Why do we play sports? You might say “to get exercise” and you'd be right. To have fun? That's true, too. But there's more. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} According to a study, girls who play sports get a lot more than just fit.

　　Girls who play sports do better in school. You might think that playing sports will take up all your study time. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  Exercise improves learning, and memory, which can give active girls an advantage in the classroom.

Girls who play sports learn teamwork and goal-setting skills. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} When you work with coaches, trainers, and teammates to win games and achieve goals, you're learning how to be successful. Those skills will serve you well at work and in family life.

　　Playing sports improves self-confidence.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Why? It builds confidence when you know you can practice, improve, and achieve your goals. Sports are also a feel-good activity because they help girls get in shape, keep a healthy weight, and make new friends.

  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Playing sports can reduce stress and help you feel a little happier. How? The brain chemicals released during exercise improve a person's mood. Friends are another mood-lifter．And being on a team creates tight bonds between friends. It's good to know your teammates will support you－both on and off the field!

    Children grow quickly, especially their feet. But many families, cannot a{#blank#}1{#/blank#} new shoes when a child needs them. As a result, about 300 million children around the world go barefoot. Those children risk picking up diseases and parasites（寄生虫）from the soil.

    An American man has a s{#blank#}2{#/blank#}． for those barefoot kids – a shoe that grows with the child. Kenton Lee is the creator of The Shoe That Grows. He explains how the shoe works and how it is able to last so long.

     “It grows in three places: the front, the side and the back with the child. It can last up to five years. The b{#blank#}3{#/blank#} is compressed（压缩的）rubber like tire rubber. The top is just high-quality leather.”

    The shoe comes in two sizes: small that fits children aged 4 to 9 and large for children aged 9 to 14. Lee says he got the idea for the shoe while working as a v{#blank#}4{#/blank#} in an orphanage in Kenya. “… and there was a little girl in a white dress walking next to me. And I just remember looking down and seeing how small her shoes were. And she had to c{#blank#}5{#/blank#} open the front of her shoes to let her toes（脚趾）stick out. At that time I just remember thinking, wouldn't it be nice if there were a pair of shoes that could grow with her feet?” However, Lee says it was i{#blank#}6{#/blank#} to turn his idea into a reality at that time. “Yet I kept writing down I should do this because of this or because of that. All these reasons why it really was important for me to try to make the shoes grow are to try to help them.” Finally, in 2009 Lee founded a non-profit organization called Because International. Together, they have sent over 50,000 pairs of shoes to 70 countries. Lee says a pair shoes gives a child self-worth and more chances to succeed b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} much protection.

    Now more people in the country choose to work in cities and leave their children at home. They have no time to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} for their children. So the problem of left-behind children (留守儿童) is getting more and more {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    One of the biggest problems {#blank#}3{#/blank#} that the children are all hungry for the love from their parents. A research shows that about 15.1% of the children are {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to see their parents in a year, even during the Spring Festival. And only about 26.3% of the children can talk with their parents {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the phone only once or twice a month. When they are in trouble, they have no one to talk with and nobody can give them good {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. There are also many other problems, such as having no ability to protect themselves, eating unhealthy food, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} too much pocket money and time on the Internet and so on.

    More and more people think we should do something to help them. The government is trying to protect the children at home and free their parents from worries about their children. "Children can't be with their parents very often, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} we should give them more care and love," said one official (官员).

    In a word, the government, families and schools need to try their best to solve all the problems together.