待英国学生的志愿者, 陪伴他们度过周末．你想成为志愿者．请用英语写一封申请信, 在信中说明你申请的理由, 以及你打算拿给英国学生安排哪些周末活动．
提示词语:get along with, friendly, places of interest, Chinese dishes
提示问题:
1. Why would you like to be a volunteer?
2. What do you plan to do during the weekend?
Dear Sir/Madam,
　　I would like to be a volunteer to receive the British students. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
　　I'm looking forward to your early reply.
Yours,
Li Hua

19．　　Anna was a 9-year-old girl from a small village. She attended primary school, till 4th grade at her village. For the 5th grade onwards, she would have to get an admission (入学) in a school at a city nearby. She got very(1)       knowing that she was accepted in a famous school in the city. Today was the first day of her school and she was waiting for her school bus. Once the bus came, she got in it (2)      . She was very excited.
　　When the bus reached her school, all students started going to their classes. Anna also made it to her classroom. Upon seeing her (3)       clothing and knowing she was from a small village, other students started making fun of her. The teacher soon arrived. She (4)       Anna to the class and told them that she would be studying with them from today.
　　Then she told everyone to write down the Seven Wonders of the world. Everyone started writing the answer quickly. But Anna started to write the answer slowly.
　　When everyone except Anna had presented their answer paper, the teacher asked Anna, "What happened, dear? Don't (5)      . Just write what you know as other students have learned about it just a few days back. "
　　Anna replied, "There are many things. Which seven can I pick to write?" And then she handed her answer paper to the teacher. The teacher started reading everyone's answers and the majority had answered them such as The Great Wall of China, Colosseum, Stonehenge, Great Pyramid of Giza, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Taj Mahal, Hanging Gardens of Babylon etc.
　　The teacher was happy as students had (6)       what she had taught them. At last the teacher paper started reading Anna's answer paper. "The Seven Wonders are—To be able to See, To be able to Hear, To be able to Feel, To Laugh, To Think, To be Kind, To Love!"
　　The teacher stood (7)       and the whole class was speechless. Today, a girl from a small village reminded us about the gifts we have, which are truly a(8)      . So value what we have and use what we have.

20．Perfectly Imperfect
　　The artist Leonardo da Vinci, perhaps best known for painting the Mona Lisa, produced a drawing called the Vitruvian Man. In it, da Vinci showed his idea of the perfectly sized male body. But is this really what a perfect body looks like?
　　An imperfect man
　　Consider Michael Phelps. The winningest swimmer of all time, Phelps earned 28 Olympic medals. His body does not look like the Vitruvian Man. In fact, Phelps' body is quite unusual. The best swimmers tend to have long torsos (躯干) and short legs. Phelps is 6 feet 4 inches tall, but his torso is as long as what you would expect to see in a man who is 6 feet 8 inches tall. His legs are the length typical of a man who is 5 feet 10 inches. Phelps has long arms too. Like the Vitruvian Man, most people have a wingspan roughly the same as their height. Phelps' wingspan is 6 feet 7 inches, three inches longer than his height.
　　His ankles are extremely flexible and his feet are big. So Phelps' legs act like flippers (脚蹼) when he swims.
　　No one could argue that Phelps has a perfect body in da Vinci's sense. But is it correct to say it is imperfect?What does "perfection" mean when we are talking about human biology?Does it even exist?
　　What is physical perfection?
　　Maybe perfection has more to do with how a body works than how it looks. How we work actually depends upon how well we fit into our environment.
　　Here's an example from the animal kingdom. Imagine brown rabbits and white rabbits in a snowy field. Under these conditions, predators (捕食者) are less likely to see and catch the white rabbits. In a summertime field—all brown soil and green and golden plants—white rabbits are more visible (可见的) and easier to catch. Neither white nor brown fur is perfect for rabbit survival. Rabbits need different bodies for different seasons. And in fact, in some types of rabbits, fur color changes with the seasons. Like rabbits, all living things adapt to their environments. They need some changes to help thrive (茁壮成长) in their specific environments. But evolution (演变) isn't engineering. Often, imperfections that don't affect survival too badly get passed down through the generations.
　　Variation (变化) as a way to success
　　Michael Phelps' body is not perfectly symmetrical (对称的) or balanced. His physical variations, however, may have given him the advantages to be a close-to-perfect swimmer. Phelps' case is not the only one;top athletes show great variability that provides them with the physical characteristics to approach perfection in action. Usain Bolt, an Olympic sprinter (短跑运动员), has legs so long that it takes him four to five fewer steps to complete a 100﹣meter race than his competitors.
　　Simone Biles, another Olympic gold medalist, is both strong and small. It is perfect for her sport of gymnastics. She may also have a better-than-average ability to sense where her body is in space, perhaps making jumps easier than it would be for an average person. No athlete is born with the skills to win gold medals, though. Those achievements require years of effort.
　　Using variation to your advantage
　　Da Vinci's drawing of the Vitruvian Man put maths and art together. To da Vinci, the Vitruvian Man showed perfect proportions (比例). It was his image of the perfectly formed man. Da Vinci is a time﹣honored artist, but is there really such a thing as a perfect body?
　　No.
　　In biology, there is no such thing as one perfect body. In fact, variation in all living things, including us, is the rule. This variation is important for our life. Human variation has allowed us to live in wildly different environments — the tropics, deserts, and the Arctic — and to develop many different physical, mental, and emotional talents. Not only is there no perfect human body, but also our species thrives because we are different from one another, each of us suited to our own way of living.