I’m sorry to trouble you. I’m a helpless mother. My son is thirteen. He is a student of Class Two, Grade Eight in your school. We’re good friends before, but now I have difficulty talking to him. So I feel worried about this and I really need help.

My first problem is that he isn’t interested in learning. He seems to spend too much time playing computer games. I’m trying to talk with him. But he always closes the door and locks me out. I’m getting worried that he will fail most of his exams.

Second, because it takes him too much time to play computer games, he has no time to talk with his friends on the phone or go out with anyone on the weekends. I’m afraid if he stays alone for long, he’ll feel lonely. Please give me some advice. What should I do to help him?

A helpless mother

【推荐2】In China, some students are anti-fashion (反时尚). They don’t like their parents’ clothes. They are not like their parents. In summer they wear (穿) big T-shirts. They wear their trousers or shorts. They don’t wear socks or stockings. In winter they wear jackets with the collar (衣领) standing. Their sleeves (袖子) are very long. So you can’t see their hands. Sometimes you may think they are handicapped (残疾的).

On their clothes you can often see some English words (单词), such as “fashion”, “fairy fox”, “ impossible”. But sometimes you may find some words are wrong. Many students do not know what those words mean (意思). That shows they are not good at English. Some students’ hair is yellow or red. They think they are handsome or beautiful. They like to wear colorful shoes. Is that really cool?

【推荐1】Hi, my name is Max White. I’m a doctor, and I live at Scott Base(斯科特基地) . It’s very cold here. At night it can be -50°C, and in the middle of the day it’s only -20℃.

12 people live (生活) here. There is a restaurant(餐厅), a TV room, a small shop and 6 bedrooms—one room is for two people. Jack is my roommate. He cleans the room every day.

Most of the food is from New Zealand and we also eat fish from the sea(海洋).

We work 5 days a week. Every morning I go swimming in the sea. After work, I usually play football or watch TV. I also love watching birds.

It’s cold here, but it’s also a very beautiful place to live. I love it.

【推荐2】Jim is from New York. His home is near the school. So he goes to school by bike. Every day it takes him about fifteen minutes to get there. He always gets to school on time.

Mary is a student of a middle school in Tokyo (东京). The school is far from her home. Every day she has to go to school by subway. It takes her about forty minutes, she often gets up very early because she doesn’t want to be late for school. She is a good student.

Jenny’s home is in London. It is far from her school. She usually goes to school by bus. This kind of bus has two floors. It takes her an hour every day. She must get up very early every morning. She often gets there early.

Tom is a student of a middle school in Iceland (冰岛). There is snow all year around. So he usually goes to school by sledge (雪橇). It takes about twenty minutes to get there. He is sometimes late for school.

【推荐1】In some western countries, many children do chores to get some money. They usually start to do chores when they are ten years old.

School students have to do homework and study for tests. They don’t have too much free time from Monday to Friday, so they often do chores on Saturdays and Sundays.

Young kids only do easy chores. So they don’t get much money. But that’s enough. Many of them only want to buy candies. Because candies are cheap! What they can often help is to do the dishes, sweep the floor, or feed the pets.

When they get older, they want to buy more and more things. They want things that are more expensive than candies. So they have to work harder! They often help their parents wash the 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 cook. Of course, their parents help them at first.

【推荐2】I have three children and I make them do housework. However, my mother-in-law (婆婆) doesn’t agree with me. She thinks I’m too harsh (严厉的). In her opinion, it is adults’ (成人的) job to do housework.

Our family is made up of five family members. No one in the family is more important than another, so each member should help with chores. I don’t ask my children to do the same chores, because their ages are different.

At the end of the day, after they finish playing with their toys (玩具), I ask them to put the toys away. If they don’t, they will have to say goodbye to their toys. I expect my children to set the table at night and help fold their own clothes. I don’t think I’m asking too much.

I know they are tired after a long day’s study at school, but that’s life ― harsh but real. I don’t want to pay them for doing some chores. They live in the house, so they should help out with some things in the house. No one is going to pay them for cleaning up their rooms later in life and I’m not going to do it.

Some parents protect their children too much from anything unpleasant and make their children’s lives too comfortable and safe, but I’m not interested in that way. I hope my children are able to look after themselves and can be independent early.

【推荐3】Should kids get paid for doing chores? Here is a result of a vote (投票). 1,870 American kids voted on it.

Some kids can get 1,200 dollars for doing chores around the house. The best job is helping clean up the house. Parents will pay an average (平均) of 2.77 dollars at a time. Doing the dishes can also get much money, about 2.52 dollars at a time.

Other top paid jobs include:

Washing cars—$ 2.30; Cleaning pets—$ 1.92; Making the bed—$ 0.75

Boys do much better than girls. It was reported that boys got more money than girls. The biggest difference was in doing the dishes. Boys can get an average of 5.10 dollars, but girls can only get 2 dollars.