A marathon（马拉松） is a long﹣distance running race．Now it is not only a competition，but some people organize marathons for charity（慈善）．Runners get friends，families and other people to（51）　　（支持） them．They promise to provide a certain amount of money for every race．For example，if the runner runs one（52）　　（千米），the providers each give the runner ＄1 for the charity．A（53）　　（充足） of money can be raised this way．However，not everyone can run，so people in the USA have thought of other ways to raise money，using the idea of a marathon．

Walk﹣a﹣thons     A walk﹣a﹣thon is（54）　　（相似的） to a marathon，but people walk（55）　　（代替） of running．This is a common way for people to raise money．

Read﹣a﹣thons      Many schools organize read﹣a﹣thons to raise money．Students can get money（56）　　（简单地） for the number of books they read．They might be given a certain （57）　　（阶段） of time to read．Little kids can （58）　　（进入） the reading competition according to the number of pages they read．The read﹣a﹣thons are（59）　　（举行） not only to raise money，but also to encourage teenagers to read．

Bowl﹣a﹣thons     Bowling is a（60）　　（受欢迎的） sport in the USA．In a bowl﹣a﹣thon，people raise money for every point they get in the game．The higher the score is，the more money they make for the charity．