For the rest of March, a disease will sweep across the US. It will keep kids home from school. 【小题1】   Employees will suddenly lose their ability to concentrate.

The disease, known as “March Madness”， refers to the yearly 65­team US men's college basketball tournament (锦标赛). 【小题2】   Teams compete against each other in a single­elimination (单局淘汰) tournament that eventually crowns a national champion.

Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival madness. The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game. Friends compete against friends.   【小题3】   Colleagues against bosses.

Big­name schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament. But each year there are dark horses from little­known universities.

This adds to the madness. Watching a team from a school with 3,000 students beat a team from a school with 30,000, for many Americans, is an exciting experience. Two years ago, the little­known George Mason University was one of the final four teams. 【小题4】

College basketball players are not paid, so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves. 【小题5】   About $4 billion will be spent gambling (赌) on the event. According to Media Life magazine, the event will bring in $500 million in advertising income this year, topping the post－ season income of every US professional league, including that of the NBA.

   SPORTS EVENTS

BASKETBALL:

Central Sports Centre. City Road.

All Stars vs Rockets, Saturday 8: 30 p.m. $12

Northerners vs Tigers, Sunday noon $14

BUSHWALKING (越野走)：

Meet at Wanda Station, Saturday 9:00 a.m. sharp for 3-hour walk to Canary Mountains. $7, ph 341-5432 Meet at Westley Station, Sunday 9:00 a.m. sharp for a full day walk to Wombak Valley. $5, ph 341-8643. Bring your own lunch.

FOOTBALL:

St Martins Sports Centre

St Martins vs Doonsberg, Saturday 2:00 p.m. $8

Eastside Central vs Light Hill, Sunday 2:00 p.m. $8

Neill Park Recreation Centre

Neill Park vs Robinson, Saturday 2:00 p.m. $11

Essen vs Springwood, Sunday 2:00 p.m. $11

LAWN BOWLS(草坪滚木球）：

Tans Town B.C

Tans Town vs White Vale, Saturday 9:00 p.m. $10

Wake Hill B.C.

Wake Hill vs Colls, Saturday 2: 00 p.m. $9

My name is Li Hua. I’m writing this letter ______________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

Running for a Dream

I will never forget that November day．It was hotter than normal．This was the ________ my father and I had waited so long for，because we had been working towards this race for three years．Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view．They had come ________me．I saw worry and ________on my father's face．Then the race began!

For the first two and a half miles．I felt________．I had never before been so ready for something．The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled________and a strict diet．My friends hadn't seen me in weeks，but they understood the _______required to make my dream a reality．As in all of my races，I didn't _______ out in the front，I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed．

Then without warning，my strength began to decrease．Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors，I ________see the finish line．I had begun the final dash into_______when my knees became weak and my legs gave way．Nothing I could do would make them _______ weight．

I watched as runners rushed by me．________ I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed．I had to finish the race．However，my legs hurt badly．With all of the ________ left in me，I got on my hands and knees and crawled （爬），inch by inch，across the finish line．Voices，both ________ and familiar，cheered me on．They gave me the courage to keep ________until the very end．

The doctors were there in seconds，but my eyes searched the crowd for him．There was only one person I wanted to ________to．I whispered，"I'm so sorry，Dad，I'm so sorry I ________you．"He looked at me，saying，"You could never disappoint me．Sometimes these things just ________．All that matters is that you did your best．"

"But we worked so ________．What about our dream？"He reached over for my hand and said，"Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true？"

It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on，marking a________path for my journey，I learned that all of the miles，the tears，the sweat，and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a________．What I realized，though，was that to him，I was the greatest prize he had ever won．