Are students getting lazier these days? How many parents are doing all the housework?

Some parents think that study is the most important to students. They should spend more time on their study.     1    , some parents think that it is necessary and sometimes important for students to do some housework. As for me, I think it’s good for students to do some housework for three reasons.

Firstly, housework is helpful to the development of children’s morals (道德) and characters. Doing some     2     can make the students have some sense of responsibility (责任感). As a Chinese saying goes, “No sweep your own room, and no way govern the country.”

    3    , doing some housework can help children be more independent. They can’t always     4     on others all their life. By doing housework they can learn life skills. And a survey (调查) shows that if the students often do housework in life, they can do better     5     learning.

Finally, there is lots of housework in each family. All the family members should share the housework. So as (作为) a     6     of the family, a student should do some housework, too. At the same time, while the students are doing some housework, they can get     7     opportunities (机会) to know their parents than before. By doing housework, a student will know how hard it is for his parents. Then he will make even greater efforts (努力) in his study later on. He will challenge     8     in the face of difficulties and never give trying to achieve his dreams.

4 . “Tell us about your favorite dream, Meg!” Laurie said.

“I’d like a lovely house, full of all kinds of nice     1     — good food, pretty clothes and lovely furniture,” Meg said.

“And I want to be a good person.”

“And what about a husband and some beautiful children in your lovely house?” said Jo,     2    .

Meg looked at Laurie and her face turned red.

“I guess you     3     horses and pens and books in your house, Jo!” she replied.

“You’re right! Lots of Arabian horses and rooms     4     of books,” said Jo. “I want to write books and be rich and famous.”

“And     5    , Beth?”

“I dream about staying at home with Father and Mother forever and looking     6     the family,” said Beth quietly.

“I have lots of dreams,” said Amy. “    7     my favorite one is to be an artist. I’d like to go to Rome and paint wonderful pictures. I want to be the best artist in the world.”

“Let’s meet again in ten years and see how many of us have got     8     wishes,” said Jo.

—Taken from Little Women

This term is coming to an end. Do you have a good time at school? Do you have any regrets? Do you want to do differently and better next term? Here is some     1     for you to prepare yourself better for the next school year.

Go to class every day. When you miss a day, or even a class, it’s easy to fall behind. The best way to stay with the development of the class is to be there! If you have to miss a class,     2     sure you meet with your teacher to find out what you missed. Also, listen carefully and take notes in class. Don’t write down     3    , just the main points.

Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Believe it or not, most teachers want you to learn and they are always there to help you. If you are not brave enough to ask questions in front of the class, go to talk to the teacher     4     class.

Take your homework seriously. Like it or not, homework is an     5     part of school. There’s not much you can do to get around it. Make it a habit to do your homework at the same time every day. If p    6    , you can find a study partner and do homework with him or her.

Try new things and make new friends. Try a new sport, something you think you will be good at. If you don’t want to play it alone, choose a sports club     7    . Just keep in touch with your old friends, and make some new ones, too. Making friends with someone is easier when you join a club.

Remember, it’s up to you to decide h    8     you are going to spend your next school year. Make full use of it while you can!

When your birthday comes, you may have a party with your friends. Some of them bring     1     for you. Do you know how to     2     and get gifts in other countries?

People in different countries give gifts in different ways. If     3     know them, you can know what to do.

You should know the right time to give a gift. Gifts are not only for birthdays or holidays. In Russia (俄罗斯), you must always bring gifts with you when you     4     people’s houses, but in Canada no one wants a gift.

The thing that you give is also important. When you give flowers to an English man, don’t give 13 flowers.

There are some ways for getting gifts,     5    .

We Chinese people don’t open gifts when we get them,     6     things are different in some other countries. People there usually open the gifts when they get them. They also thank their friends     7     thank-you cards.

In Japan, you should always take a gift with two hands. In India, one hand is OK, but it should always be your     8     hand because Indian people think left hand is not clean. But there is one common custom around the world. That’s saying thank you.

There are a lot of interesting names in the English language. Where did they come     1    ? Let’s have a look. The jackfruit (菠萝蜜) is a     2     fruit from some countries of Asia (亚洲). That’s     3     so many people enjoy eating it. When thinking about the fruit’s English name, it is easy to have questions like “Who is Jack? And why does he have his own fruit?”

Actually (实际上),   “jackfruit”     4     a person’s name at all. The fruit’s name first came from the southern Indian word chakka pazham. Portuguese explorers (葡萄牙探险者) came to the place and     5     it jaca. That was the English name of jackfruit today.     6     this fruit didn’t name after anyone with the name of Jack.

But there is     7     food, it really named after a person—the sandwich (三明治). In the 18th century, it was getting popular to play cards at     8     in the UK. John Montagu, the 4th Earl (伯爵) of Sandwich, started the habit of ordering pieces (片) of cold beef between two pieces of     9    . With this late-night food, people didn’t have to leave the table or use a knife and fork (刀叉).

The next time you find an interesting name in the English language, don’t forget to look into (探究)     10     history.

Many students like     1     games on the phone very much. But     2     Monday to Friday, they must go to school. Soon Saturday and Sunday they     3     at home and play games all day. They don’t know it’s bad for     4     eyes. Usually children like to eat fish, meat and chicken. They don’t like vegetables     5     fruit. They don’t know eating more vegetables and fruit is better (更好) than eating meat. At school, children only do a few minutes of sports or     6     do any sports. The teachers must know it’s not good for their health. We always think of ways to keep healthy. First, we must eat     7     of vegetables and fruit. Then, we must do sports for an hour every day. In the end, we must go to bed and get up     8     .