Nowadays, more and more people in society have known the importance of quality education. However, students in middle schools and high schools are still saying that they have too much  (1)   to do.

    In many teachers’   (2)  , homework offers a good way to strengthen the   (3)   the students have learnt in class. It is   (4)   for students to learn only by hearing. Yet they ignore the disadvantages that homework brings. For one thing, too much homework will   (5)  up all the spare time of students. They are   (6)   to enjoy their lives. Some students can do   (7)   but to take exams when they leave high school. For   (8)  , too much homework will do great   (9)   to students’ health both physically and mentally. They spend too much time having classes and doing homework. Little time is left for them to do   (10)   exercise. More and more students are   (11)  . At the same time, they feel quite   (12)   mentally. Their daily life seems to be filled with homework. They feel that they can  (13)  finish it, because every day they have new homework.

    Schools should try to take   (14)   measures to improve the all-round development of students. Schools should think more about the   (15)  of homework. How much time should students spend on homework? It is a question whose answer will have important effects on students.

    A man got a new car and he was very proud of it. One day, when he came back home, he saw his three-year-old son happily hitting the new car with a toy ____  (1)  ____. He broke off the paint on the car. The man was so ____  (2)  ____ that he ran to his son, took away his hammer(锤子) from him, and used the hammer to hit the boy's ____  (3)  ____ as hard as he could for punishment. The poor boy cried ____  (4)  ____ but his father didn't care at all.

    When the father calmed down, he took his son to the ____  (5)  ____ as soon as he could. Although the doctor tried to save the broken bones, he had to ____  (6)  ____ the fingers from both of the boy's hands in the end.

    When the boy ____  (7)  ____ in the hospital and saw his hands, he innocently(天真地) said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your car." Then he asked, "But when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father felt very sad and regretted this very much.

    Think about this story when someone steps(踩) ____  (8)  ____ your feet and you want to argue(争吵) with him. Think first before you ____  (9)  ____ your patience with someone. Cars can be broken bones and hurt feelings often can't. ____  (10)  ____ always remember: excusing is greater than argument and think before you act!

More than  95 percent of people in the world have    (1)  today, according to the United Nations. Phone calls and messages help us easily make contect with others. It means that we  (2)   write  letters now. But a TV show, Letters Alive《见字如面》 , is   (3)  back this habit.

   Letters  Alive got its idea from a UK program with a same name. Both shows invite famous actors and actresses, but there are no funny jokes or different competitions.   (4)   , it’s just one person walking up to a microphone and reading a letter.

   The letters were written by people from different   (5)  in history . For example, in one episode（集） they read a letter written by famous writer Xiao Hong to her younger brother in 1941.The letter shows that Xiao Hong   (6)  her brother so much and had great hopes for his future.

  “Every letter opens another world for us,”  (7)   Guan Zhengwen, the director of the TV show. It seems that we can   (8)  the real lives and feelings of the writers.

    Since its first episode on Dec5, Letters Alive has been   (9)  praised. Many audience members said that it has provided a   (10)  of fresh air to today’s TV shows.

  This means that cultural vaules and true feelings are the keys to winning praise.

When we buy a house, we all want to have nice neighbours, because most of us think that it is helpful to live with some good neighbours. But what kind of neighbour is good? The answers are different from people to people. Here are my answers.

First, it is very important to respect (尊重) each other. If our neighbour tries to know more about our life, what will we feel? He or she may also talk with others about our life. Do you want to live with him or her any more? The answer is “No”. We will feel very sad to have this kind of neighbour and move away quickly.

Next, a good neighbour is always ready to give us a hand when we need him or her. For example, if we are not at home, our good neighbour will watch our house for us. 

Finally, a good neighbour should love the environment (环境). He or she never puts rubbish here and there. Good neighbours should keep the place clean, because the good environment can make us comfortable and happy.

I think we all should learn to be good neighbours, and I also hope everyone will have good neighbours and live a happy life.

Every school has its own rules. How many   (1)   are there in your school? At some schools, the students   (2)   to wear uniforms on school days. But many students don’t like to wear uniforms. They think the uniforms are the ugliest   (3)   in the world. But the schools don’t allow the students to wear   (4)   own clothes at school. So some students draw cartoons or some famous singers on their   (5)  .

They think it is very   (6)   that everyone wears the same. It is very unfair(不公平的) that the teachers and the students are wearing   (7)  . But most of the students   (8)   the rules. What do you think   (9)   it? Do you   (10)   your school uniforms?

“How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly greeting that people in the United States use. However, “How are you?” is also an unusual question. It’s a question that often doesn’t need an answer. The person who asks, “How are you?” expects to hear the answer “Fine,” even if the person isn’t fine. The reason is that “How are you?” isn’t really a question and “Fine” isn’t really an answer. They are common ways of saying “hello” or “hi”.

Sometimes, people don’t say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks “Do you agree?” the other person may be thinking, “No, I don’t. I think you’re wrong.” It isn’t polite to disagree very strongly, so he might say, “I am not so sure.” This is a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone.

People also don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking to other people. For example, many conversations over the phone end when one person says, “I’ve got to go now,” or the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse such as “Someone is at the door,” or, “Something is burning on the stove.” The excuse may be real, or not. The person who wants to hang up simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say so. An excuse is polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person’s feelings.

Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an opinion, or ending a conversation, people often don’t say exactly what they are thinking. This is one way of being nice to people, and it’s a part of the game of language.

   Almost everyone likes music very much. But do you know who invented music? Who sang the first song? No one knows the answers   (1)   these questions. But we know that music is very    (2)   in everyone's life. Babies and young children love to    (3)   people sing for them. When they get older, they like to sing  the songs themselves. When children go to  school, their   (4)   of music grows. In middle schools, students    (5)   music lessons. And they become    (6)   in pop music. Music will make them   (7)   after a day's hard   (8)  .

  We can    (9)   hear music in shops, buses and houses. We shall try to find out   (10)   about music.

  The following is a radio broadcast (广播).

  Good morning. Today's broadcast brings together music from different places of the world. We   (11)   some American music and pop music for you. In this broadcast we shall study the music. We shall try to find out what music says and how people   (12)  . I will tell you   (13)   they are all good music. The word "music" comes from the word "muse". The Muses are goddesses (女神) of the arts, so music is a kind of   (14)   . It's like speaking, but it's   (15)   .

We can't imagine that without music what our life would be like.

KUNMING—Many Chinese teenagers are interested in“falling in love”and“getting married”. In an unreal world，as more on-line games offer such experience to them whose minds are full of romance(浪漫)．Parents and schools worried that such on-line games would cause the prematurity(早熟)of children and affect their studies．

A mother surnamed Xiong has a 14-year-old son，who often stayed all night in the Internet café playing games recently．One day，the son came home with joy and told his mother he had got some million yuan in a game and had got a wife and a son．

“I was very surprised to find him interested so much in the grown-up’s activities，”the mother said，adding that the son spent all his pocket money in the Internet cafe and even skipped classes(逃课)．  

It is reported that a similar story happened to a high school boy named Yan，who married a girl named Xiao Fei in an on-line game called“Crazy tanks”．In the game，the“couple”took wedding photos, had a sweet honeymoon and had a child．“We love each other so much that we can’t live without the other．”said the boy．   

   Finally he decided to find Xiao Fei in real life．“I must meet her in real life and will love her．I’m planning it now，”he said with hope in his eyes．“Many on-line games allow players to marry and live together，and it is bad for children，”Yan’s teacher said．

Do you have meals regularly? If the answer is “yes”, it would be great. However, many people are not doing as great as you. According to a new survey, half of British people say that they are too busy to have meals on time.

The survey shows that 50% of British people don’t have meals on time. About 40% of them eat breakfast in less than 10 minutes. One fifth say that they don’t have breakfast or lunch. Instead, they choose to eat snacks to stop themselves from being hungry. About 47% say that they are so busy that they just have a sandwich at their desks. Many people eat snacks to get through the day. As a result, making people eat healthily is not an easy task. It seems that the traditional lunch hour is becoming a thing of the past.

As we all know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But so many people don’t have breakfast every day. Even worse, nearly one in three people combine breakfast and lunch together.

Many people have dinner very late in the evening. About 16% of people say that they often have dinner after 8 pm. That is time for the digestive system(消化系统) to slow down and get ready to sleep! Some people even eat snacks late at night!

Everyday work is very important, of course. But health is much more important.

It is well known that the Japanese people’s love of fish is almost as strong as a bee’s interest in honey. As fish populations were decreasing, fishing companies were forced to fish further and further away from the shore. Then they had a big challenge — how to keep the fish fresh for longer. So they decided to keep the fish stored in freezers on the boats. But the public did not like frozen fish. So again the fishing companies had a new bigger challenge. What they decided to do was to have fish tanks on their boats. After catching fishes，they would put them in the tanks and keep them living there until they got back to shore. But in this protected environment, lacking predators（掠食者）, the fish slopped moving around. The Japanese public felt these dull fish did not taste fresh, which had an unpleasant effect upon sales. Once again the fishing companies had an even bigger challenge ...

Stop for a minute! Before we go any further, I would like to ask “What are your challenges? How do you handle an unexpected challenge?” May I think it this way that you should try to attack your challenges? Conquer them with a Swiss Army knife. Take the most proper and simple tool that you can adopt to deal with your situation.

Now back to our story. How did the Japanese finally figure out the fresh fish problem? Sharks! You might think the same. Sharks were caught and put into the tanks with other fishes. Don’t sharks eat fish? Well, they do eat a few fish, but they did also keep more fish active and alert（警觉的）. The fish stay fresh because they are challenged.

Now, try to keep yourself fresh by finding your own shark to offer yourself a challenge in your own business and career.