TEXT 18

These are my New Year's resolutions. I promise that:

1. I will help blind people to cross the road.
2. I will hang my trousers up.
3. I will put my tapes back in their covers.
4. I will not start smoking.
5. I will stop squeezing the spots on my face.
6. I will be nice to the dog.
7. I will help the poor.
8. After hearing the terrible noises downstairs last night, I
promise never to drink alcohol.

What bad luck! I'm starting the new year with a spot on my chin! [...]

I feel terrible today. It's because my mother was singing loudly at 2 a.m. What a mother! I think my parents are alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home.
The dog broke the model ship that my father spent three months building. He was really angry.
The spot on my chin is bigger. It's because my mother doesn't know about vitamins. [...]

My father is ill. Probably because he doesn't get any vitamins. My mother can't see the spot on my chin. The dog ran away and I broke the stereo. Today was not a good day. [...]

Nigel, my friend, came to visit on his new bike. It's got a water bottle, a speedometer, a yellow saddle and thin wheels. I’ d love a bike like that. I'd go all over the country.
Surely my spot can't get any bigger!
I found a word in my dictionary to describe my father. Hypochondriac! He's still ill in bed.
We found the dog. [...]

Now my mother is ill. I have to look after both of them. I have been running up and down the stairs all day. I cooked them eggs and beans and pudding. They must be very ill because they didn't eat any of it. I gave it to the dog. I have decided not to become a doctor. [...]

Now the dog is ill. The vet took it away. Mr Lucas from next door came to visit my parents.
He gave my mother some flowers. [...]

I went to visit the dog. It has had an operation. The vet showed me a plastic bag with lots of disgusting things in it. He had taken them out of the dog. There were even plastic pirates from my father's model ship.
Mr Lucas came to see my mother again. When he left, my father shouted at my mother. He made her cry. I made her a cup of tea. This made her cry too. You can't please some people.
My spot is still there. [...]

My father is back at work. Thank God! I don't know how my mother stands him. Mr Lucas came to see if my mother needed any help in the house. He is very kind. Mrs Lucas was cleaning all the windows in their house. She looked very tired.