Many kids do housework such as doing the dishes, making the bed, and folding the clothes. In exchange, they get some money or other computer time.

    Paying kids for housework is one of the most popular topics, especially at a time when everyone is more careful about money. Some parents think since adults are paid to do their jobs, we should pay kids for everyday housework. But some people don't think kids should get rewards(报酬) for doing housework. Susie Walton, an expert, believes that by rewarding kids, parents are sending a message that work isn't worth doing unless you get something in return. "Running any kind of housework is a team effort, Walton said. "" A home is living space for everyone in the family. It's important for kids to see that we all have responsibilities in the house, and families decide how they want their home to look, and how they are going to keep it looking like what they want. "

    Other people believe that getting a reward encourages kids to do housework, and it also teaches them real world lessons about how we need to work to get money. There are also apps (应用程序) that give kids points and digital gifts that can be redeemed (兑现)either online or in the real world. "Our goal is to give kids lawful power so they can get rewards," says Chris Bergman. "and kids need rewards to help encourage them. "

I am Dave. Some of my classmates are talking in the classroom.

Jill：My grandparents live on a farm. I went there with my sister last month. We stayed for seven days. The weather was usually sunny，so most of the time I played outside with my sister. On the farm，I milked cows，fed chickens and rode horses. I had a lot of fun. I think my trip was great.

Mark：I went to Shanghai with my parents. I wanted to visit some museums，but my parents wanted to go shopping. I didn't like going shopping. So I stayed in the hotel and watched TV all day. It was really a boring trip.

Anna：I think the best place for a holiday is the beach. I went to Sanya with my brother last year. The sand there was white，and it looked very beautiful. We built a big house with it. We swam and enjoyed the sunshine. We ate many kinds of seafood. They were delicious. The trip was great. I hope I can visit there again one day.

①rode horses　②took photos　③milked cows　④fed chickens

Imagine this. You come back from school and your robot housekeeper is already waiting for you at the door. He turns on the lights, air-conditioner and television. While you are having dinner, he cleans the floor. Before you go to sleep, he tells you the weather report, then reads you a bedtime story.

Such thoughts are not just for stories. Now they can happen in the real world, as long as you have the robot Alpha 2. Alpha 2 was a star at the 2017 World Robot Conference(大会), which was held from August 23^rd to 27^th in Beijing. More than 150 universities and companies from across the world brought their robots to the event for show and sale. Some robots work in factories. Some robots go to outer space or under water forexploration. But the highlights(亮点)of the event were service robots.

This kind of robot is the closest to our daily lives. From cleaning to teaching, music to sports, service robots have been used to do many kinds of jobs.

Teo is a popular service robot, as well as an artist and music teacher. His 53 fingers help him play the piano well. He played John Lennon’s song Imagineat the conference.

There is another service robot called Bestic. It acts as a human arm to feed people with a spoon. It can be a good helper for little kids, the elderly and those with difficulties using their hands.

The scientists believe that it may not be far when every family has at least one service robot.

Dear Jack,

How are you? I know you will come to my city to visit me next Sunday. Let me tell you the way to my house. When you walk out of the airport, go down Long Street. You will pass a bank on your right. The bank is opposite a famous theatre. Go on and cross White Street and Black Street. When you see a big supermarket, turn left. Then go down High Street and turn right at Sunshine Park. Go down Centre Street and you will go past a church and a square. My house is on your left. Itˈs about 15 minutesˈ walk.

Iˈm looking forward to seeing you soon and I hope youˈll have a good trip.

Yours,

Michael

  His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog(沼泽地). He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

    There, suck in deep mud, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

    The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's rare surroundings. An well-dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

    "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.

    At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family house. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.

    "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

    "I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my son will enjoy. If the boy is anything like his father, he' U no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of."

    And that he did.

    Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer (发现者) of Penicillin (青霉素).

    Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia (肺炎). What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

    The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

    Someone once said: What goes around comes around. Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening. Live like it's heaven on earth.

He met her at a party. After the party, he invited her for coffee. When they sat in a coffee shop, he didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, he asked the waiter, “ Could you please give me some salt?”

They were surprised and his face turned red. But when the salt came, he put it in his coffee and drank. She asked, “Why put salt in the coffee?” He said, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing on the seaside ....I could feel its taste salty, like salty coffee. Now every time I drink it, I think of my childhood and my hometown.”

She was touched(感动) and talked too, about her hometown, her childhood, her family. That was the start to their love story. Thanks to the salty coffee!

Soon they married(结婚) and lived happily together. And every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt, the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter. It said: My dearest, remember the first time we dated? I wanted to ask for some sugar, but I was too nervous(紧张) and said salt. It was hard for me to ask for a change, so I just went on. Many times, I tried to tell you about it, but I was afraid that it would make everything bad. I don’t really like salty coffee. But I’ve learned to enjoy it. Having you with me was my greatest happiness. If I could live a second time, I hope we can be together again, even if it means that I have to drink salty coffee for the rest of my life.

Do you know “Golden Week Holidays”? The Spring Festival and National Day are both “Golden Week Holidays”. These years Chinese people can enjoy longer holidays. They have more time to travel. With the development of China, Chinese people are getting richer and richer. More money makes it possible to travel farther, even go abroad.  Uncle Liu is going to visit Britain during this National Day. He said, “My dream to foreign countries really comes true. It’s so exciting to travel abroad.”

 Another good news came out in 2007. The Chinese government decided to make the May Day Holiday shorter, but make Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Day as holidays. This decision makes Chinese people enjoy the three traditional festivals more. 

Many musicians meet and form (组成) a band because they like to write and play their own music. They may start as a group of high school students and practice their music in someone’s house. Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can get some money for themselves or pay for their instruments.

However, there was one band that started in a different way. It was called the Monkees and was formed in 1965. It began as a TV show. The TV show had planned to find four rock musicians who could act as well as sing. But they could only find one who was good enough. They had to use actors for the other three members of the band.

Since some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to ask for help from other musicians. So at first, the band just pretended (假装) to sing. Anyway, their performances were excellent and they got lots of fans. Each week on TV, the Monkees would pretend to play and sing songs written by other musicians. After a year or so, they became more serious about their work. They started to play and sing their own songs like a real band. Then they produced their own records and started touring and playing their own music. In the USA they became even more influential and popular than the Beatles and sold even more records.

However, the band broke up around 1970, but happily they reunited (重聚) in the 1980s. They produced a new record in 1996 to celebrate their time as a band. It was very successful. Today the Monkees are still making music for their millions of fans.

I am Wilson. My sister and I spent our summer holidays with our uncle this year. He was a geologist(地质学家) and loved to collect stones.

One day, he bought us two backpacks and asked us to go to the mountain with him. We walked the whole day. Every now and then he put stones in our backpacks. To our surprise, he also took some stones out from them. But we thought he had just found better stones.

When we returned to the house, we were very tired. The backpacks were so heavy that we felt relaxed when we took them off. Yet our uncle’s backpack was half empty.

“Why did you give us so many stones?” we asked.

“I didn’t. You did,” he said. “You didn’t know it, but I gave you a little attitude test today. I listened to every word you said. Whenever you were complaining, I added a stone to your backpacks. Whenever you talked about something with positive(积极的) thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks.”

Our backpacks were full of stones.

“Your negative(消极的) thoughts are just like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones in your backpacks. The more negative thoughts you have, the heavier your mind will be,” said our uncle.

With great love, our uncle told us important understanding on life—the power of the attitude.

It is reported that some developed countries have shipped broken parts of computers to China. Last month Hong Kong officers found 131,000 kilograms of broken computers, TVs and phones sent from Japan.

Things like these are called electronic waste, or e-waste. Dealing with them is not an easy job. Every time an old computer breaks down, it needs to be dealt with safely. What is worse, at present, broken computer parts are usuallyburied. It may be hundreds of years before they are really gone in the earth.

Many places in China are polluted by e-waste. Guiyu in Guangdong Province is one of them. This town is named as “the e-waste capital of the world”. It has to deal with 1.5 million kilograms of e-waste each year, from which it makes 75 million yuan. But it comes at a cost. Many of the poisons in e-waste find their way into the environment. An environmental group has found the air, the earth and the rivers in Guiyu badly polluted.

Luckily, the Chinese government wants to change the situation. This year, China passed a new environmental protection law. Computer companies like Lenovo and Dell will be asked to take back their old computers. Hopefully, the problem with e-waste will be solved in the near future.