Beijing Opera is our national opera. It has a history from 1790. Its music and singing came from Anhui and Hubei. There are four main roles in Beijing Opera: Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Beijing Opera is full of famous stories, beautiful facial (脸部的) paintings, wonderful gestures (姿态) and fighting. Some of the stories are from history books, but many of them are from famous novels. The people in the stories usually can’t agree with each other. They became angry, unhappy, sad and lonely. Sometimes they are frightened and worried. Then they find a way to make peace with each other. Everyone is usually happy in the end.

Beijing Opera is an important part of Chinese culture. In the past, it was popular with old people while young people didn’t like it. But now, more and more young people are becoming interested in it. At the same time, more people around the world are learning about Beijing Opera.

There was a young painter who made a living by painting portraits(肖像). One day, a rich man asked him to paint a portrait for him and promised to pay him 10,000 dollars.

After a week, the rich man came to take the painting, but he was not pleased with it. He told the young painter, “I will only pay 3,000 dollars for this painting.”

The young painter was angry. He argued with the rich man, hoping the rich man would keep his word.

The rich man thought, “The man in the painting is me. If I don’t buy this painting, no one else will buy it.” So he said, “I will ask you one last time: will you sell it for 3,000 dollars?”

The young painter said firmly(坚定地), “No. This is a shame for me! I would prefer not to sell it , rather than be humiliated by you. Someday, you will pay 20 times the cost for breaking your promise.”

After that, the painter worked hard day and night. Finally, he became well-known in the art world.

The rich man forgot about the artist and what he had told him. But one day, some friend told him, “There is a painting selling for 200,000 dollars and the man in the painting looks exactly like you. It has a name of ‘Thief(贼)’”.

Then, the rich man remembered the artist. He quickly went to say sorry and paid 200,000 dollars to buy the portrait. The young painter made the rich man lower his head in the end.

Teens will finally grow up some day, leaving their parents and facing the challenges in life alone, so they should learn basic life skills and form good working habits.

The government has been trying to pay attention to the importance of hardworking spirit education(劳动教育). But this has been overlooked in recent years. Many teens do not value the importance of working hard. There is a teenager girl named Nancy, she never helps out around the house. Once her mother was on vacation for a week, leaving her alone at home. When her mother came home from vacation, she could not find a clean dish or a clean shirt.

Schools play an important role in teaching students about the value of working hard. Primary and middle schools should provide students with hardworking spirit courses every week. To our joy, some schools have provided each class with a piece of field to plant their favorite vegetables. For example, No.38 Middle School in Hefei, set up a 500-square-meter farm on an open platform(露天平台) of their teaching building. Each class are asked to grow and pick vegetables there.

Parents should also encourage children to learn how to do chores at home. Teens should master one or two life skills every year. These skills can include cooking, washing their own clothes and tiding their rooms. The basic skills may help teens to solve the problems they will meet in the future.

Volunteering is fun and rewarding（值得做的）, but if you want to be a good volunteer, you need to learn more.     21    

Be well-trained. Know what you’re doing as a volunteer, you need to learn about your job, begin to do it at once. If you’re good at your job, it will be easier to help others.

    22     Work as part of a team and make sure everyone works together and shares the work. If someone asks for help, just give a hand. If you need some help, ask politely for it. Always remember a person’s strength is small, but a group of people is of great power.

Be understanding.     23     Standing at other people’s point of view（考虑角度）will help you understand others’ feelings better.

Be friendly.     24     To be a volunteer, you might meet new people who want to make friends with you. You might just meet someone who becomes a friend for the rest of your life.

Be responsible（负责的）.     25     People who need help like the people who are strongly responsible.

I have two older brothers, Matt and Martin. They love me very much. Perhaps it is because I am the _______ child and the only sister they have.

Both Matt and Martin have thick and dark hair. They look alike with _______ short hairdos（发型）and big eyes. They are also very tan because they enjoy outdoor _______.For example, Matt likes football and Martin is a tennis player. They are much taller than me and I always have to look up when I _______ to them. They both love to _______, so mum often says that they could eat a horse.

Their personallities are very _______. Matt is very active and lively. He often takes part in club activities and gets on _______ with people. He also likes to play jokes on others. Especially Martin! Sometimes mum is not very _______ with Matt because he plays so much and does not listen to his teachers carefully when he is in class.

Martin, on the other hand, is the quiet one. He is less active than Matt, _______ he has a really close group of friends. He also does well in his ________ because he works very hard on his studies. Mum never has to worry about Martin.