Without knowing more about you, it’s hard for me to give you some good advice.

But first, I’m sure that you are ________. You said that nobody would care if you left home. What about your _______? And other family members? It seems that you are very _______. You’d better talk _______ your parents or go to see a doctor. They will be able to help you.

Second, I’m sure there’s someone _______ in your class who feels lonely, too. You never know _______ other people feel. Try to make friends with your classmates. And you could _______ a club to meet new people and make friends, too.

You _______ find happiness in yourself. So my last advice is _______ a list of all the good things about yourself, learn to like yourself, and then others will see your confidence (信心) and ________ you, too.

Editor

Jack was cutting a branch off a tree in his garden. While he was sawing, another man passed in the street. He stopped and said, “Excuse me, but if you continue to saw (锯) that branch like that, you will fall down with it.” He said this because Jack was sitting on the branch and cutting it at a place between himself and the trunk of the tree.

Jack said nothing. He thought, “This is some foolish person who has no work to do and goes about telling other people what to do and what not to do.”

The man continued on his way. Of course, after a few minutes, the branch fell and Jack fell with it.

“My God!” he cried. “That man knows the future!” And he ran after him to ask how long he was going to live. But the man had gone.

Do you often talk with your parents? Here is some advice on how to talk with them.

Try to start your talk with something fun. This will make talking easier. For example, ask them questions about their day. How’s work? They love this.

Make it clear what you want to tell your parents. If they have an opinion, let them finish it and don’t stop their talking. Ask them to do the same for you.

Show them respect (尊重) by listening to them carefully. Look them in the eyes.

Be honest. Honesty builds trust (信任). Life is good when your parents trust you.

If your parents don’t understand you, that’s OK. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Sometimes you have to explain the things to them again.

When you finish the talk, thank them for listening. Say something like, “Thanks, that helped.” It will let them know this is important to you, and make them want to do it more often.

Should parents ask their children to do chores?     41     They think that children are too young to cook or clean for themselves or their parents. But many people believe that children can learn a lot from doing regular chores. Parents should help children learn to do the housework that they will have to do when they live on their own.     42    

Most experts (专家) do agree.     43     Parents shouldn’t, of course, ask a schoolboy to cook when he is doing his homework. If the child has activities after school, the time left to do chores may be short.

    44     When a child does what his parents ask him to do happily, he will probably have the feeling of growing up. Chores can be useful. They are a teaching tool (工具). Parents use the tool to teach children, so that they can care for themselves some day.     45     If parents keep a clean house, children won’t find any reasons to do chores.

Volunteering is a good way to     46     our free time. Mario Green and Mary Brown volunteer several hours each week to     47     others.

Mario loves animals and wants to     48     an animal doctor. He volunteers at an animal hospital every Saturday morning. He thinks he can learn more about how to     49     for animals. He gets a strong     50     of satisfaction when he sees the animals get better and the look of joy on their     51     faces.

Mary loves reading. She could read     52     at the age of four. Last year she decided to     53     out for a volunteer after-school reading programme. She thinks     54     there is a dream come true for her. She can do what she     55     to help others.

Giving Is Receiving

I’m a student from Green Middle School. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________