All About "A-thons"

    A marathon is a long-distance running race. Now it is not only a competition, but some people organize marathons for charity. Runners get friends, families and other people to support {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (they). They promise to provide a certain amount of money for every race. For example, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the runner runs one kilometer, the providers will each give the runner $1 for the charity. Much of money can be raised this way. However, not everyone can run, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} people in the USA have thought of other ways to raise money, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) the idea of marathon.

    Walk-a-thons: A walk-a-thon is similar {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a marathon, but people walk instead of running. This is one of the most popular {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (way) for people to raise money.

    Read-a-thons: Many schools organize read-a-thon to raise money. Students can get money {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (easy) for the number of books they read in a given amount of time. Little kids can also get money according to how many pages they read. The read-a-thons {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (hold) not only to raise money, but also to encourage teenagers to read.

    Bowl-a-thons: Bowling is an interesting sport for many {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (America). In a bowl-a-thon, people raise money for every point they get in the game. The {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (high) the score is, the more money they make for the charity.

    Have you ever heard of Tree Shaping? It is the practice of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(make) trees and other woody plants form(形成) beautiful or {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (use) shapes. There is a man in Australia and he {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (have) the hobby of making plants. He was a jewelry(珠宝) maker {#blank#}4{#/blank#} he was young. Then he got an orchard(果园) and he began to take care of it by {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (him). {#blank#}6{#/blank#} working with trees there, he got {#blank#}7{#/blank#} idea of making a chair with trees. Then he began to make {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (difference) furniture. Until now, he has made chairs, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} coffee table, a garden gate and so on. The man's hobby is unusual but it {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (real) has a lot of fun.

    Hello, everyone. My name is Jenny. Today we played football together after school. It was a fair competition. We {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(lose). The score was three to four.

    In the English class this morning, I had the p{#blank#}2{#/blank#} of talking to Mary. She is from Hong Kong. She invited me {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(go) to the movies with her next Sunday.

    Last Saturday, my mother bought a p{#blank#}4{#/blank#} of jeans for me. She also bought me a purple blouse. Everyone liked them. On Wednesday, Brian is arriving from the U.K. He {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(stay) with my family for the next two years. I am very happy.

    Dr Irene Pepperberg, a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(science)at a university, has worked with Alex for many years.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(teach)Alex to speak and understand wasn't easy at first. He had to learn one word at a time. Irene and an assistant(助手)would teach Alex by {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(show)him the meaning of a word. Irene would hold up an object, saying, "What's this? "Her assistant would give the word "candy". It took Alex many weeks {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(learn)his first word. After that, each new {#blank#}5{#/blank#}became easier and easier for him. Why did Irene spend so much time {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(get)a parrot to talk? Scientists like Irene are interested {#blank#}7{#/blank#}discovering how intelligent animals are and how their brains work. But studying animal intelligence has always been difficult, partly because animals haven't been able to communicate {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(clear)with humans. Teaching Alex to speak words that he understands has let Irene {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(talk)to him directly. She can ask him questions, and he can answer them in English. In this way, Irene is finding {#blank#}10{#/blank#}things Alex can do. She has found out that parrots are much smarter than scientists used to think.