Do teenagers in small villages do chores at home? How about the teenagers in big cities? Here is a survey. We asked 4,000 teenagers in China several questions. Half of them come from big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The others are from small villages. We made a diagram (图表) of the result of our survey.

Let’s have a look at it. We found out that teenagers from small villages do more chores than those from big cities. Maybe it is because they live a harder life. Our advice to parents in big cities is that parents should give their children some chores to do. Doing chores teaches teenagers to take care of themselves.

Every year thousands of young people in England finish school and then take a year off before they start work or go to university. Some young people go to other countries and work as volunteers.

Volunteers give their time to help people. For example, they work in schools or hospitals, or they do something helpful for the environment.

Paul, 18, comes from Wales. Next year he wants to got to university to study Chinese, but now he’s living in Belize. Paul says, “I’m working with other people here to save the coral reefs(珊瑚礁) in the sea near Belize. The reeds here are beautiful, but if the sea water is polluted badly, the coral will die. I’m helping to do study on the coral and the fish that live around the reefs. All over the world, coral reefs are dying. We need to do something about the problem before it’s too late. I’m staying with a family here. I help do some housework. I don’t get any money, but that’s OK. I love my work here, and I’m learning a lot about the people of Belize!! When I finish my work, I want to stay here for another three months. I want to travel around Belize and Central America.”

Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a great person. He did a lot for Africans and human beings. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a jungle doctor in Africa. He was born in France. He has learned to play the piano since he was five and he was a very good musician.     44     Then he studied medicine for eight years. After that, he asked to be sent to Africa in 1913.

Dr. Schweitzer took big boxes of medicine with him to Africa. He had to go through a lot of dangerous places.     45     But soon the people of Africa understood that he was their friend and they helped him build his first small hospital near a river. Many people came to the hospital.     46    

When he ran out of money and needed more medicine, he would go back to Europe to play music to make money.     47     Later, he built a bigger hospital. He spent most of his life in Africa, not only helping sick people but also teaching the people how to help each other.

During World War l, he was sent to prison. He found that war was more terrible than diseases. When the war was over, he made a speech everywhere to propose(提议) peace and respect(尊敬) for lives.     48    

In many parents’ eyes, their children don’t enjoy doing chores. Even if the room is messy, they like playing computer games rather than sweeping the floor or doing the dishes. But in Australia, Jim and Robert’s mother, Mrs. Black, comes up with good ways to get their children to do housework. Here is an example.

“Mom, have you worked out next week’s chores? Let Jim and me choose the cards. I can’t wait. It’s fun!”

When Robert shouted out, his mother had already put all the cards on their big table. On the cards, there are some words like “sweep the floor, clean your bedroom, help Mom cook, wash vegetables, make the bed, feed the fish, cut the wood, clean the bathroom” and many others. Jim and Robert chose two cards for each day from Monday to Friday. Then they would hang them on the weekday task board. Jim likes to clean the bathroom, so he picked up the card “clean the bathroom”. Robert loves to make the bed so he picked up his favorite card. Jim again picked up “wash vegetables” and Robert chose “feed the fish”. Soon the two boys were happy to take away all the cards.

To help the children develop their independence, their mother thought hard and ended up with this idea of encouraging them to do chores. Of course, the parents did the chores on weekends and left Jim and Robert two days free.

Many kids do housework such as doing the dishes, making the bed, and folding the clothes. In exchange, they get some money or computer time.

Paying kids for housework is one of the most popular topics, especially at a time when everyone is more careful about money. Some parents think since adults are paid to do their jobs, 我们应该为日常的家务向孩子付费。

But some people don’t think kids should get a reward(报酬) for doing housework. Susie Walton, an expert, believes that by rewarding kids, parents are sending a message that work isn’t worth doing unless you get something in return. “Running any kind of housework is a team effort,” Walton said. “A home is a living space for everyone in the family. It’s important for kids to see that we all have responsibilities in the house, and family decide how they want their home to look, and how they are going to keep it looking like what they want.”

Other people believe that getting a reward encourages kids to do housework, and it also teaches them real world lessons about why we need to work to get money. There are also apps that give kids points and digital gifts that can be redeemed(兑现) either online or in the real world. “Our goal is to give kids lawful power so they can get rewards,” says Chris Bergman. “And kids need rewards to help encourage them.”

Wu Xiaobo is a doctor from Jiangsu, China. In September, 2020, he went     70     his son in America and he became a hero during the trip.

Wu’s plane     71     off on September 29th. He would fly to Los Angeles with his wife. On the plane, a passenger     72     unconscious(昏迷的). People called for a     73     help. Dr. Wu found the passenger right away and the man had a stroke(中风). He advised the plane should land(降落) as soon as possible,     74     the man was in great danger and he needed to be sent to the hospital quickly. So the plane arrived in San Francisco     75     hour later. During the time, Wu looked after the man     76    . And this wasn’t the last time the doctor was called on to help out an air     77    . Heading back to China on the same trip, Wu helped a woman passenger.     78    , the woman came to herself     79     the help of the doctor. People spoke highly of Wu, and some of them even called him a hero. But he said that was just “what a doctor should do”.

80. 现在，很多中学生被近视所困扰，请就此现象写一篇短文，谈谈你的看法。

Quite a lot of students have become nearsighted now.