I and many other people in Britain love charity (慈善) shops because we can find them on every street. The charity shops sell all kinds of things and they are very cheap.

Oxfam opened the first charity shop in 1947. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favorite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross Shop. There I always find children’s books, all 10 to 20 pence (便士) each. They are really cheap.

Most of the shop workers in charity shops are volunteers, although each shop has a manager and he gets some money. Every morning you see bags of things outside the shops. Some people bring and put them there without waiting for thanks. In fact, over 90% of the things in charity shops are from kind people.

All the money the shops get goes to charity work. Charity shops raise more than 110 million pounds every year. The money is for sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and many others. In a charity shop you can get cheap but nice things. You might even feel special while shopping.

If possible, let’s do something for charity together.

Gordon, a high school student, now can play thirteen instruments — though he never learned music.

As a small child, he loved sports, dreamed of playing lacrosse (长曲棍球) as a career, and had no     1     in music.

“He really had no musical talent,” his mother told the reporter. “When he played lacrosse with a local team in Grade Six, he     2     backwards and knocked the back of his head against the ground.”

“I remember getting up and then feeling dazed (神志不清的),” he told the reporter. “I didn’t really     3     something bad happened.”

The doctors told him he could     4     to the field. He did so, but unluckily he went on to suffer another hard     5     on the head, which sent him to the hospital again.

After that, the doctors told him he couldn’t play sports     6    , but there was one good side effect: his newly found     7    .

“Now I can play many instruments, such as piano, guitar and violin. Music is the thing that gets me up in the morning,” he said.

4 . Alice was born with a strange disease. Her parents took her to many hospitals. None of the doctors knew the cause of the disease. They told her parents she would go blind and deaf.

Now Alice is fifteen years old. She can’t see or hear     1     (clear). But she is a bright and happy girl. She says to     2     (she), “Whatever happens, I     3     never______(give) up.” She hopes to enjoy her life. With her     4     (parent) help, she is travelling as much as she can. She also wants to help people like her. Her dream is     5     (help) researchers find a way for her disease. If she can get well, people who have the same disease may also be cured (治愈). In fact, she raised over $150,000 for a foundation (基金会) fighting the disease.

Alice thinks helping others can make her happier.

5 . It was a cold day in December in New York City. A little boy about ten years old was standing     1     front of a shoe store on Green Street. He     2     (look) through the windows, barefoot (赤脚的) and shivering (颤抖的) with cold. A lady walked to the boy and said, “My little boy, what 3 you     3     (do)?” “I am asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” the boy said.

The lady took him by the hand and went into the store. She asked the clerk     4     (get) a pair of socks and a pair of shoes for the boy. Then the lady     5     (put) on the socks and shoes for the boy. She patted (轻拍) him on the head and said, “My little boy, are you feeling more comfortable now?”

With tears in the boy’s eyes, he answered the question with these words, “Are you God’s wife?”

“No, I’m a mother,” said the woman.

7 . No one wants to be in a life-or-death situation. However, if you are getting into such a dangerous situation, what will you do, fight or flight?

When 13-year-old Joe Rowlands and his dad were in a kayak (皮划艇) accident, the brave teenager chose to fight. He not only fought for his own life, but also saved his father’s.

On that day, Joe and his father Paul were out on their kayak off the coast of Anglesey in the UK. Suddenly they noticed that the kayak was starting to fill with water. Then they found out there was a hole in the floor of the boat. Without another choice, Paul turned the boat over. He asked Joe to climb on top so that he could push the boat to a nearby island.

However, the rough (汹涌的) waves made it too hard for Paul to push the boat to land. They had to swim without the boat. Luckily, Joe made his way-to the island safely. But when he looked back, he found his dad was no longer swimming. Risking his life, Joe jumped back into the cold water and managed to drag (拽) his dad up onto some rocks. Then Joe did CPR (心肺复苏) on his dad until he came around.

“I’m very proud of him. He acted with courage (勇气),” Paul said of his son.

8 . In April this year, people can see lots of bags full of small change (零钱) at bus stops in Tianjin. They are for passengers to turn their notes   (纸币) into small change. And such an idea came from four students from Zhongbei Middle School, Tianjin.

“People will surely feel worried when they take a bus without coins. We just want to do something to help them.” said Wang Yongcun, 15, one of the four students.

The four boys spent their whole weekend making the change bags. After that they went to see the number of the passengers at each bus stop near their school, and then chose the top six stops to put the bags.

Many people think that the four boys really did a good job. However, things didn’t go as the boys thought. Two days later, they found that the money was missing, and that even the bags were lost. It really made them sad but they would not give up. Their classmates and teachers came to help them in time. “They put their pocket money in bags again. And the teachers also taught them to make better change bags. They tried their best to do it.

The four boys feel very happy because they do something good for the passengers. Their warm hearts are moving. More and more people are beginning to join in the activity.

9 . Once upon a time, there were two seeds（种子）. They were good friends. They often talked with each other when they were free. One day they had nothing to do. They lay on the ground. They looked up at the sky and had a chat with each other.

The first seed said, “I want to grow! Then I can enjoy the sun and rain!” Later it grew. It had a chance to enjoy the sun and rain.

The second seed said, “I’m afraid of growing up. If I grow, I have to live in the soil（土壤）. Little animals may come up to me and eat me. How terrible! If I become a beautiful flower, a child will come and pick me. It is much better for me to wait. It is a dangerous way to be alive.” It did nothing and refused to grow.

Spring came soon. A duck came up to the seeds. It ate the second seed and went away. We shouldn’t act like the second seed. We should face our life bravely.