Chinese are very generous when they begin to educate their children. No caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the USA or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a good start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a large number of money on education. Even poor parents will buy a computer for their child.

    However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children are skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize is that today's children lack (缺乏) self-respect and self-confidence.

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

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. These activities are teaching a child not only to read, but also to think. And that is more important.

Chinese ancient poetry competition a success at UIBE

    The University of International Business and Economics﹙对外经贸大学﹚recently organized a competition on Chinese ancient poems to improve students' understanding of Chinese traditional culture and celebrated Word Reading Day, which falls on April 23.

    About 1,300 students took part in the primary poetry contest in late March and four teams, made up of 12 students, entered the final, which was on Thursday.

    The final included a four-part quiz that tested students' knowledge of Chinese ancient poems and other forms of Chinese literature.

    University Vice﹙副的﹚President Zhao Zhongxiu said he was glad that the competition attracted attention from so many students on university and raised their interest and sense in traditional Chinese culture.

    Qi Xiaoming, a professor of Chinese literature at the university said, "In that sense, to fully understand a Chinese ancient poem requires students to recite ﹙背诵﹚and understand the meaning in the very beginning of learning. Then, as the students grow older and connect what the poem talks about with their own lives, they will see more."

    The popularity of a TV program on China Central Television, Chinese Poetry Conference ﹙会议﹚, which has been broadcast﹙播放﹚for two seasons, has inspired an increasing number of education institutions like UIBE to hold a similar event of their own.

    The purpose of the TV program is to appreciate the beauty of Chinese ancient poetry and to learn from the wisdom of the great minds of ancient China.

Information Card

    Peter wanted to travel, especially to English-speaking countries such as America and Australia. But he knew that he had to improve his English, so he went to Green Language School to take English lessons. Peter worked very hard at his English. At last, he became ill. Every evening he went to bed, closed his eyes but he stayed awake(醒着的).

    Peter was worried so he went to see the doctor." I can't sleep at night. What should I do, Doctor?"

    "I have a piece of advice, "said the doctor. "Try to count(数)numbers. When you count up to 1,000, you'll be asleep."

    The next day Peter returned to the doctor's office." Did you try my advice？And are you better today?" asked the doctor.

    Peter wasn't happy. "Er, I tried counting from one, two...up to four hundred and twenty-one, and I felt sleepy. Then I got up and drank some coffee. Then I went on counting up to 1,000. But I still couldn't be asleep."

   ①   

    How much money do you spend every week? Write it down on your notebook. Then you will know how to manage your money. It's best to plan to spend money buying useful things. So you can put your money into good use. Don't spend money on useless things if possible.

    ②  

    Perhaps you like having delicious foods outside with your friends or family. Invite your friends over to your house instead of going out to a restaurant. You can enjoy home-made foods and play games together. It's an excellent way to have fun, but at a lower cost.

   ③   

    Instead of buying tea or coffee with a meal, drink water. It is widely known that water is the most popular drink in the world. It is good for your health. Drinking water makes you full of energy and it also saves money.

    ④  

    Walking is a great way to get some exercise and save money. This is a lifestyle that costs nothing. You'd better choose to walk rather than drive as much as possible. Doing this, not only can you feel good about enjoying the fresh air, but you get to spend time exercising a lot.

    Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything. The problem is that the people in Jean's family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely.

    So Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ. She likes being anonymous (匿名的), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name "Linda" on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she contacts quite often.

    Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and he lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot the time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: he was a tall, goodlooking young man with a big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

    When Jean's father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him, so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favourite rock singer. But when Jean knocked on David's door in San Francisco, she found that the special friend she had written to was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim.