1 . Now students’ English handwriting (书写) gets worse and worse. That makes their teachers feel worried. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are four steps that really work!

Use paper with lines

Using paper with lines can keep you writing straight instead of up or down when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be sure to fill the lined space completely. And make sure those capital letters are written properly.

Slow down

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, going slower makes the handwriting clear. If you write too fast, it’s hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse, you may make more mistakes.

Hold your pen right

When you hold your pen the correct way, writing is much easier. Some kids press down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting not nice. Try to be relaxed and don’t hold the pen so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.

Draw more pictures

Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control your pen better when you are drawing pictures. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by yourself at home.

Handwriting is very important. Imagine you are a world-famous movie star or a well-known sports player, what do you do when your fan run up to you? Give them your signatures (签名), of course!

2 . How do you feel about the way you look? Is it important to have a beautiful face? Are there any other things that can make a person special?

The way you look is special. Do you know what I mean by that? We all look a little different. Some of us are tall. Some of us are fat. The point is that all of us have our own look—our own face.

Sometimes, we might feel bad about looking different. We might feel like we look ugly or weird (怪异的), but our differences make us special.

I recently watched a speech by a man named Robert Hoge. Hoge was born with a strange face. His mother worried about the difficulties he would face in life.

However, Hoge never gave up his life and dream. Strangers would always look at him differently or even make fun of him, but he didn’t care. He decided to accept his look and feel confident (自信的) about himself. He has gone on to live an amazing life.

It’s hard when you feel like you don’t look “normal” or “perfect”. But the truth is, no one is perfect. The important thing to remember is that you’re special and unique, no matter what you look like.

6 . Do you want to have a garden at home? Work with your mom or dad and you can grow（种植）fruit and vegetables at home. Here are some suggestions（建议）.

Find a place for the garden

You will need help from your mom and dad. They can help you find a right place for your garden. It can be a small one, but make sure your garden gets lots of sunlight（阳光）!

Grow your plants

Dig holes（挖洞）and then put the seeds in. Don’t put too many because they will have no place to grow well.

Water your plants

Make sure you give some water to your plants. They need water to grow just like you do. But don’t water too much or you’ll drown（淹死）your plants.

Get the fruit and vegetables

Your plants start to grow, and then you will get fruit and vegetables. You can wash some and then cat them, or you can use some to make a very nice dinner.

Growing fruit and vegetables at home is great fun.

7 . Younger people and older people do not always agree with each other. They sometimes have different ideas about life, work and play. But in one special program in New York State, adults (成年人) and teenagers live together in a friendly way.

Each summer, 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and happiness in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.

There are a few free hours every day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours, some of the teenagers learn how to take photos and draw, and others sit around talking and singing. Each teenager has his own way to spend his spare time.

When people live together, rules are necessary. In this program, the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They discuss it and ask “why did it happen?” or “what should we do about it?”

One of the teenagers talks about his experience like that: “you stop thinking only about yourself; you learn to think about the group.”

8 . Today, people want to keep healthy through sports and exercise. But some of them have some wrong (错误的) ideas about it.

“A plate of chicken is a good meal before games because it has much energy (能量).”

In fact, the best meal before games should have carbohydrates (碳水化合物). Foods like potatoes, bread, bananas are rich in them, but meat, such as chicken and beef, is not.

“________”

Morning is a good time to exercise, but it may not be good for you. If afternoon or evening is OK for you and you enjoy the feeling of getting healthier, you can choose any time to exercise. So there is no fixed time for you to exercise.

“If you drink water when you exercise, you’ll feel tired.”

You must have some water during breaks (休息期间) when you exercise. And after exercising, you must have enough water. If you don’t drink enough water, then you may feel tired.

“Exercising every day is quite important.”

Wrong. Too much exercise is bad for your health. You need to give your body a day of rest.

9 . Most children like watching TV because it’s very interesting. By watching TV they can see and learn a lot and know many things about their country and the world. Of course, they can also learn over the radio. But they can learn better and more easily on TV. Why?

Because they can hear and see at the same time. But they can’t see anything over the radio. TV helps to open children’s eyes. It also helps to open their minds (智力). They learn newer and better ways of doing things.

Many children watch TV only on Saturday or Sunday evening. They are always busy with their lessons on weekdays. But a few children watch TV every night. They go to bed very late. They can’t have a good rest, so their study is not good. How about you, my young friends?