When you are learning a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also learn how to use them. When you read a passage, it gives you a good example for writing. Here are some good reading tips.

    Firstly, try to read at the right level (水平). Read something that you can understand. If it is too hard for you, it is not interesting.

    Secondly, try to understand the new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, don't use a dictionary. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read. Mark (作标记) them with a pencil. Then look them up in a dictionary when you finish reading, and write them in your own vocabulary book. Try to remember them.

    Thirdly, try to read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes or half an hour every day is better than two hours every Sunday. For example, you can read before you go to bed, or after you get up or at lunchtime.

    Lastly, read something that interests you. Choose a newspaper, a book or a magazine about a subject that you like. It will be easy enough for you to understand.

①Welcome to our talk show, Mr Brown. You are an actor and busy every day. But you try to find much time to exercise. Could you tell us what you usually do in your free time? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

②I know you like skateboarding, little John. When did you start it? How often do you go skateboarding? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

③I know you don't need to go to work on weekends, sir. How do you usually spend your weekends? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

④Fruit, vegetables and milk are good for us. They are healthy. Do you often have them, Miss Yang? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

⑤As a waiter, you work at night and sleep in the day. How many hours do you sleep every day, Mr. Green? Do you think it's the same as a day job? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. I'm busy and tired on weekdays. So I want to relax myself at home on weekends. I like surfing the Internet and do it for five or six hours every Saturday and Sunday.

B. I cook at home from Monday to Friday. On weekends, I usually go out to have dinner with my husband and son. Maybe I must find a job next month.

C. Skateboarding is fun. I started to learn to skateboard when I was five years old. Now I go skateboarding four or five times a week.

D. They are really good for us. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables every day. But I hardly drink milk. I think only kids can drink lots of milk.

E. I'm really busy. I have lots of movies and TV plays to make. But I want to keep in good health. So I do some running in my free time.

F. Most of us work and have meals in the day and sleep at night. A night job is different from a day job. I usually sleep for six or seven hours in the day. But I can't have meals like people who work in the day.

    Should parents ask their children to do chores? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They think that children are too young to cook or clean for themselves or their parents. But many people believe that children can learn a lot from doing regular chores. Parents should help children learn to do the housework that they will have to do when they live on their own. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Most experts(专家)do agree. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Parents shouldn't, of course, ask a schoolboy to cook when he is doing his homework. If the child has activities after school, the time left to do chores may be short.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}When a child does what his parents ask him to do happily, he will probably have the feeling of growing up. Chores can be useful. They are a teaching tool(工具). Parents use the tool to teach children, so that they can care for themselves some day. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If parents keep a clean house, children won't find any reason to do chores.

A. And they also give children a sense of responsibility, importance and confidence.

B. Parents must make children understand how hard they work.

C. However, the chores should suit (适合于)children.

D. Doing chores can help children get better grades.

E. Some believe that children should not do chores.

F. Perhaps more chores on weekends can be helpful.

    Nobody likes to do chores, especially kids. How can you make your kids get into a good habit of doing their chores? Try making chores fun for them.

    Play some music: Music makes everything seem like a party, doesn't it? ③Play your kid's favorite music that they can dance to while they are doing their chores.

    Make it a treasure hunt(寻宝): It's a good way when you would like your kids to clean the house. Let them know that you hide(隐藏) a ＄5 bill someplace. If they find it, they can keep it.

    Change often: If your kids keep doing the   ①     chores for months, they may feel    ②   (无聊的，厌烦的). Teaching them a new task(任务) is fun for both you and the kids. They will feel more grown-up when they get a new task.

    Do it together: It's never fun to be the only one working and watch everyone else relaxing. ④If everyone takes part in(参加) doing chores, your kids will finish them faster and have more fun.

    When you are learning English, you find it not clever to translate an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence "How do you do?" for example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language. Languages don't just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It's important to master(掌握) the rules for word order in the study of English, too. If the speakers put words in a wrong order, the listener can't understand the speaker's sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn't change between the two pairs of sentences: "She only likes apples." "Only she likes apples." "I have seen the film already." "I have already seen the film."

    When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit of the language and use it as the English speakers do.