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 to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head start in life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 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's skills differ. Some children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 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. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully step by step. The 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 his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to repair them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And that is more important.

A. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.

B. The more cost in education, the better the result will be.

C. Cooking requires patience and time.

D. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today's children are badly off for self-respect and self-confidence.

E. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is.

F. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind.

G. Thus, the more the children use the computer, the better the result will be.

    Eyesight（视力） plays a very important role in our daily life. Every waking moment, the eyes are working to see the world around us. Over forty percent of Americans worry about losing eyesight, but it's easy to include steps into our daily life to ensure healthy eyes. Here are five suggestions for a lifetime of healthy eyesight：

    Schedule（安排）yearly exams(检查). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Experts advise parents to bring babies 6 to 12 months of age to the doctor for a careful check. The good news is that millions of children now can have yearly eye exams and following treatment, including eyeglasses.

    Protect against UV rays (紫外线). Long－term stay in the sun creates risk to your eyes. No matter what the season is, it's extremely important to wear sunglasses. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Give your eyes a break. Two－thirds of Americans spend up to seven hours a day using computers or other digital products. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Experts recommend that people practice the 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20－second break and look at something 20 feet away.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} As part of a healthy diet, eat more fruits and vegetables each day. Vitamins (维生素) C and E help protect eyesight and promote eye health.

    Practice safe wear and care of contact lenses (隐形眼镜). Many Americans use contact lenses to improve their eyesight. While some follow the medical guidance for wearing contact lenses, many are breaking the rules and putting their eyesight at risk. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Otherwise, you may have problems such as red eyes, pain in the eyes, or a more serious condition.

A．Eat your greens.

B．Eye care should begin early in life.

C．They can properly protect your eyes.

D．Stay in good shape by taking more vitamins.

E．Parents usually don't care about their own eyesight.

F．Always follow the doctor's advice for appropriate（适当的）wear.

G. This frequent eye activity increases the risk for eye tiredness.

    Living a more simple life can improve how we think, feel and move around in the world. Here are ways to simplify your life while creating space for happiness.

    Give up your negative thoughts. As humans, we spend a lot of our time being caught up in negative thoughts that brings nothing good into our lives. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They can grow rapidly and cause unhappiness and do nothing to improve our quality of life.

    Reduce the amount of screen time.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}While watching TV and endless YouTube videos or playing computer games can be a nice way to relax, too much can have a negative influence on your lives.

    Cut down on social media.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}They say they feel less confident after comparing their lives against those of their online friends. So simplify your life by cutting down on social media-not only for your own health of mind but to stop the endless checking every several minutes.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in the effort to make yourselves better people and improve yourselves, you often set goals but having too many goals can prevent you from achieving them.

    Eat Fewer Unhealthy Foods.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Cutting down on bad foods will not only help you feel much better and give you more energy.

A. Reduce the number of your goals.

B. Negative thoughts are much dangerous.

C. Many people feel their lives are worsened by it.

D. You can make your own healthy food and tasty meals.

E. Learn to choose to think and see the positives in life.

F. Make an effort to remove some unhealthy foods from your diet.

G. We spend so much time either staring at a computer or the TV.

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

    You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    The following methods may work best for you.

    Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

    Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

    Write your notes in your own words.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

    As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. Use words, not complete sentences.

B. There are three practical note-taking methods.

C. You must write your notes on separate paper.

D. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.

E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

    Volunteering is a great way to support an organization and make a difference in your community. It can also be an opportunity to meet new people and learn new skills. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And what should we plan for? Here's a guide for beginners.

    Step 1: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Do you want to help the world, or your community? Do you want to build your own skills, make new friends, and learn? Do you love what you do? Do you want to share your gifts with others or give something back? Think about these kinds of questions. That can help you to choose the right direction for your volunteer work.

    Step 2: Choose an organization that is meaningful to you.

    If you feel strongly about literacy (读写), for instance, volunteer at your local library or find out if there is an organization of volunteer tutors in your area. There are organizations doing all sorts of work. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Step 3: Start small.

    If you already have a busy school life, volunteer your time for an hour or two a week, or perhaps one day a month. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Then, if you find you enjoy the work and have more time to do it, take on more time by time.

    Step 4: Get training.

    If there is a training course, attend it. If not, talk to the group leaders and other volunteers about their experiences. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Step 5: Try not to give up.

    Volunteer work sometimes involves unpleasant tasks, difficult fellow workers, busy days, or bad management. If you find your work difficult, however, try to work through it before you decide to quit.

A. Do you love to work with people?

B. But how do we go about volunteering?

C. Get to know others in the organization.

D. It is important that you choose something that you like.

E. Think about why you want to volunteer.

F. You'll pick up some good tips to make your work there more productive.

G. You might be surprised by how much you can do in even a little bit of time.

Life Lessons

    Life is not easy when you are pursuing something worthwhile and ready to learn from the best experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some life lessons which people will learn the hard way in majority of cases.

    It takes consistent time and effort to be successful in any area. However, People usually get discouraged when it takes more time than they thought it would. At this time, people refer only to people who have already achieved what you want to be, which most people fail to do. Look at any successful person and you'll notice one thing common in all of them. They took time to learn and mastered their skills like no one else. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Be brave to take the road less travelled. In our whole life, we always want to follow the same path that everyone suggests, do the same things everyone does, take the same career path everyone takes, wear the same clothes everyone wears, and hang out with the same people we work with. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} But when you get bored of life, you will realize that you are not meant to do what everyone does and that your destiny is different from anyone else's out there in the world. But the price you pay to realize this is high because it takes a great amount of courage to follow your own path.

    You don't have to live your life in a way society wants you to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Parents sometimes force their children to select a career they don't want because other children have selected that career. Worst of all people follow them without even asking. There is no harm in old rituals(惯例) and beliefs but when you pursue them before your interest, sooner or later you'll realize that you should first do what you think is right.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, if you are smart enough to learn early and wish not to waste your precious time learning them the hard way, learn them now and apply it to your life as soon as possible.

A. You have to break the rules sometimes.

B. After all, life lessons are always learned the hard way.

C. There is no elevator to success; you have to take the stairs.

D. The reason why we follow others is that we are scared to fail.

E. It always takes tests and then fails us to learn anything worthwhile.

F. The general rule goes that the harder you try, the greater results you get.

G. Many old beliefs are being performed these days and are followed blindly.