The Sunday Mail magazine interviewed some parents about whether children should do chores at home. Different people have different opinions.

 Ms Miller thinks that kids these days already have enough stress from school. They do not have time to study and do housework, too. Housework is a waste of their time. They should spend their time on schoolwork in order to get good grades and get into a good university. When kids get older, they will have to do housework. So there is no need for them to do it now. She thinks that doing chores is not so difficult.

However, Mr. Smith disagrees with her. He thinks it is important for children to learn how to do chores and help their parents with housework. It's not enough to just get good grades at school. Children these days depend on their parents too much. Doing chores helps to develop children's independence and teaches them how to look after themselves. It also helps them to understand the idea of fairness. Everyone should do their part in keeping the house clean and tidy. The earlier kids learn to be independent, the better it is for their future.

As teenagers, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big. Such as winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be small, you may just want to become the best student in your class. Once you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you try to make your dream ①real?

Andrew Matthews, an Australian writer tells us that making our dreams real is life's biggest ②challenge. You may think you're not very good at some school subjects or ③___________ is impossible for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you from getting your dream. In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. The first thing you must do is to remember what your dream is.  Don't let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want. Do this step by step and your dream will come true faster because a big dream is made up of many small dreams.

You must never give up your dream. There will be difficulties on the road to your dreams. But the biggest difficulty ④comes from yourself. You need to decide what is the most important.

⑤Without dreams, you won't make up your mind to learn more skills and find new interests.

    If we agree that education is used to prepare us for life, then there is very little time to waste. So, while we can, we should teach children something really useful. Here is what our school should teach.

    Politeness is a mark of civilization(文明). The sooner children learn this, the better. In any case, a lot can be achieved by a smile and good manners.

    Like it or not, our adults work hard for money, but we don't make an effort to teach children how to manage it. So our schools have a duty to teach them this ability from the beginning.

    We're likely to accept something we are told, but that's not what educated people do. Educated people are reasonable(理性的) and they look at facts. If our schools teach nothing else, they should at least teach critical（批判性的）thinking.

    Children should learn to take care of their health. They should know that if they eat junk food（垃圾食品）, they will become fat and unhealthy. They should be very clear about what happens to their bodies when they drink or smoke.

    All of us are part of society. We have rights and duties. We should understand what they are. We have to know a little bit of history and geography, because we need to have an environment in which to communicate with the people around us.

    In a word, our schools should spend every moment they have telling this to our children: “This is life, this is what you are going to face, and this is how you deal with it.”

    My challenge for you is this: to read a book for 15 minutes a day. Let me explain where the challenge came from.

    I have many things in common with my dad, like music taste and sense of humor, but sadly reading isn't one of them. I can happily spend a whole day reading a book. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} He reads e-mails, websites and papers for work, but not books. He is a busy person, with a short attention span, so I think that sitting down to read for just 15 minutes a day is a good way to introduce him to reading. Giving yourself a goal or challenge is a good way to change a habit or achieve something, so why not try to develop a new habit of reading?

     {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Everyone is different and has their own interests, but I think there are lots of benefits of reading, which screen-based activities (games, films,

TV) don't have.

     {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Looking at screens can cause tire eyes, and you should avoid looking at screens for a long time.

    Another thing I love about reading is being transported to another world. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So you go to bed. Because you think more about the world of the book, rather than the real world and the problems you have during the day, so you can truly relax.

    I also love people. I enjoy hearing what people are doing and finding out what people think.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} It also teaches me to see things from other people's point of view, and understand other people's decisions or opinions.

    So give it a try! Include 15 minutes of reading in your daily schedule and see the difference you can make.

A. Firstly, it's better for your eyes.

B. But my dad can't read a book for longer than 5 minutes.

C. I often forget the time or things that are going on around me.

D. Reading ten thousand books is like travelling ten thousand miles.

E.  Reading gives me the chance to get to know hundreds of new people.

F. You can download free e-books online and read them on your computer.

G. I know lots of people would rather relax at the computer or in front of the TV.

    Mr. Green brought his family to China and visited Zhangjiajie On May 4th. 2019. They enjoyed the magic mountains there. They had a great time. They took a lot of photos on the way and then they had a picnic under a big tree. ①Suddenly it began to rain heavily. So they hurried to the hotel. When they got there, they couldn't find their expensive camera. They wanted to go back to look for it, but there wasn't enough time because they had to catch the plane at 20: 30 that night! They didn't have dinner in the hotel because they all felt sorry. To make his family happy. Mr. Green said. "Well. ②让我给你们讲一个有趣的故事吧。 An old man lived in a 200-meter-tall building. One day he fell down from it by accident, but he didn't hurt himself at all."

    "It was a miracle(奇迹)" shouted his children, why?"

    "Because he lived on the first floor!"

    They all began to laugh loudly. Just at that time a policeman with a camera came in. He said a Chinese boy found it under a big tree and the boy asked him to find out the owner.

    "It's really a miracle!" the Greens said happily.

Abingdon School Open Day

    The Open Day this year will be on Saturday, 1 October 2011. The Open Day is for all the family, with activities and displays(展示) about all aspects(方面) of the school. All the teachers, students and parents will attend. The day starts at 9:30 a. m. and finishes at 2:30 p.m.  You are welcome to arrive at any time during the lessons in the morning and afternoon. Please read the outline of Open Day events.

    If you can't come to the Open Day, that's all right. There are many other chances(机会) to visit Abingdon School

    St Helen School and St Katharine School Open Day will be on the same date, so you can also visit those two.

    Parking at the school on the Open Day may be limited(有限的), so you can also park your cars in Lotus Supermarket's car park.  It's just a three-minute walk away.

The map of Abingdon School can be found on the school website-www. abingdon. edu.