1 . Saturday is Emily’s favorite day of the week. On that day, after doing her ______, she is free to do what she wants to do. But today, it was warm and ______. Emily wanted to go out right now, so she walked to the door ______.

Suddenly, little Joe shouted, “Mama, Emily is going outside, ______ she doesn’t do her chores.” Emily stopped and got back. Mama went into the room. She said, “I know you love the sunshine, Emily, but do you remember ______ responsibility (责任) means?” Emily answered, “Yes, Mama. Responsibility means doing what I should do so I can grow up to ______ myself.” Mama smiled (笑) and went away.

Emily began to do her chores. She ______ her bed, put the toys in the box and placed her books on the bookshelf. She picked up the clothes on the floor and carried ______ to the bathroom. There she washed the clothes and cleaned the mirror.

Emily ran ______ her mom and shouted, “Mama, I’m done with my chores. I’m going to play outside now.” “Good girl,” her mom said.

Though Emily ______ chores, she was glad that she could help Mama.

People think that less than 2-year-old children can help with chores. Some parents think childhood (童年) is just for playing, ________ they don’t ask their children to do chores. However, most ________ believe that doing chores in a way of teaching children responsibility (责任).

Doing chores helps ________ children’s independence. Children learn to help, share and care about others by doing chores. Things like ________ a pet and helping make meals are some examples of helping others.

Doing chores is good. Anyway, it is also a kind of playing. So start to help your parents ________ the chores. You will learn a lot by doing them.

How’s everything with you in England?

Now here I am in Vancouver. I am _________ a host family. They are the Johnsons and live in an area called Oakridge. Oakridge is a few kilometers from the city center but there are buses and a train so it is _________ to get there. I’ve made some friends of my age around here and I go to the language course three mornings a week.

Talking of _________, well, that’s been the difficult thing, especially listening. I mean, there’s no problem when I’m talking to one person, but in a big group, it can be hard to _________ the conversation. Luckily, it’s getting easier now!

Otherwise (在其他方面), it’s all good. I thought that a lot of things would be very different here, but they aren’t. One thing, though, is that you have to _________ to leave a tip (小费) in restaurants.

OK. I have to go. Write and tell me how you are.

Maros

5 . It’s a good thing to have a good neighbor. But it is ________ to find good neighbors. The Greens are my good neighbors. Mr. Green ________ English in a junior high school. I have some problems with my ________ homework. Sometimes I can ask him ________ help. Mrs. Green is a nurse. She works in the ________ of our community. They have ________ children. Their son is Sam. We are in the same ________. Their daughter is only six years old. She is in Grade 1. The Green’s father also ________ with them. All the people in their family are ________.

Mr. Green and his family ________ kind to me. I am the ________ daughter of my parents. Some-times, when my parents aren’t at home, ________ have to work late at night. My neighbors always ________ me. They look on me as their daughter. And they often take me ________ with them to play with children.

Good neighbors can ________ us a lot. I’m very happy to have some good neighbors.

It was a sunny afternoon. Sam and his sister Lily were helping Mom ______ the room.

“Hey, Sam,” said Mom. “Would you please put these paper-towel tubes(纸巾内管) in the bin?” Sam looked at the tubes and something came to him. He asked, “Could I use them to make a ________?” “Great idea!” said Mom. “Do we have any other good recycling materials(可回收材料)?” asked Sam. “Come on. Let’s go and see what else we can find in _______ house,” said Mom.

Then, they walked around and kept ________. “This box would be good,” Sam pointed out. “________ it’s full of books.” “I was going to put those books on the shelves(书架). Can you give me a ________? Then you can have the box,” said Mom. “Sure, no problem!” said Sam ________. “Now I only need several more things.” Sam happily collected all his materials. He sat on the floor, cutting and gluing all afternoon.

“I like your robot,” said Lily, “Thanks. But his head is broken, and I can’t ________ it,” said Sam. “Hmm,” said Lily. She came up with an idea. She ran away and ran right back with an old hat. “Remember this hat?” asked Lily. “I wore it when I was a baby. Now it’s too ________ for me.” “Thanks, it’s perfect!” said Sam. “What do you think, Mr. Robot?”

“I love it,” said Mr. Robot, in a funny voice. “You are really good ________ making things out of recycling materials.”

7 . John is a middle school student. He has a very busy day.

At 6:45 a.m., he gets up and gets dressed. He eats some bread for breakfast _______ 7:00 a.m. After that he goes to school with his sister Rena and they get there at about 7:55 a.m. He has four classes in the morning. _______ does he usually have lunch? From noon to 12:50 p.m., he has lunch at school. He has three classes in the afternoon. The last class finishes at 5:00 p.m. _______ they get home, it is time for dinner. After dinner, he _______ does his homework first. Then he can _______ with his friends happily. At 9:00 p.m., he goes to bed.

9 . How do you get packet money (零花钱) from your parents? In China, you can ask your parents and ________ will give you pocket money to get your favorite things. In countries like America, many ________ do housework to get pocket money. They usually start to do this when they are ten years old.

Jimmy is seven years old. He can’t get everything he wants. But he ________ wants to buy and eat candy (糖). He knows how to ________ the dishes, then he helps to do this and gets the money to buy candy. Jimmy’s parents are also happy with what Jimmy does. They often ________, “Good job, Jimmy. But ________ to brush your teeth”.

Jenny is twelve years old. She is four years older (比……年长) than Jimmy. She wants to buy many things. ________ she has to work very hard! Now she is washing the car. When she has ________ time, she will cut grass, walk the dog or cook dinner.

Doing housework can help kids learn new things. For example, you can learn how to cook. You can also learn how to be good ________ other people. Children will also understand that it is not ________ to make money. You should thank your parents.

It is 9:30 a. m.. Mrs. Fisher asks her _________ Judy to do her homework, _________ Judy doesn’t want to. She wants to play with her cat. She says, “Mom, can I _________ you a question (问题)?” “_________. What is it?” says Mrs. Fisher.

“ Do you _________ me?” asks Judy. Mrs. Fisher says “Yes.”

“Then why don’t you let _________ do what I want?” asks Judy.

After _________ for a minute (分钟), Mrs. Fisher puts (放) Judy’s T-shirts, _________ and trousers on Judy’s bed. Then she asks, “Judy, do you love me?” Judy says, “Yeah, Mom. That’s for sure.”

“Great! Dear, I don’t want to wash (洗) your clothes, _________ do you ask me to wash them?” Judy looks at her clothes and says, “Uh, Mom. I have __________ homework to do. Please wash them for me. Thanks.” Then Judy goes to do her homework.