2 . Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero which is a Chinese-style spelling bee (拼写大赛) . In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare   for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy (书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately , all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

But there’s still hope for the writing brush. China’s Ministry of Education wants children to spend more time learning how to write. In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practise calligraphy every day inside   a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture.” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up,” says the teacher.

Last year summer, I went to London for holiday. I spent just a week there. While I am staying there, I visited many places of interests and had lots of friendly talks with all kinds people. I found a very interesting thing there. One of my Chinese friends who have been lived in London told me that many English family don’t like to buy new television sets. There are many shops where can lend you TV sets. The shops are often filled by a great many people. There they can borrow a set very easy, and it costs them only a little. Then it can be taken home or used for long.

8 . Teachers say that the digital age has had a good influence and a not-so-good influence on American teenagers. More than 2,000 middle school teachers took an online survey. Researchers also spoke with teachers in some groups. Most teachers think the Internet and digital search tools have had a mostly positive (积极的) influence on their students’ research habits and skills. But at the same time, some teachers also point out some problems in teenagers’ using digital search tools.

The Pew Internet Project did the survey with the College Board and the National Writing Project. Judy Buchanan is the director of the National Writing Project and a co-writer of the report. She says digital search tools are helping students learn more, and learn faster. “Both teachers and students really welcome these tools because they make learning exciting. And the goal（目的）is to really help students become creators of something meaningful, and not just users of the online information.”

But one problem the survey found is that these technologies make teenagers have short attention spans (持续时间). As there is lots of information about different subjects on the Internet, teenagers’ attention is easily drawn away from their research.

Another problem the survey found is that many students trust the information they find on the Internet too much. Judy Buchanan says these students have not developed the skills to judge (判断) the online information. They need to learn a lot to tell if the information is believable. It’s something that really has to be paid attention to.

One more problem the survey found is something that might not seem like a problem at all: being able to quickly find information online. Many students think “doing research” now means just doing a quick search on Google. Teachers say the result is a drop in the wish and ability of their students to work hard to find answers. That is, they are depending too much on search engines and do not make enough use of printed books or research librarians.

Many teachers also say that the Internet makes it easy for students to copy work done by others instead of using their own abilities.

Nowadays, the computer technology develops very fast that the Internet has become more and more popular. Some students regarded it as a great helper. Because there has a lot of information online, so you can surf the Internet for any information you need in a short time without working hard in the library. This is also very convenient to talk to others by using the Internet. Moreover, other students think that there is some information online that is not good for students. In addition, spend too much time playing games will not only have a bad effect on their studies but also do harm health. Therefore, we should make properly use of the Internet. It is of great important to separate good plants from wild weeds.

10 . Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee. In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.