Living in a big family can be both enjoyable and troublesome. DAILY NEWS has interviewed a few teenagers ________ live with their parents and grandparents. Let’s see ________ they think of living in a big family.

Wen Jiayi, 14, Chengdu

Living with my grandparents gives me a chance ________ a better understanding of the meaning of “family”. The time that I spend with my grandparents is usually ________ than the time I spend with my parents. My grandparents and I always have fun together. We get on very well and always show respect ________ each other. We go on walks, chat happily while having lunch, and watch TV together. My grandfather often ________ delicious dishes for our family and I often help my grandmother to buy the food for our dishes. I really enjoy being with my grandparents.

Liu Haoxuan, 13, Beijing

Most of the time, I am happy ________ the idea of living with my grandparents. I think they’re lovely and nice. But sometimes I also feel ________. They may look at some new things with ________ old-fashioned view and try to make me believe that some things are unacceptable. Sometimes it seems really difficult for them ________ what exactly I like. I guess this ________ the “generation gap (代沟)”. However, I don’t mind having disagreements with them. It is part of life, ________ it?

Zheng Yishi, 16, Ohio

I am close to my grandparents, as well as to most of my ________ relatives. Most of my American friends don’t have such close family relations like Chinese people do, ________ I know that some Italian-Americans also have big families. All of the members of an Italian family ________ choose to live on the same street. They prefer to live next to each other. It seems that different cultures have different family traditions and people keep those traditions even after moving to another country.

No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own effort.

I learned this lesson from a(n) ________ many years ago. I worked as a new football coach (教练) at a university in State of Georgia.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team in the club to play against a ________ team at the end of the term. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to prepare for the game. Being the coach of the new team, I helped them practice once a week and I thought we were sure to ________, but to my surprise, we lost the game. I could ________ believe that I had got into such a situation. After thinking hard about it, I came to realize that I might be too ________ about ourselves. I had to change my attitude (态度) and the way of training.

Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and ________ them. I started doing anything I could to help them. That summer, when other teams ________ their holidays, we met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.

Six months later, we won our first game and our second, and continued to head in. Finally, I thought even if we lost the game, it would still be a ________ for us. But that didn’t happen. My boys beat the best team in the state, giving me one of the ________ memories of my life!

From the experience, I learnt a lot about how the attitude of a leader could change a team. I helped them to see themselves ________, and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, but not born.

Holidays are very popular with students. They expect to relax and do something they like. However, what do holidays really mean to them? Usually, teachers will give them some homework and parents will ask them to read books, but also because they don’t plan their time well. Instead of relaxing and enjoying their break, they often stay up late to finish their homework. And they find it the most painful experience.

The following charts show some of their findings. Chart I shows different bedtimes of students during holidays. Many junior high school students go to bed late during holidays. They may forget that enough sleep is important for their health and better performance in learning. Chart II shows that more than 80% of the students read during their holidays, and 60% take extra lessons. Reading and learning remain an important part of holiday life, while doing housework and sports are not.

During holidays, teachers should give homework which students are able to do and interested in. On one hand, teachers need to make sure students practise the key skills and knowledge when they are out of school. While on the other hand

Parents should help their children make good plans for their holidays. Give reasonable advice and encourage them to read widely and take part in different activities. Finding a balance between having fun and improving themselves is the key to enjoying a good holiday.

“I don’t like my parents. They always tell me I should do this and should not do that. It sometimes makes me angry,” said Zhang Hua, a middle school student in Guangzhou. Perhaps your parents had the same complaints when they were your age long ago.     41    

One possible reason is when your father or mother becomes a parent, he/she likes worrying about things.     42     They worry about your choice of friends, the food you eat, your work at school, etc.     43     With such hope, they will do everything they can for you.

    44     It’s easier than you think. Just make sure your parents know what you’re doing. Get them to know your friends. Phone them if you stay somewhere else late so that your parents don’t call every friend in the phone book looking for you.     45     Learn to take responsibility for mistakes. Talk about your ideas with them. They may talk about theirs with you in return.

Try to understand your parents. They are also practicing being parents and need help from you. They may make mistakes sometimes, but they are the person who love you always!

As teenagers, you are probably too busy to care about your diet and health. It may harm you some day. So if you want to be healthy in the future, please take the following advice.

First, have a b    46     diet. You should eat mostly rice, bread, vegetables and fruit, but a    47     eating food that are high in fat, like French fries, hamburgers, or cookies. Besides, it’s necessary to have m    48     on time and never miss your breakfast.

Second, drink plenty of water—at least six to eight glasses a day. Do not wait till you feel t    49    . Enough water makes your skin look better.

At last, do exercise regularly. Experts s    50     that teenagers should spend at least 30 minutes per day exercising, such as running, swimming, walking or riding your bike.

If you follow the advice above, you can greatly improve your health.