How many dolls(洋娃娃)can you stuff(塞)into a spare room? The 1
2,300-comes from Gali Little and Katie Banman, both 11, and Katie’s 9-year-old sister, Sarah．They know 2 they just did it．
The girls weren’t trying to 3 it into the Guinness(吉尼斯)Book of World Records．They want to 4 children who lost so 5 during hurricanes(飓风)Katrina and Rita．
“My mom and I were 6 the news and I saw a lot of children, and 7 of them had amy possessions(私人物品)…I thought they might 8 a doll to hold onto and tell secrets to,”Gali said．
Gali 9 her idea of collectin dolls with Katie and Sarah, who are friends as well as neighbors, and the project was 10 way．The girls start their 11 at their schools first．They also collected 12 in their neighborhood．
The girls were very 13 with their success．“I thought we would get only about 100 dolls．”Sarah said．
When the three-week 14 time is over, the dolls are shipped to a charity group．It will then 15 the dolls to children still in shelters(庇护所)in hurricane-hit areas．
16 do the girls feel about kids having new 17 friends to hold onto because of their actions?“Proud,”the three said with one 18 ．
This story has a 19 ending in more than one way．Not only will thousands of kids be getting new dolls, but Gali’s mom now also has her spare 20 back．
When I was 8 years old, I once decided to run away from home．With my suitcase 1 and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door and said to Mom, “I'm leaving．”
“If you want to 2 , that's all right,” she said．“But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way．” I 3 my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor heavily and started for the door again．
“Wait a minute,” Mom said．“I want your 4 back．You didn't wear anything when you arrived．” This really angered me．I tore my clothes off－shoes, socks, underwear and all－and 5 , “Can I go now?” “Yes,” Mom answered, “but once you close that door, don't expect to come back．”
I was so 6 that I slammed(砰地关上)the door and stepped out on the front porch． 7 I realized that I was outside, with nothing on．Then I noticed that down the street, two neighbor girls were walking toward our house．I ran to 8 behind a big tree in our yard at once．After a while, I was 9 the girls had passed by．I dashed to the front door and banged on it loudly．
“Who's there?” I heard．
“It's Billy! Let me in!”
The voice behind the 10 answered, “Billy doesn't live here anymore．He ran away from home．” Glancing behind me to see if anyone else was coming, I begged, “Aw, c'mon, Mom! I'm 11 your son．Let me in!”
The door inched open and Mom's smiling face appeared．“Did you change your 12 about running away?” she asked．
Stacy had recently moved from New York City to Stoneybrook, Connecticut．It was 1 for her to make new friends but she finally had three when she joined the Babysitters Club to 2 little children whose parents were busy．Claudia, Kristy, and Mary were in her class at school and also the other 3 of the club．The girls met at five o’clock on Fridays and waited for the 4 to ring．So far they had been busy, in spite of the 5 that they couldn’t stay out late and were under 13．
6 , the girls’world was invaded (侵入) by a second group 7 themselves the Babysitters Agency．They were 8 and the group also included a few boys．They Babysitters Club tried to think of ways to 9 with the older group．They could clean and work for less money; however, they 10 it would be difficult to compete．The shock was even greater than they had 11 when most of their best customers started to call the new group．They 12 to get only a few jobs．
To try a new 13 Kristy recruited (招收) a few older kids who told the club they didn’t want to 14 their money with the other group．They club 15 only too quickly that these older girls joined only as spies and didn’t 16 for their job assignments．Thus, more parents were 17 with the club．
Finally, the girls realized that the 18 in the other group were not good babysitters．They watched television, talked on the phone, and invited boyfriends to the house 19 they were sitting．When the children of the families started to 20 , and a near accident almost occurred, the club went to the parents to tell them what was happening．
The girls in this sixth grade class in East Palo Alto, California, all have the same access to computers as boys．But researchers say, by the time they get to high school, they are victims(受害者)of what the researchers call a major new gender(性别)gap in technology．Janice Weinman of the American Association of University Women(AAUW)says,“Girls tend to be less comfortable than boys with the computer．They use it more for word processing rather than for problem solving, rather than to discover new ways in which to understand information．
After re-examining a thousand studies, the AAUW researchers found that girls make up only a small percentage of students in computer science classes．Girls rate themselves significantly lower than boys in their ability and confidence in using computers．And they use computers less often than boys outside the classroom．
An instructor of a computer lab says he's already noticed some difference．Charles Cheadle of Cesar Chavez School says,“Boys are not so afraid they might do something that will harm the computer, whereas girls are afraid they might break it somehow．”
Six years ago, the software company Purple Moon noticed that girls' computer usage was falling behind boys．Karen Gould with the company says,“The number one reason girls told us they don't like computer games is not that they're too violent, or too competitive．Girls just said they're unbelievably boring．”What girls want, Purple Moon found, is characters they can relate to and story lines relative to what's going on in their own lives．“What we definitely found from girls is(that there is no intrinsic)(内在的)reason why they wouldn't want to play on a computer; it was just a content thing,”says Karen Gould．
The sponsor of the study says it all boils down to this：the technology gender gap that separates the girls from the boys must be closed if women are to compete effectively with men in the 21st century．
(1)
According to the passage, girls are victims of the gender gap in technology because ________,
[ ]
A．
they can not discover new ways to use computers
B．
they have the same access to computers as boys
C．
they are likely to be less comfortable with computers
D．
they can only use computers for word processing
(2)
Girls often feel ________．
[ ]
A．
bored with computer games
B．
comfortable using computers
C．
it hard to use computers in word processing
D．
worried about using computers
(3)
The research on girls and computers is ________．
[ ]
A．
based on a few recent studies
B．
based on a great number of studies
C．
presented by one person
D．
not considered well grounded
(4)
The software company seems to think ________．
[ ]
A．
if girls had an equal chance to play games, they would like computers
B．
if the software content was changed, girls would be more interested
C．
if the software was more violent, girls would like it better
D．
if the characters were funny, girls would like them better
(5)
The gender gap needs to be closed because ________．
[ ]
A．
it isn't fair that boys are allowed to use computers all the time
B．
there isn't enough money for updating computer system
C．
most of the causes may boil down to a question of money
D．
the ability to use computers is important in today's world
Girls that eat with their families are less likely to develop eating disorders, a study says．
New research shows girls who regularly have 1 meals are much less likely to adopt extreme weight control 2 such as vomiting(呕吐), using laxatives(泻药)or diet pills．
A study 3 more than 2500 American high school students found that girls who ate five or more family meals a week had a much healthier 4 with food in later life．
The research, 5 in international magazine Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, polled students aged 13 to 17 in 1999 who were 6 five years later．Regular family meals were found to have a protective effect 7 the girls’ age, weight, socio-economic status, 8 habits or relationship with her family．
Experts say doctors should 9 families to have dinner at the table 10 on the couch in front of the television to 11 serious eating disorders．
Belinda Dalton, director of eating disorders clinic the Oak House, said 12 with family helped "normalize"(正常化)young people's relationship with food．
"When the young are feeling that they're not dealing properly, they 13 something that they can control and food is something 14 and accessible for them to control． 15 , if they're sitting with their family on a regular basis then their family can be more in 16 of their eating," Ms Dalton said．"It's about young people feeling connected with their family and that builds self-esteem(自尊)and sense of 17 and that works very actively 18 someone developing an eating disorder．"
An eating disorders expert, Kirsty Greenwood, said meal times were often difficult for sufferers．"It's typical that they feel very 19 of their eating habits and often won't eat with other people．Perhaps it's because they haven't 20 the importance of the family meal in their growing up," she said．