It was two days before Christmas, when my ten-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bike. Her bike was too _________, and it needed fixing as well.

As Christmas _________, her dream for a bike seemed to disappear (消失), we thought, for she didn’t say it again. We were busy _________ some beautiful story books, a doll house, a holiday dress and toys. Then to our surprise, on December 24, she said she really wanted a bike more than _________.

Now we didn’t know _________ to do. It was just too late. We were busy with Christmas dinner and packing children’s presents, parents’ presents, a brother’s present and friends’ presents _________ midnight. So there was _________ time to take to buy the “right bike” for our little girl. When we thought we would make our child unhappy, we felt sorry and _________.

Suddenly my husband had an idea. “What about making a little bike with clay (黏土) and writing a note that she could trade in (交换) the model bike for a real one?” So he spent the next five hours carefully _________ with clay to make a small bike.

__________ Christmas morning, we were so excited for Almie Rose to open the little box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note.She opened and read the __________ loudly. She looked at me and said, “So, does this mean I can trade in this bike for a real __________?” I said with a smile, “Yes!” Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she answered, “I would __________ trade in this beautiful bike __________ Daddy made it for me. It’s __________ to keep it than to get a real bike. This is the best Christmas present I have ever got in my life!”

I work as a volunteer for an organization(组织) that helps the poor in Haiti. I decided to take my son Brain there for a week, hoping to educate him.

Before getting out, I told Brain this trip would be tiring and hard. For the first two days, he said almost nothing. Then on the third day, when we were climbing over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and smiled, “Really hard.”

After that, a five-year-old girl, wearing a too large dress and broken shoes, followed Brain around. Later he said regretfully(遗憾地), “I wish I could speak French.” I was surprised that this was from a boy who always hated French classes.

However, the moment that really reached my heart occurred in a village deep in the mountains. I was interviewing a woman villager for an article. By working hard, she had learned to read and write and became part of the leadership(领导层) of the village.

Learning her story, Brain was greatly touched. His eyes were wet and there was love and respect on his face. He finally understood the importance of my work. When leaving for home, Brain even offered to stay in as a volunteer. This trip was very meaningful.

Jane Goodall is a famous scientist. For more than 40 years, Goodall lived mostly in Tanzania in East Africa. She studied chimpanzees.

As a young child, Jane Goodall was interested in animals. She grew up in the English countryside and was always climbing trees or riding horses.

When Jane was 23, she got a chance to go to Africa. Even though she had never been to college, she got a job with a famous scientist named Louis Leakey.

On July 16, 1960, she began her exploration. At first, the chimpanzees ran away from Jane. But as time went by, they liked staying with her.

Every day, Jane would follow the chimpanzees, taking notes on their behavior. She learned many new things about chimpanzees. She watched how a chimpanzees made a tool. She learned how some chimpanzees became good leaders. She watched animals get angry and get upset. She wrote everything down so others would understand animals as she did. She learned that if you pay really close attention(关心) to animals, you will understand what they are “saying”.

People often get to try some new food when they travel. That is part of the fun of travelling. Here are four people’s experiences with foreign food.

David King is a Chinese student in France. “ I never had cheese or even milk before I came to France. We seldom see cows in my part of China. So I don’t drink milk or have things made from milk. I drank some milk when I first arrived in France. I hated it! I tried cheese, too, and I didn’t like it. But I love ice cream. The milk in it doesn’t taste bad.”

Birgit is from Sweden.She travelled to Australia on vacation.”I was in a restaurant. I heard some other people order flake, so I ordered some, too.It was delicious!Later, I learned that flake is an Australian name for shark. Now, every time I see new food, I am willing to try it. You know why? I remember how much I enjoyed flake.”

Chandra is a doctor in Texas. She is from India. “I’m afraid to try new foods because maybe there is beef in them.I’m a Hindu and my religion（信仰）stops me from eating meat from the cow.”

Nathan is from the United States. He taught for a year in China. “My friend gave me some 100﹣year eggs to eat. I didn’t like their looking at all. The eggs were grey inside, but my friend said the colour was all right. Chinese people put something on fresh eggs. Then they put them in the earth for three months. So the eggs weren’t really very old.Even so, I didn’t want to touch them.”

Now students’ English handwriting gets worse and worse. That makes their teachers feel worried. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are four steps that really work!

Using paper with lines(线条) can keep you writing straight instead of up or down when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be sure to fill the lined space completely.

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little.For some kids, going slower makes the handwriting clear. If you write too fast, it’s hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse, you may make more mistakes.

When you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier.Try to be relaxed(放松) and don’t hold the pencil so hard while writing, and then it makes your handwriting nice and clean.If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.

Drawing can improve(提高) your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control(控制) your pencil better when you are drawing pictures. If you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by yourself at home.

81. 假如你是Timmy，请给观鸟协会写一封100词左右的申请信，要求加入观鸟协会。包括以下要点：

I would like to join the Birdwatching Society. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Timmy