Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don't have enough time to relax or to stay with their family.

    Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1, 646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2, 159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.

    Why do people work so many hours？Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don't pay overtime. Their workers don't get more pay for more work. Some people think it's their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their jobs if they don't work more hours.

    Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get four to six weeks, and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull(迟钝的) boy. "If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.

Few parents can hear the words "What can I do to help?" from their kids. Teenagers spend more time on video games, computers and mobile phones, so they help less with housework.

Students at a primary school in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province were required to clean the school toilets to help them develop good habits. But some parents are strongly against the idea. They can't see the advantages of students doing such chores. They think that the school should provide students with a proper education, not the chance to be school cleaners.

In fact, parents, schools and society play an equally (同等地) important role in developing the character of students. It is good for schools to give students such tasks, because few of the students will do them at home. Their parents want them to do homework only.

In recent years, some parents will make mountains out of molehills when students are asked to do some chores in schools. Some will complain the teachers if their kids get hurt in schools; some will even challenge the schools' teaching methods and management. As a result, many primary schools, especially those in big cities, do not let students join in outdoor activities during breaks, fearing that they might get hurt. This is bad for the development of students' best qualities.

What the primary school in Fuzhou doing is worth praising. Doing chores can put a sense of responsibility (责任感) into students' minds and teach them the spirit of rules as well as teamwork. Also, it can make students' in-school experiences more meaningful.

写作提示:

1.What life skill do you want to learn?

2. Why do you want to learn this skill?

3. How do you learn this skill?

写作要求:

1.文中须包含所有要点;

2.文中不能提及本人的真实姓名、地名和校名;

3.词数 100 左右，开头已经给出，不计入总词数。

Little Life Skills Are a Big Help

Life skills are necessary for us teenagers. To live more healthily and happily, we are supposed to learn more new skills.

"The only constant（不变）in life is change," Heraclitus said in about 500 B.C. That could be more true today.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Technology is out of date almost by the time you buy it. We get plenty of information every day. Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." In fact, there is more information in a newspaper than he would have experienced in his whole life.

Why are we afraid of change? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} After all, who knows what new dangers might appear? However, change is also the only way of development. Nobody can stop it in life. Luckily, our brains become stronger when meeting the unknown. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To be more imaginative and creative, you should look for and find environments you have no experience with.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} For example, try a new restaurant, or go to a play or a concert you normally wouldn't attend. Small changes can help you gradually get used to uncertainty(不确定). So when bigger things happen, you'll be more fully prepared for them.

People who fear change often stick to a certain lifestyle. They believe they can control the future by doing so. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you can move from just accepting it to actively finding it out and dealing with it, you will be successful.

What should mobile phone buttons(按键) look like? What are Shakespeare's artistic achievements? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

As new technologies continue to develop, many students are choosing to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) so they can get good jobs later. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They need ideas from artists, historians and sociologists(社会学家)— in other words, people who major in liberal arts(主修文科). 

Learning how to program is not enough. The US writer Scott Hartley mentioned it in his book. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} He points out that soft skills, including communication, collaboration(合作) and understandings of social problems, are of equal importance. 

One possible solution is to put liberal arts and STEM studies together. In fact, Lewis University in the US has started to offer a set of courses called " CS + X".{#blank#}4{#/blank#} At the University of Vermont, a program called Engineering Management connects engineering with business. Engineers need to understand markets while business people need to learn engineering. 

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Only when we know this, can we create the greatest technology with humanity.