Dear Reader,
Imagine an 11-year old girl whose days are often spent washing clothes, looking after a baby, working hard in the field.
Imagine a little girl who knows there will not be enough food for dinner, who can’t fill her stomach with water because it’s polluted, and who has watched life slip away from her father, little brother and sister because the family is too poor to see a doctor.
Is it hard to believe? For Maria Pastora, these are the real life.
Maria would gladly walk miles to school, but her mother, now alone, needs her badly at home. If Maria grows up without any schooling, what will be her future?
But for just 52 pennies a day, you can sponsor a child like Maria. Through “Save the Children”, you can help Maria’s mother get the tools and ways she needs to turn their poor food into a good dinner and the money she needs to buy clothes and school things for Maria.
To help Maria most, your money is put together with that of other sponsors, so hard-working people can help themselves. Build a school, a hospital…bring in clean water. This is what “Save the Children” has been about since 1932.
For you there are many rewards. Have the chance to write to or hear from your sponsored child. Receive photos or progress reports. Know you are reaching out to another person. Not with a handout(施舍物), but a “handup”. That’s how “Save the Children” works. But without you, it can’t work. Please take a moment now to fill in and post the form below to help a child like Maria and her village.
It can make such a difference in her life and yours.
【小题1】We can most probably read the letter in __________.

She looked older to us though her age was about the same as our mother’s. She was not pretty. But she was kind and good. Then she gave us a good meal. After our mother became ill, we never ate such a good one. My brothers and I liked her before we finished the meal.

Our family moved to Australia not long ago. It was difficult for us to live a good life in the new place. Soon our mother became ill and she was in bed.

Every morning father went out to the forest, and worked all day hard as he could. Of course, we tried to help our parents. I cleaned the house and cooked our meals. My older brother learned to grow vegetables.

My two younger brothers were too young to work. Sometimes we went to school. When father came home on that day, he was surprised. Our mother was sleeping peacefully in the bed cleaned by Jane, and there were some beautiful flowers on the table. He said to Jane, “I have no money. I’m sorry I can’t pay you.” Jane said, “Don’t mind, I’m glad to help you. I don’t take money from people who are not happy.”

1. Why was mother ill?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

A. Life was hard.

B. The weather was bad for a long time.

C. There were too many children in the family.

D. She was always ill.

2. From the passage, we can know that there are　　    children in the family. 

A. 2　　    B. 3　　   C. 4　　　　 D. 5

3. Where did they live?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   

A. In Australia.　　　　   B. In a city in Australia.

C. They just left Australia.  D. The writer didn’t tell us.

4. Why did Jane come to the family?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

A. To make money because she was poor.   

B. To help them.

C. She knew their mother very well.

D. To cook meals for the children.

5. We can learn the following from the passage except　　    .　　   

A. Jane was much younger than the writer’s mother

B. the writer’s family was not rich

C. Jane came to the family with some beautiful flowers

D. Jane helped the family for nothing

Birthdays are celebrated all over the world. Some ways to celebrate birthdays are rather similar from county to country---candles, cakes and birthday wishes. But there are also different ways to celebrate birthdays. Here are a few:

Denmark A flag is flown outside a window to show that someone who lives in the house is having a birthday. Presents are placed around the child’s bed while he is sleeping so he will see them at once when he wakes up.	India Usually Indian children wear white to school. However, on their birthdays, children wear colored clothes to school and give out chocolate to everyone in the class. Their best friends help them to do this.
Japan The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the special time. Certain birthdays are more important than others. These are the third and seventh for girls and fifth for boys.	Holland The birthday child receives an especially large present. The family also puts flowers on the birthday child’s chair to make it beautiful.

Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey live in Iowa. They have a big family. Mikayla is the oldest child in the family. She is six years old. The other children are Brandon, Joe, Kelsey, Kenney, Natalie, Alexis and Nathan. They are all five years old. Why are they all the same age? ______ 1.. They are septuplets!

　　It is hard work to look after seven babies at the same time. ______ 2.. In the beginning, many people helped them. They helped to feed, clean, and dress the babies. Every week , the septuplets used about 170 diapers(尿布)!______ 3..

Now the children are older. The septuplets started school this year. But they go to school at home, like their big sister, Mikayla. When Mikayla was ready for school, Kenny and Bobbi decided to teach her at home.______ 4..Now Bobbi is the teacher for all eight of her children.