Tom’s father is a farmer. He was lazy when he was 14 years old. To solve the problem, his father ________ him to work on the farm for one year when he was free. Tom was ________ with his father’s idea and said, “That isn’t my job. I have too ________ schoolwork to do.” Hearing this, his father said, “I promise to give the best present if you ________ finish one year’s work.” Tom thought for a while and ________. Starting from one Saturday, the boy got up early and worked ________ until evening, just like any other farmer. Time passed quickly. Tom’s crops grew well. ________ the last day of the year, the farmer called his son to him. “I’m happy to see that you have worked very hard the whole year,” said the father. “Now tell me ________ you want.” The boy smiled and showed his father a big piece of bread made from his wheat. He said, “I have already got the ________ present. No pains, no gains. I think this is what you wanted ________ to know.” His father was quite pleased to hear that.

Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don’t have enough time to relax or to stay with their family.

Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1,646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2,159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.

Why do people work so many hours? Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don’t pay overtime. Their workers don’t get more pay for more work. Some people think it’s their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t work more hours.

Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get four to six weeks, and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull (迟钝的) boy.” If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.

Do you often stay inside the house? The world outside is filled with secrets. So many secrets are there. They are so interesting that thousands of people are busy studying them. Birds, animals, trees and flowers are all around us. The truth about how they live and grow is quite interesting.

An interesting thing: A doctor lives near Washington D.C. He was so interested in insects that he began to collect them. He now has over one thousand different kinds of them. He kept them carefully in glass boxes.

Don’t stay at home. Come out and follow me to find some of the nature’s secrets. Let us go quietly through the forests and fields. Here we can find how a hare tells the other hares where there is danger. We can follow a mother bear and her young ones when they try to look for food and get ready for their long sleep. We can watch bees dancing in the air to tell the other bees where they can find food. I’ll show you many other interesting things, but I think the best thing is to keep your eyes and ears open when you go outdoors.

86. 以“My classmate and I”为题写一篇短文，比较你和好友的特征。要求词数达到60—80词。要点如下：

My classmate and I