Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad toEngland, theUnited Statesand Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument(乐器) or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.

Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that todayˈs children are short of self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking requires patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job successfully step by step. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.

Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse(激发) his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.

Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs, teachers find students’ attention improve.

Peter, a fifth-grade teacher in West Virginia, the USA, has been using balls as chairs since December 2010.“The students love them”, he says. Peter took a survey of his students. He found that 80% of the students thought sitting on the balls helped them pay more attention to what they were learning.

The manager(经理), Mary, felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs, she encourages the use of the balls. She hopes not only teachers but also students know how to use them. “Our products(产品) are used in 24 states(州), three provinces(省) in Canada, Puerto Rico and Japan,” says Mary. “Research(调查) shows that sitting on the balls makes them sit up straighter,” says Mary, “but it feels not boring.” Because the students are moving, so the kids have more energy and can keep longer.

“Besides, they're fun.” says Peter.

Maybe you are an average (一般的) student. You probably think you will never be a top student (尖子生). However, anyone can become a better student if he or she does his or her best. Here are some tips (技巧) to help you.

Plan your time carefully. You should plan your time for such things aseating, sleeping and dressing. Then make a good, regular time for studying, but don’t forget to set enough time for entertainment (娱乐).

Keep your study quiet and clean. The study should have a desk, a chair and some study materials (资料), but no games, no radio and no television! When you sit down to study, you can put your heart into it. Make good use of your time.

Listen to everything that the teacher says. Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

After you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss next day, read the material. It will help you study better.

Develop a good attitude (态度) to tests. The purpose (目的) of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. It helps you know what you are not good at. The world will still go on even if (即使) you fail (不及格) in a test, so don’t be too worried.

A fire happened in the Crown KTV in Xinxiang, Henan Province. Fire officials said the big fire began on the early morning of Dec. 15th 2014. And it was put out after an hour. The accident made 11 people lose their lives, and 24 persons were seriously injured.

   We are so sorry to hear that, but we should think about how to prevent fire. I think we shouldnˈt play with fire, and should be careful to use the electrical appliances. Prepare a fire extinguisher and read the instructions to learn how to use it. Please check the fire escape and make sure that you can find it in the dark and it is unblocked.

   If you unluckily meet the fire, knowing what to do can save your life. Here is some advice:

   * Firstly, escape as quickly as possible. You have to stay low to the floor and cover your mouth with a wet towel or a wet cloth to avoid getting into the smoke.

   * Secondly, you can use stairways, roofs and fire escapes, but no lifts. From the lower floors of buildings, to escape through windows is possible. It is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.

   * Thirdly, if you canˈt run away by yourself, donˈt jump off the high building. Keep your head low next to the window to be sure you get fresh air while you are waiting for help.

   In short if we pay attention to fire safety and use the right way to escape during the fire. I believe we can avoid the fire and protect our lives, and donˈt let the same thing happen again.

Body language is a kind of way of communciation. When you use body language to communicate, you don’t speak. Your thoughts, intentions(意图) or feelings are expressed by physical behaviors, such as facial expressions, body posture（姿势）, gestures and eye movements.

 Body language can make yourself understood more easily by others. Waving one’s hand is to say “Goodbye.” A smile and handshake show welcome, and clapping hands means congratulations. Nodding the head means agreement, but shaking the head means disagreement. These gestures are widely accepted both by Chinese and foreigners. Of course, different countries have different body languages. Men in Russia, France and Arab countries kiss each other when they meet, but men in China or Australia shake hands instead of kissing. People in Arab countries like standing close to one another when they are talking, but English people must keep a distance away when they are talking.

 When you use a foreign language , it is very important to know the meanings of gestures and movements in the country. Using the body language correctly will help you to make your stay there much more pleasant and comfortable.

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Students in many countries are learning English. Some of these students are small children. Others are teenagers . Many are adults. Some learn at school, others by themselves. A few learn English by learning the language over the radio, on TV, or in film. One must work hard to learn another language.

Why do all these people want to learn English? It is difficult to answer this question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects required for study. They study their own language and math and English. Some people learn it because it is useful for their work. Many people learn English for their work. Many people learn English for their higher studies, because at college or university some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspapers or magazines in English.

You’ve seen news reports about people who need assistance after natural disaster, or TV programmers about how lonely and isolated older people can get. Maybe you’ve walked past people who are living on the streets．

So what can you do about any of those things,you ask?The answer：You can volunteer．

Volunteering gives you an opportunity to change people’s lives, including your own. Helping others in need is such an important part of life. So how do you go about it?

    Find What’s Right For You.

    Volunteering isn’t like school: Instead of having the choices made for you, you’ve got to pick.You can choose what really interests you and who or what is most deserving of your time.

    Find What Fits Your Schedule.

    After you’ve discovered what interests you, decide how much time you want to spend and what fits into your schedule.

    Expand your mind.

    Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills— from working as part of a team to setting and reaching goals. It can give you a chance to discover what kinds of things you’

re best at and enjoy the most. Volunteering can provide you with a sense of responsibility because people really depend on you．And it can help you develop a new understanding of people who are different from you— people with disabilities, people in financial problems, sick kids, or the elderly.

   Feel Good.

   Volunteering helps people feel they make a difference— that they do have the power to change things for the better. When people depend on you, it can change the way you look at yourself. You can feel proud of the goals that you’ve achieved. Volunteering is also a great way to get aperspective on your own life.

In 1926, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business. But he was not a good artist. So he invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden. That was the first photo. The next important date in the history of photography was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room. He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype(银版照相). Soon other people began to use Daguerre’s way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world. People took pictures of famous buildings, cities and mountains. In about 1840, photography was developed. Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things. That was not simple. The photographers had to carry a lot of film and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the US worked so hard. Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people. The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike. Photography also became one kind of art by the end of the 19^th century. Some photos were not just copies of the real world. They showed feelings, like other kinds of art.

How long are you willing to wait for a webpage to open before you start to lose your patience? Half a minute? A few seconds? Google engineers have discovered that even 400 milliseconds—as short as the blink* of an eye—is too long formostInternet users.

A millisecond is one thousandth of a second. People hardly notice such a small time difference, but it does cause them to stop searching, reported The New York Times. “Without question, nobody likes to wait,” said Arvind Jain, a Google engineer. “Every millisecond matters.”

Nowadays, millions of smart phones andcomputers are continually gathering and sending out information. With so many people downloading maps, sports videos, news and restaurant recommendations, you can get digital “traffic jams”. Meanwhile, users are expecting faster and faster service.

   Google found that if one website is 250 milliseconds slower than another website, then people will visit it less often. This is why technology companies are now competing to be the fastest. Google said people do expect different thingsfromdifferent websites because they realize not all loading times are the same. For example, a person will be more patient waiting for a video to load than for a search result like searching for maps.

    Even so, four out of five online users will click away if a video takes too long to load. This makes it difficult for video websites to choose between the quality of pictures and fast loading times.

    Trying to get a higher speed has always been part of the history of the Internet. In the 1990s, when the World Wide Web first started to become popular, it was very crowded and slow. People called it the “World Wide Wait”. But engineers managed to fight theproblemwith new inventions. They laid a lot offiberoptic cables* for sending in high speed. They improved software so it would work more smoothly. They placedcomputerservers all around the world to be nearer to users. All this increased speed.

Nowadays we can enjoy much faster Internet. Famous search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing usually find search results in less than a second. However, in order to meet the requirement of Internet users, these tycoons* should never stop their steps.

It is very common for students’ marks to fall. Sometimes it is because of situations outside school such as problems at home. Sometimes it is only because the exams get harder.

When your marks start to fall, you should try talking to a friendly teacher. He or she will be able to help you with the subjects you feel difficult. Stop（62）把自己同其他的学生比较. It doesn’t matter if other students get higher marks than you. What is important is that you do your best. Before each exam, you should go through your notes from class. You should remember the most important things you have written in a shorter form.

Look through your notes again before the exam. You will be surprised when you find you remember so much. It may take hard work and you may not improve your marks straight. But let your confidence rise by every mark. Soon they should begin to climb again. Remember:（63）Nothing is possible if he or she doesn’t have confidence.Besides（64）this, right ways are also needed by you. Keep on working hard, sooner or later, you will be successful.