17．A marathon（馬松）is a long-distance running race.Now it is not only a competition，but some people hold marathons for charity（慈善）.Runners get friends，families and other people to support（1）
（they）.They promise to provide a certain amount of money for every race.For example，if the runner runs one kilometer，the providers each give the runner ＄1.A lot of money can be raised this way.（2）
，not everyone can run，so people in the USA have thought of other ways to raise money，（3）
（use）the idea of a marathon
Walk-a-thons
A walk-a-thon is similar（4）
a marathon，but people walk instead of running.This is one of（5）
（popular）ways for people to raise money.
Read-a-thons
Many schools hold read-a-thons to raise money.Students can get money（6）
（easy）for the number of books they read in a given amount of time.They may have ten weeks to read.Little kids can also get money according to how（7）
pages they read.The read-a-thons are held not only to raise money，but also to ask teenagers（8）
（read）more.
Bowl-a-thons
Bowling is（9）
interesting sport for many Americans.In a bowl-a-thon，people raise money for every point they get in the game.The（10）
（high）the score is，the more money they make for the charity.
