Sometimes it seems impossible for you to get along with your parents. If this situation happens to you, try the following advice.

Spend time with your parents. Your parents won’t always be around, so spend time with them. This doesn’t mean just sitting in front of the TV together. Instead, find activities to do together. By doing this, you’ll learn more about what your parents enjoy doing, and it will keep things free and relaxing.

Share your feelings with them. This may be a challenge, but do your best. It doesn’t have to be a discussion about trying to understand them better (although it can be). You can just talk to them about something at school that is troubling you, or something you are excited about or scared of.

Ask for help. If you ask your parents for help you are telling them that you respect them and their knowledge of how to do something. You could, for example, ask them to help you with your math homework or to improve a story you have written.

Make your parents feel proud. There are many ways that you can touch your parents. Through your hard work, you will show them that you are becoming maturer (更成熟的). And they can begin to discuss things with you. For example, if you wash the dishes after dinner your parents will realize how lucky they are to have you, and would like to discuss something important with you.

The World Book’s Day is on April 23rd. It is a great day to start developing(养成) a habit—reading.

Here are some ways for you.

You should have a few set(固定的) times every day, and read during that time no matter what happens. For example, make it a habit to read after you get up or before you go to bed. It’s OK to read for an hour or only five minutes. Soon, you can feel how the changes that books bring to you.

Wherever you go, take a book with you. When I leave my house, I always make sure of having my keys and my book. Taking a good book all the time with you is the very first step to develop a reading habit. Don’t forget to carry yours next time you go out!

Write down the names of all the great books you want to read. You can keep this in your notebook. Remember to add to it whenever you hear about a good book, online or in person. And never forget to cross out (删除)the ones you have read.

Find a place in your home. There you can sit in a chair and read. There should be no TV or computer near the chair, and no music or other family members. If you don’t have a place like this, just make one.

It’s good to share your feelings with others. No matter whether your feelings are good or not, it can also help you to get closer to people who you care about and who care about you.

But how to share your feelings? First, you should focus (聚焦于) on your feelings. You can’t tell your friends what’s inside your backpack if you don’t know what’s in it yourself. Feelings are the same way. Before you share them with someone, you should know what feelings you have. You can make a list of feelings in your head or by writing it out on a piece of paper or even by drawing pictures. What bothers (使烦恼) you? Does it make you sad or angry? Do you feel this emotion (情感) only once or many times? When you do this, it might help you to remember something that happened and think about how it makes you feel. Then you can say, “I feel sad when my friend doesn’t play with me.” or “I feel angry with my classmates…”

Do you know why you should talk about your feelings? If you always keep your feelings inside, especially sadness, nervousness or anxiety (焦虑), it can even make you feel sick. But if you talk with someone who cares about you, like your mum and dad, you’ll feel much better. Your parents want to know what’s happening in your life because they love you. But if you don’t want to talk with them, please talk with your friends. They will help you.

Chinese paper-cutting or Jianzhi, is a kind of folk art. People usually use scissors (剪刀) or knives to cut paper. It has a long history of about 1,500 years. Let’s learn something about paper-cutting.

Wonderful meanings

Paper-cutting has some wonderful meanings. Some paper-cuttings mean (寓意) happiness and good luck. At the Spring Festival, people paste (粘贴) “Fu” on doors or windows. At a wedding, people paste “Xi”.

Why is it red?

In China, people always love red. In our mind, red is hope and life, so red is our favourite. We can see red everywhere in China. The walls of old palaces are red. Lanterns are red. Weddings are always full of red things, too.

Black paper-cutting in Shanzhou

Many of the paper-cuttings are red, but paper-cuttings in Shanzhou, Henan Province are black. Black is the best color there. Shanzhou is a dry place. People make black paper-cuttings and wish for rain.

Now, paper-cutting gets into many schools. Students can learn how to make paper-cutting at school. Li Jie, a middle school student, says, “It’s really wonderful to change paper into different kinds of pictures, such as flowers and animals. We enjoy it.”

※Last night one of my Chinese friends took me to a concert of Chinese folk music. The piece which was played on the erhu especially moved me. The music was     1    , but under the beauty     2    （这首曲子格外地美, 但在这种美的背后我感受到了一种强烈的悲伤和痛苦。）。

※If someone invites you to meet him or her at noon, then you're expected to be there at noon. If you're even 15 minutes late, your friend may get mad. So I    3    when I meet my friends（所以当我和朋友会面时, 我会努力守时. ). I always leave the house early to avoid heavy traffic because I think     4    （为了避免交通拥挤, 我总是早早地离开家, 因为我认为让别人等特是不礼貌的。）.

※Today, sky lanterns are used at festivals and other celebrations. They are made of bamboo and covered with paper. When the lanterns are城they slowly rise into the air like small hot-air balloons for all to see. They are seen as bright    5    （它们被看作是幸福和美好祝愿的光明象征。）.

Do you want a job in the holiday? Just go for it. First, you need to know what kind of job suitable (适合) for your age and interest.

If you’re 13 to 15.

It seems that you can’t work almost anywhere, but you can probably clean your neighbors’ cars or walk their dogs.

There is no lowest wage (工资) for children under 16.

By law, you can’t work more than 35 hours each week during school holidays. And you can’t work before 7 a. m. or after 7 p.m.

If you’re 16 or 17.

The lowest wage for 16-17 years old teenagers should be no less than 7 dollars every hour.

You can’t work in a pub (酒吧) or bar, but you can work in many other places.

By law, you can’t work more than 40 hours each week.

What jobs are out there?

It’s clear that your choices are limited (限制). Because you can only work during school holidays. But the following situations are fine.

At Christmas, most shops are short of hands, so you may find something to do there. In autumn, there’s always fruit picking. It can be pretty hard work, but it pays really well.

If you love football, you can choose to work in a sports shop or help out at a football club. No matter how much you can get, you are doing what you like.

【推荐2】Christmas is a Christian (基督教) holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth, but most Christians celebrate it on December 25th. On this day, many people go to church, they can take part in special religious (宗教的) services. In Britain, Christmas dinner is eaten at noon. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate (装饰) their homes.

One German couple tried their best to prepare for their Christmas decorations in a different way. Thomas and Susanne decorated the outside of their house with a few simple Christmas decorations. From the outside, their house looks normal. However, the inside of the house is so different from the outside.

They started decorating in October. It took them 8 weeks to set everything up. They put 100 Christmas trees into their small house! They decorate the trees with small coloured electric lights and 16, 000 baubles (小玩意).

They did not always have so many trees. In the beginning, they had a small Christmas collection. As time went on, they grew their collection rapidly. They started decorating in early October. It’s so special that even the bathroom has a Santa Claus toilet seat.

Audrey is a Chinese-American student. She has found many differences between the Chinese and Americans.

About Money

American children love to make money by themselves. Chinese children always ask their parents for money.

About School

Many American girls take part in sports, dancing and singing groups. Many Chinese girls take part in academic(学术的)groups. American girls usually feel happy when they get a “B” in an exam. Chinese students feel sad when they get a “B”.

About Parents

American parents allow their children to go out with their friends if they can come back at a certain time. Chinese parents usually don’t allow their children in middle school to go out with their friends at night.

American parents think it isn’t useful to send their children to a top university. Chinese parents would do everything to send their children to good universities.

About Teachers

During parent-teacher meetings, American teachers always find good things to say to the parents, even to those parents whose children get the worst grades. But Chinese teachers often tell the parents the mistakes that their children made at school.