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.

    Each one of us shares this planet with over seven billion others. And we all need1. People and products need to move from city to city and country to country. However, we all know2most cars, motorcycles, boats and planes cause air pollution. They are also3. This is a serious problem in many cities.4inventors are coming up with creative ideas to try to reduce the pollution and noise.

    In many cities around the world, motorcycles are very5. Now Vietnam has around 33 million motorcycles and China has almost 120 million. Motorcycles are a faster and cheaper way to get around a city than6. Yet air pollution is a growing problem. In large cities, people7it is difficult to breathe. To solve these problems, an American company designed an environmentally friendly motorcycle. It uses electricity as fuel (燃料). As a result, there is8pollution. It's also quiet and fast. This makes9a good choice for getting around a city.

    The Italian city of Venice is a city with only a few10. There are no cars in the city centre.11cars, water taxis and buses carry people along the city's canals (运河). However, they cause pollution,12to the water. English engineers Dick and Jem designed a solar-powered (太阳能的) water taxi. The water taxi13run for a day after being charged (充电).

    Planes also cause air and noise pollution. Designing an environmentally friendly airplane is a real14. Some airplane companies have15to solve the problems. Swiss engineers have gone one step further. They developed a solar airplane. This airplane even tries to travel around the world.

    Mr. Smith is from 1 , but he lived in London for ten years. So he can speak German and English. He also likes seeing the world. So far he has 2 to many big cities in the world, such as New York, Rome, Paris and so on.

    A few years ago, he came to China 3 the Great Wall. After that he fell in love with China and 4 to stay there.

    Now he works 5 a teacher in Beijing. He has taught English in a school 6 3 years. Mr. Smith is very humorous,7 he always makes his class interesting.8of his students feel bored in his class. He often encourages his students to speak English in class. The students also teach 9 Chinese. They are getting on 10 with each other.