There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible(负责) for their own education. Some students do badly in traditional classrooms. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. But many students will not do well in an open classroom.

    For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem of getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their school.

    You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory(理论). The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have some rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Most of the students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.

Open Education

Paperless homework will affect students^' handwriting

    A growing number of primary schools in Shanghai are now encouraging "paperless" homework. Instead of writing with a pen, children can finish their homework simply by "surfing and typing" on their iPad screens.

    Many people welcome the use of this new technology in schools. And it isn't difficult to understand why digital homework could be the next big thing in education; it reduces waste; makes it easier for teachers to collect homework; and now that everything else is digitalized, homework should too.

    But there's an overlooked downside to online homework, as it shows an alarming trend(趋势); how technology is affecting physical handwriting.

    In today's digital age, handwriting is already a weakening skill. Can you remember the last time you used a pen? For me, it was when I had to fill out a form at work. To be honest, I couldn't write quite a few characters and had to type them on my iPhone to remind me of how to write them correctly. I know I'm not alone. There are more saying they share similar embarrassment (尴尬) when asked to write by hand.

    In a time when computers, smart phones and keyboards are widely used in the world, is handwriting even important？ The answer is yes. Handwriting plays an important role in the learning process. Writing a character is more difficult than typing. It requires the body and mind work together actively. So for school﹣age children, writing not only allows them to memorize characters, but also trains their brains the way typing can't.

    Too many children, lost in technology, lie on a sofa or in bed with their smartphones or iPads a seldom mentioned side effect of modern technology, which may lead to physical problems later.

    All said, I'm not saying that digital homework should be canceled. Digitalization is an unstoppable trend. But for courses such as Chinese and English language, I hope to see digital homework introduced later into the courses, at least after children have had the ability to write characters and spell words well.

A.     B.

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E.     F.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴My cousin Helen likes tennis. She thinks it is very interesting. She often 'plays it with her friends after school.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵I have five basketballs. I like basketball very much and I often play it with my classmates every Friday afternoon.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶Cindy likes ping pong. She thinks it is easy for her. She has three ping pong bats and lots of ping-pong balls.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Frank likes sports. He likes playing soccer and he has two soccer balls.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸Amy likes sports, but she doesn't play them. She only watches the ball games on TV.

    Most of us have never thought about building an educational toy by ourselves. If we need a learning toy or something, we simply go to the nearest store and buy it. However, things are not as easy in third world countries. With families even having no food to put on the table, buying toys, especially the educational ones, is the last thing on the parents' minds.

    So how can one get these kids interested in science？This was a question that worried the Indian engineer Arvind Gupta so much that he decided to give up a good job and spend his life making toys from trash, things that people no longer want or need!

    Mr Gupta began teaching in the 1970s. While still an engineering student at the Indian College of Technology, he volunteered to teach the children who could not afford to go to school. Upon graduation, he found a good job at India's Tata Motors and spent the next five years designing cars.

    But he soon realized that this was not something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. So he took a year's training course and took part in the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Program whose aim was to make science fun and exciting for poor children using available materials.

    Mr Gupta found the whole project so satisfying that he decided to leave his high-paying job and focus his attention on designing educational toys that were not only cheap and easy to build, but also full of scientific principles(原理) , so that children could get interested in this interesting subject.

    When the Internet started becoming a more widespread learning tool, Mr Gupta created a toys from Trash website and also recorded over 250 You Tube videos.

    Today, over 50, 000 children and teachers visit the website daily to download the videos for the toy creations based on cool science, Some young children have become so inspired(鼓舞) that they have even won international science competitions with the help of his creations

    Wang Jie is a young talented writer. Her new book The Fifth Day of the Sixth Month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar (《六月初五》) has just come out.

    "I'm happy to write something every day. I have been writing all the years and will never stop," says Wang.

    Wang has lived a meaningful and rich life. Besides being a writer, Wang also has a heart of gold. She has a great love for charity work.

    "We should do our best to end poverty," says Wang.

    She has helped more than 100 children living in the poor mountain villages. She donates much money and books to them. She hopes to help them with their studies and their lives.

    "Doing good deeds, like passing on love and justice(正义) and doing charity work, can make me keep a peaceful mind. I have always been trying my best to have complete peace of mind," says Wang. With a peaceful mind, Wang can write all the way, and her peaceful mind comes from her good deeds. She is a beautiful writer with a beautiful heart.

    We will soon read another book of hers Flowers fall in Chang'an(《花落长安》). It is a thick book with about 600,000 words.