Have you heard about "Survival(生存) Holidays"? "Survival Holidays" is for children to go into the lonely place for exciting activities. Now about 1,100 companies are allowed to take children into the great outdoors without their parents.

    The reason why people like "Survival Holidays" is that they think being close to nature is good for children. Many children in big cities spend all time watching TV and playing computer games. "Survival Holidays" gives them an important change.

    Is "Survival Holidays" a wonderful idea? Maybe it is. Children need more free time to play. They need to be left on their own, without adults disturbing(打扰) them. Parents care too much about their children. They like to see the children being busy with activities that are controlled by adults, but children don't know what to do when they are in danger. Even something like crossing a small river seems to be a hard challenge. Children are not comfortable with danger. Even small danger like getting their feet wet or falling down seems very terrible to them.

    Many people think the survival activities are good for children. Even years later, they will still remember what they have learned. Some have learned to stay calm in different times. Some have learned how to keep safe. Others have learned how to work in a team. All these skills will help them a lot in their lives.

    Mike found a job in a bookstore after he finished middle school. He wouldn't do anything but wanted to get rich.   It was a cold morning. It snowed and there was thin ice on the streets. Few people went to buy books and the young man had nothing to do. He hated to read, so he watched the traffic. Suddenly he saw a bag fall off a truck and it landed by the other side of the street.

    “It is full of expensive things.” Mike said to himself. “I have to get it right now, or others will take it away.”He went out of the bookstore and ran across the street. A driver saw him and began to whistle (鸣笛), but he didn't hear it and went on running. The man drove to the side, hit a big tree and hurt himself in the accident. Two weeks later, Mike was taken to the court (法庭). A judge asked if he heard the whistle when he was running across the street. He said that something was wrong with his ears and he could hear nothing.“But you heard me this time,” said the judge.“Oh, I'm sorry. Now I can hear with one ear.”“Cover (盖住) the ear with your hand and listen to me with your deaf (聋的) one. Well, can you hear me?”“No, I can't , sir.”“You told a lie. There is nothing wrong with either of your ears,” the judge said.

    Little Bob was born in a poor village in New York. His father has been ill for a long time and can not do any housework at all. Bob's mother is very busy with the housework besides working. Bob understands how hard his mother works, and he always helps her with some housework. Though he has too much housework to do, his mother is still very strict with him. There are some family rules for Bob.

    He must take good care of his things in his room and keep them tidy. If he makes them dirty, he must clean them up at once.

    He is allowed to keep a parrot, a cat and a dog, but he must feed them often and give them water by himself every day. After school, he is allowed to play with his pets for a short time.

    As for his clothes, he isn't allowed to choose his own clothes. When his clothes are dirty, he should wash them by himself.

    On school nights, he can't go out alone and only on weekends, he is allowed to watch TV. Sometimes Bob hates the rules so much that he wants to break them, but he thinks the rules his mother has made are good for him, so he faithfully obeys them.

阅读下面短文,根据短文内容完成下列各题。

    Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.

    When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water 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 and a few wheeled past.

    I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race, but I had little running practice. I just wanted to finish.

    On the day of the race, it was terribly hot. After running for about 5 miles, I was thinking, "I must be crazy. Why did I do this？What was I thinking?" And at one moment, I said to myself, "I will never do this again!"

    That first 10km race was quite an experience. I jogged (慢跑), I walked, and I jogged and walked. At times, I didn't know if I could finish.

    Near the end, a 70­year­old man ran past me, very fast, and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) that I was more than 50 years younger than him and 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 ourselves to others when we really shouldn't？I decided that I would not give up, and that one day I would be one of those 70­year­old 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.

    Jim loved traveling in his free time. Once he walked to a sacred shrine(圣地) in the Himalayas. The journey was long and the mountain road was hard to walk on. Though he carried little baggage(行李),the road was very difficult for him. He kept sweating(流汗). Just ahead of him, he saw a little girl, less than 10 years old, carrying a boy on her back. She was also moving on slowly. She panted(喘气) heavily, but her hands still firmly held the boy on her back .

    When passing by the little girl ,Jim said to her, "My girl, you must be very tired because what you carry is so heavy！"Hearing this, the little girl said, "What you carry is a weight, but what I carry is not a weight; He is my little brother. I must take him to the hospital."

    It is true that both a brother and a burden(负担) have a weight. But what the little girl said is also true: What she carried was her little brother, not a weight. She loved her little brother from the bottom of her heart.