11．　　"What's the matter, mum?"
　　As soon as I enter the door, I find that my mother is (1)      . It's unusual, she usually opens the door and welcomes me with a smile!
　　"She's dying," mum says sadly. I know what she says. The tulip (郁金香) mother's (2)       is dying.
　　A month ago, we moved (3)       our new house and mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much. Whenever she was free, she would sit in her armchair beside the tulip and enjoys its beautiful color and inviting smell.
　　She treated it like a baby and looked after it (4)      . She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to another to give the tulip enough sunshine. The first thing she did when she got up every morning was (5)       the tulip. Mum also fertilized (施肥) it many times a week.
　　She hoped that with great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful and (6)      . But the tulip was dying (7)      too much sunshine, water and fertilizer.
　　It's true that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love (8)       be bad. Too much love can sometimes kill what you love.

13．　　This year the marathon in my hometown took place in the hottest month. My job was to follow behind the runners to see if any of them needed medical care.
　　"We should stay behind the last runner, so take it slowly." I said to the driver, Bob.
　　"Let's hope that the last runner is fast!'" He laughed.
　　Soon the front runners started to disappear, and I saw a woman in a white T-shirt.
　　"Bob, look!"
　　We knew we were already watching our "last runner". She was different from the others because of her age.
　　"I think she is over 60, too old for any sports match. How can she finish a marathon?" Bob said.
　　We watched quietly as she slowly moved forward. We would move forward a little, then stop and wait for her. Then we would move a little bit more.
　　As I watched her try to put one foot in front of the other, I found my heart beating for her. I wanted her to stop, but at the same time, I hoped that she wouldn't.
　　Soon she was the only runner that we could see. Tears ran down my face. She was so great! For her, it wasn't about beating the other runners or winning something:it was about finishing what she had decided to do.
　　Later in my life, when I think things are too difficult, I will think of the woman — the last runner.
　　By the way, she did make it to the finishing line that day, when the other runners and the cheering crowds had long gone home.

14．　　Today's world is full of plastic products. From water bottles to car parts. We make plastic toys, toothbrushes, and shopping bags. Plastic is so useful that it's hard to imagine life without it, but it has not been around that long.
　　The first plastic was invented in 1869. That's when American John Wesley Hyatt made a form of plastic from a plant material called cellulose (纤维素). Before long, his discovery was used to make combs, eyeglasses, buttons, films and other products.
　　In the 1900, petroleum (石油) products such as oil replaced cellulose. New kinds of plastic were discovered in the 1950s. And that's when the real boom began. Plastic quickly replaced paper, glass, metal and wood in a growing number of products. In 1960, the United States made 6 million pounds of plastic. By 1988, the output had grown to 50 billion pounds. These days, almost 10 percent of the oil American used every year is turned into plastic. That's 2 million barrels of oil a day.
　　Most of the plastic ever made still exists (存在). Unlike wood, metal, and paper, plastic doesn't break down easily. Some people think plastic will never break down. Others say it may take five hundred or one thousand years to break down. No one knows for sure because it has been around for too short a time.
　　However, we don't keep plastic products very long. We use them and throw them away. Only about 5 percent of plastic is recycled (回收利用). A huge amount of it ends up staying on the surface of the ocean. Then seabirds, seals, turtles, whales and fish eat it. Scientists often find sea animals that have died from hunger with their stomachs full of plastic. And every time it rains. More rubbish from city streets are carried into the sea. Much of that rubbish is plastic.

15．　　How do you feel when you have to make a speech in front of class?What about when you go to a birthday party? Do you get really shy?
　　Shyness means feeling afraid when you're around other people. Doctors have found that more than 80% middle school students are afraid to be the center of attention. Some kids are born shy. Some become shy later because of their life experiences.
　　It's OK if it takes you a short time to feel yourself again when you go to a new place or meet new people. In fact, everybody gets a little shy sometimes. It's just a case of how much.
　　Most people have red faces and talk in broken sentences when they get shy. But some become so shy that they won't go to a restaurant because they are too afraid to order and pay for their food. Some are afraid of meeting new people, so they never go outside. This kind of shyness can be bad for a person.
　　If shyness doesn't stop from doing something you want to do, being shy isn't a very big problem. Some doctors say shy people are cleverer because they think more and talk less. Shy people are also good at working with others because they think more for other people. Some great people in history were shy, too.
　　You see, being shy isn't all bad. But remember not to lose good chances just because of it!If you have to sing a song at a birthday party or practice your spoken English in front of others, just do it!There's nothing to be afraid of.

16．　　The traditional Chinese calendar divides the year into 24 Solar terms (节气). They were created thousands of years ago to guide Agricultural (农业的) production. But the Solar term culture is still useful today to guide people's lives. Here are five things you might not know about the Summer Solstice, one of the 24 Solar terms.
　　The longest day of the year
　　On the Summer Solstice, daylight lasts the longest of the whole year in the northern hemisphere (北半球). How long is the longest day in China?According to some researchers, the whole day in Mohe in Heilongjiang Province (省), the sleepless town of China, lasts nearly 17 hours.
　　A public holiday
　　The Summer Solstice was an important festival in ancient China. As early as the Han Dynasty (汉朝), when the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Double Ninth Festival were not as important as they are today, the Summer Solstice was already celebrated. Before the Qing Dynasty people even had a one-day holiday on the Summer Solstice.
　　An amazing sight
　　Every year on the summer solstice, the sun appears to "stand still" and not move further north. Then the amazing "upright pole with no shadows (立杆不见影)" appears in Hani autonomous county of Mojiang, Yunnan Province.
　　A food tradition
　　People in different areas of Shandong Province eat noodles on the Summer Solstice. Other people around China including those in Beijing also have a tradition of eating noodles on the Summer Solstice.
　　A fun activity
　　People in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province usually hold dragon boat races on the Summer Solstice rather than on Dragon Boat Festival today. This tradition was started from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

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