In some Western countries, many children do chores to get pocket money. They usually start to do this when they are ten years old.

School students have to do homework and study for tests. They don’t have much free time on weekdays. They often do chores on weekends.

Young kids only do easy chores. So they don’t get much money. But that’s enough. Many of them only want to buy candy. And candy is cheap! They often help do the dishes, sweep the floor, or feed the pet cat or dog.

When they get older, they want to buy more and more things. They want things that are more expensive than candy. So they have to work harder! They often help their parents wash the family car, cut the grass, or cook meals.

Some jobs are a good way for kids to learn new things. For example, they can learn how to use a lawn mower or how to cook. Of course, their parents help them at first.

People can train some animals to help humans (人类). For example, specially trained dogs help people who can’t see anything walk around the town safely. Some kinds of monkeys can learn how to help people who can’t use their arms or legs. The monkeys pick up the phone when it rings, carry shopping bags and do housework.

In the wild, animals and humans are not usually friends, but there are a few interesting examples where they can work together. In Africa, the honeyguide bird works with humans to find food. The bird likes to eat the grubs—a kind of insect that lives inside a beehive (蜂窝). It knows how to find beehives but it can’t open them and get the grubs. People like to eat honey, but they aren’t very good at finding beehives, so the bird and the people help each other. The bird flies to a beehive and the people follow it. When the people open the beehive and take the honey, they give the grubs to the bird.

In Laguna in the south of Brazil, fishermen and dolphins work as a team. The water isn’t very clean, so the fishermen can’t see the fish. However, dolphins can find them easily by using sounds. When the dolphins find a large group of fish, they make a noise to tell the fishermen. Then the dolphins push the fish to the beach. The fishermen wait in the water near the beach and catch a lot of fish in their nets. The fisher men’s nets make it easier for the dolphins to catch fish too. The fishermen teach their children how to work with the dolphins. The dolphins must be happy to help because they teach their babies how to work with the humans!

A recent report found that kids 30 years ago could run faster and longer than kids today.     26    

You are a 13-year-old girl now. Your mum was the same kind of kid when she was your age. Now imagine（想象）we could set up a mile race between you and your mum from 30 years ago. The study shows your mum would probably beat you in the race by 1.5 minutes. It was the same for boys.     27    

The scientists who did the study think there are some reasons for the big fall in health. First, too many of today’s kids are overweight.     28     Second, kids today don’t get enough exercise. The doctor says that kids should take exercise at least 60 minutes every day. That’s why it’s important for students to have PE lessons at school.

    29     If you don’t want your mum and dad to think they are faster than you, don’t spend a lot of time looking through the Internet, watching TV or movies.     30