Every week, Julia would go to visit her grandparents. ①The grandfather would give each child a few coins and tell them to buy something they like. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They would buy toys and candy. After they grew a little bit older, their parents thought that it was time for them to learn how to manage（管理）money. So the parents asked the children to think of ways to manage money.

Ruben is the cleverest boy. He decided to earn money by buying and selling things. ②他得到了来自全家的支持。{#blank#}2{#/blank#}But Nico, the smallest child, still spent the money as usual. Ruben thought ③it was unfair and he stopped saving his money, too.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    For little Julia, she had a wonderful, secret plan. But ④她的父母对她感到非常失望. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}They thought Julia wasn't doing anything.

    One day, Julia came with a violin and played it for the family. Everyone was surprised. They knew that Julia liked the violin. ⑤but her family was too poor to afford the violin classes for her. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}So, Julia found a street violinist and asked his to teach her. In return, she gave his all her money. The violinist was deeply moved by Julia. He taught her for months and rent a violin to her. Then, Julia gave performances with the violinist in the street. By doing this, she earned enough money to pay for the violin.

    Each and every year, during Chongyang Festival, citizens of China celebrate the elders in their families and communities. It's a special tradition which is rooted in the deep value that Chinese culture places on honouring their elders.

Sadly, many of our aging population are seniors without sons, daughters or grandchildren to visit. While they may have great friends, they no doubt miss the tender and loving relationships unique to families. To fill this void（空虚）, many volunteers turned up on October 28 at nursing homes around the country in order to spend time with the residents. In some cases, they performed humble（谦逊的） gestures of kindness, such as combing their hair or washing their feet.

    While the kind acts were appreciated, one embarrassing story out of Anhui province raised a valuable question. Reportedly, one old gentleman had his feet washed seven times during the day by different volunteers. Is this genuinely（真诚地） caring for the elderly? Many of the residents at the home said that those gestures do not make them feel cared for at all. Their family members or community volunteers may drop by for a few hours of token time, but soon they disappear back into their busy lives.

    There is nothing we can give that is more valuable or appreciated than our time. While you may feel like there is barely enough time to care for your many responsibilities, might it be possible to spare just a moment as you walk home from school to sit with a senior who lives in your community? Just five minutes is not going to prevent you from getting your homework done, but it may totally change a day of loneliness into a day of joy for one old man or woman. Do you live far from your grandparents? Why not pick up the phone and let them know you're thinking of them? Or maybe you could remind them of the “good old days” and mail them a short letter. Imagine their surprise and joy!

We live in a complicated（复杂的） and busy world, but kindness and caring is still a very simple thing.

(  B  )

    GIY stands for "grow it yourself'. There is a new fashion for growing your own food. And there are a lot of reasons why growing your own food is a good idea.

    GIY helps reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (排放物). Food in supermarkets travels a long way, which produces a lot of CO₂. If you grow as many vegetables as you can at home, you can help save the earth.

    GIY can be good for people's health. Compared with supermarket vegetables, vegetables you grow by yourself are better for your health. Because they have more nutrients (营养品) and they don't have chemicals.

    GIY can also save your money and make you popular. First of all, seeds are much cheaper than vegetables. And secondly, you can save more by planting the most expensive and the most productive (多产的) vegetables. Thirdly, you can give your vegetables to friends and neighbors, which will make you very popular.

    Don't worry if you don't have much space. To GIY, you don't even need a garden. You can use pots on your balconies (阳台). And don't worry if your space could get much sunshine. You can plant vegetables that don't need a lot of sunshine.

    Grow your own vegetables now. You will have both a healthier body and a healthier social life.

    One day, when Sunee reached her house, she saw a brown package(包裹). She ran inside the house with her package and showed it to her grandmother. Sunee opened the package. As she did, she noticed there was Thai writing on the box. This package had come from her aunt in Thailand.

    Inside the box, Sunee saw something uncommon. It was a red silk umbrella. She had never seen anything like it! Next to the umbrella she found a silk purse (钱包).They were both beautiful.

    "Shipping a package overseas used to take a lot of time," said Grandmother. "Packages traveled by train and ship. It could take many months to get a package from across the ocean. How long did your package take to arrive?"

    Sunee and her grandmother looked at the postmark (邮戳). It showed that the package had been sent eight days ago. "That's fast!" said Sunee.

    Her grandmother agreed. "We have resources (资源)now that we didn't have years ago. Now, packages are flown across the ocean. Because airplanes travel so fast, packages arrive very quickly. Now our economy (经济)depends on fast delivery (快递)!"