Do other countries’ students also have so much homework? What do they usually do in their free time? You may feel curious about them.

On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

Who studies hardest?

Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That’s much more than the stud the US (26.496), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

Who sleeps most often in class?

Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they soon doze off in class. In South Korea, it’s 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.

South Korean students don’t like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), china (90%) and the US (89%).

Who is the most distracted?

American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated books in class.

What do they do after school?

In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.

Many Years ago three soldiers, hungry and tired of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a bad harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three in the village square, shaking their heads and sighing, “Well, we are starving.” The soldiers communicated with each other quietly and then the first soldier turned to the villagers. “Your poor fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of making soup from stones.”

Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was built to the villager’s greatest pot, and then the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones.

‘“Now this will be a fine soup,” said the second soldier, “but a handful of salt and some parsley (香芹) would make it wonderful!” Up jumped a villager, crying “What a piece of luck! I’ve just remembered where some has been left!”

And off she ran, returning with parsley. As the pot was boiling, the memory of the villagers improved: soon carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot. They ate and danced and sang well into the night, thrilled about the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke, finding all the villagers standing before them. At their feet lay a bag of the village’s best bread and cheese. “You have given us the greatest gift.” said an elder, “and we shall never forget.” The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said, “There is no sccret, but this is certain: people working together can accomplish great things.” At last the light dawned on villagers. Off the soldiers wandered, down the road.

Recently, children’s literature has become more and more popular. In fact, children’s literature has been welcomed by both children and adults. People have tried to find out why adults love children’s literature just like children themselves.     9    .

Children’s literature is very different from adults’ literature. Most of it is fantasy (幻想).    10    . They can enjoy the fantasy world, which is never boring. The most important thing is that the world is bright and hopeful. In the fantasy world dead people can be alive again and broken legs can grow once more.    11    .

    12     When they read, their knowledge is increased and children know more about the truth. For a child who just learns to read, understanding the meaning of a word may be greater than learning the word itself.

    13     A large number of adults like it too. Not only young adults, parents and teachers, but also other people of all ages enjoys it. Both children and adults who love children’s literature can get much pleasure from it.