Some children wish to be writers when they grow up. It ________ that they want to write stories or books. They would be happy if many people read their stories or books someday, but I would like to tell these children ________ they will need to be good readers and read a lot before they become good writers.

Nearly all great writers often listened ________ others tell stories long before they started school. They also ________ on reading for hours for years. Even when they had become writers, they spent much of their time ________ books instead of watching TV in the evening.

If you are a good reader, it won’t take you long ________ the reading homework that your teacher asks you to do. Then you will have time to read ________ books for fun. You will read so ________ that you will always want to look for more books to read.

If you want to be a writer, reading is very ________. When you decide to become a writer, you had better tell ________ ,“I must read more and more if I really want to become a good writer.”

In China, very few children make pocket money. ________, in western countries, most kids make pocket money by themselves. They make money in many different ________.

When kids are very young, their parents help them sell the fruits of their own trees to neighbors. Kids may also help their ________ do housework to make money at home. When they ________ sixteen, they can make money by sending newspapers or by working in fast food restaurants, ________ during the summer holidays.

There are many advantages of making pocket money by kids ________. First of all, they ________ the value (价值) of money by working hard so that they will not waste any. Secondly, they learn to ________ money to buy things they need or want, such as books, pencils, movies and even clothes they like. Thirdly, they learn to ________ the daily life problems by helping their parents or others. Making pocket money is ________ for children when they grow up. That is why parents encourage their kids to make pocket money.

3rd Monthly Culture Lecture (讲座)

Fun for Children in Ancient China Dr. Caroline Yang

7: 00 p.m., Thursday, May 9, 2021

(Biscuits and drinks will be served.)

During ancient times, children didn’t have much to enjoy themselves. However, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood.

Kicking stone balls

During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular game in the northern part of China, and it was often played in winter to keep warm.

Playing hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. The way to play it is covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to hide and the child must try to find them after he opens his eyes.

Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood instead of paper. The three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite. Each has its own feature. For example, the bird-shaped kite with long wings is a special kind of the Beijing kite.

Watching shadow plays

The closest thing to watching a film during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. The artists control puppets (木偶) behind the screen and tell stories to the music.

Woods High School

815 St. Laurence Street

It is a cold and dry winter morning. When you wake up, you feel that your throat hurts. You begin to sneeze and later you may cough. You must have a cold! Wait a moment. Could it just be a common cold or the flu（流感）that’s been going around?

A cold gives you a runny nose and cough. But it’s usually easy to deal with. Some take medicine while others drink herbal（药草的）tea or chicken soup. Usually you feel better after a week.

On the other hand, the flu can be much more dangerous. It usually gives you fever. Sometimes it can cause death. According to an American magazine, the worst flu killed about 50 million people from 1918 to 1919.

Don’t worry. If you get a flu vaccine（疫苗）, it can stop you from getting the virus（病毒）. Flu vaccines work by giving the body a small amount of flu viruses. This causes your body to develop antibodies（抗体）. So next time you get the flu, the antibodies should help you.

The flu virus changes every few years. So there are so many types of flu, such as H1N1 and H5N1. The antibodies for one type of flu can’t help us against all types of flu. That’s why we need to get the vaccine every year.

However, good health habits（习惯）may also help stop you developing a cold or flu. Washing your hands often helps stop you from getting viruses. It is also important to get regular exercise and eat healthy food. All these can help you strengthen your immune system（增强免疫系统）.

Every spring the best spellers from different cities come to take part     66     the country competition. As one of the best spellers, I think failure is not a choice for     67    . I train like a player for this special event, while other children are     68     video games and     69     candies.

Success in the spelling match takes knowledge, goal and practice. But the real beauty of the match is in the friendship and help we give each other, even     70     we are usually fighting with each other.

Before the match starts, I feel so nervous. I spend all my     71     just walking back and forth outside the room. It’s a small space,     72     to me it feels like a hall. The stage is almost empty, and has a microphone and a     73     chairs for the players.

I feel like     74     film star. Right before I walk on stage, I feel an arm around me. It’s my dad, who says, “No matter what happens, Jason, just know that our happiness is more     75     than winning or losing.”

I smile. Now I’m ready to spell some words!

Zhang Yi is a 21-year-old girl from Guangzhou, China. Now she studies in Britain. One day, when she was taking a train from London to Oxford, she heard loud noises on the train. Before, the train had been very quiet. Some people were resting while others were reading books or listening to music. Suddenly, a group of Chinese people laughed loudly as they played a card game.

Now more and more Chinese people are traveling abroad. However, their bad manners have given them a bad reputation(名声).

A recent US survey of 5,600 people from five countries showed that Chinese people are the second worst tourists. The worst are American tourists.

Some Chinese tourists talk loudly in places like cafes and museums. Some Chinese tourists also like to write or draw pictures on famous buildings. In Singapore, some Chinese tourists are fined(罚款) because they were smoking in non-smoking areas.

Some people may say that they can do everything that they want because they spend money in the country. In fact it is not true. While enjoying ourselves, we should also respect local customs and take care of the environment.

很多城市都在创建文明城市。文明城市的创建需要每个人的努力。你在公共场所有没有看见一些不文明的行为呢？请你就此写一封倡议书。

Thank you all.