Planting Potatoes

When I was a boy we had several gardens around our old house. The largest one of all was used just for growing potatoes.

I can still remember those potato planting days. All the family _____（31） helped. After my Dad had _____（32） the soil, my Mom, brothers, and I went to work. It was my _____（33） to drop the little seed potatoes in the _____（34） while my Mom dropped handfuls of fertilizer beside them. My brothers then covered them all with the _____（35） turned earth. For months _____（36）I would glance over at the garden while I played outside and wonder what was going on underneath the _____（37）. When the harvest time came I was amazed at the huge size of the potatoes my Dad _____（38） out of the soil. Those little seed potatoes had grown into

big potatoes. They would be turned into meal after meal of _____（39）

food. They would keep the _____（40） family well fed throughout the whole year. It truly was a miracle. 

A．true

B．ground

C．members

D．job

E．delicious

F．prepared

G．rows

H．afterward

I．freshly

J．entire

K．tools

L．pulled 

Homeschooling vs School

Many kids find it hard to concentrate in school. Classmates, bells, and even cheerful decorations in school can make it hard for some children to concentrate. _____（26）. In some schools, conditions are bad for children’s safety and health. _____（27）. Homeschooling parents can control their children’s environment to make sure it is safe and healthy. When students sit in a classroom surrounded by classmates, under the tight control of adults, they find it very hard to function in a normal way. Homeschooling children don’t have to stay in the school. _____（28）. They can interact with people in familiar situations, and they feel they can interact with people as adults.

School bullying （以強欺弱）is a serious problem. _____（29）. Although schools are starting to deal with this problem, many kids are still afraid of going to school. Homeschooling kids can choose who they associate with and walk away from an uncomfortable situation.

Schools are cutting field trips. _____（30）. On the contrary, homeschooling can move outdoors, to the beach or the zoo. For homeschooling families, the whole world is a classroom. Learning takes place everywhere and it never ends. 

A．Instead, they are out in the community.

B．In this case, homeschooling offers fewer interruptions.

C．Children usually sit at desks or around the kitchen tables.

D．Some children do not treat their classmates appropriately.

E．Many students go to class in old or poorly-designed buildings.

F．Even a short trip to the countryside is controversial in some places. 

What did Mary send her grandparents last year?

• A、A wooden elephant.

• B、Handmade soaps.

• C、Her own pictures.

• D、A store-bought closet.