When a terrible earthquake (地震) hit, many people were killed and many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

One Sunday, when I     1     (read) a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children     2     (help) those who were less lucky than themselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan. “We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing. Let’s     3     (share) what we have with them.”

I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I     4     (encourage) the boys to choose their toys and donate (捐赠) some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. “Oh, dear,” I said. “You don’t have to give Lucy. You     5     (keep) it for such a long time. You love her so much.” Meghan said, “Lucy     6     (make) me happy, Mommy. Maybe she     7     (make) another little girl happy, too.”

I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It’s easy to give something that we don’t want any more, but harder to give what we cherish (珍爱), isn’t it?

Ms. Miller and Mr. Smith have different ideas on doing chores. Ms. Miller doesn’t understand why some parents make their kids     1     with housework and chores at home. Kids have to study     2     do homework. We should just let them do     3     jobs as students. The kids should spend their time on schoolwork in order to get good grades and get into     4     good university. There is no need     5     them to do housework now. It is the     6     job to provide a clean and comfortable environment at home for their children. She doesn’t mind     7     chores.

But Mr. Smith thinks it is     8     for children to learn how to do chores and help their parents with housework. It is not enough just to     9     good grades at school. Doing chores teaches them how to     10     care of themselves. Everyone should do their part in keeping the house clean and tidy.

【推荐3】An Mingzhong is a 12-year-old boy from Guangzhou. He was l    1     in the past. In his own words, he used to h    2     do housework. But now, things have changed. Doing the dishes, cooking and making the bed...all of these have become part of An’s daily life and he can finish them perfectly.

This big change is the result of a new project started last term at his school. It has made housework part of its students’ homework, hoping to improve students’ s    3     of responsibility and life skills.

An has learned how tired his mother gets after doing housework every day. On Women’s Day, he made a cake as a g    4     for his mother to express his thanks. “I’ve begun to better understand my parents and it’s my pleasure to s    5     my happiness and sadness with them.” An said.