Children with no shoes on do better at school than those with shoes on，a study suggests．

    For over 10 years，researchers from universities observed （观察） children in 100 schools from 25 countries．They found that classrooms were quieter when children took off their shoes．It provided a quieter environment where pupils were more willing to focus on study than those with shoes on．

    "Children are much more willing to sit on the floor and relax if they have no shoes on，"said professor Stephen Heppel，a lead researcher．

    "The last place a child would sit to read is an upright chair．And we've found that 95% of them really don't read on a chair at home，"Heppel added．"When they go on holidays，they read lying down．"Professor Heppel hopes to bring the"shoeless policy"to all U．K．schools．He says relaxing conditions at school make children feel as if they're at home．He believes all the teachers will be glad to adopt the habit．

    Ted, my little brother, is in Grade One. Last Friday he came back from school with a letter. The letter was from his teacher. “I got a red flower today. Could you please sign this note?” he said to mum. The note showed that he had been talking in class.

    Ted hardly gets top scores in his school work. The best he gets is “OK”, but he often gets “You can do better than this.” Mum knows what it means. She tells me “You can do better than this” means “Extremely bad” in China.

    In the USA, teachers never say anything too bad about their students, even if the students are making trouble in class or not working hard enough. The worst they might say is “Please be nicer tomorrow”. Many parents are satisfied with a B-grade for each subject.

    But things in Chinese schools are quite different. Parents have high expectations for their children. I sometimes felt that my second-grade cousin spend more time on homework than I did when I was 6^th grade in the US! Yet his parents and teachers didn't think he worked hard enough.

    Is it too strict in China? Or is it not strict enough in the USA? Maybe both are true.

    The world is in danger. At one time there were 1,300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland, but now only 860 remain(剩余). The others have been destroyed(破坏) by man. We are changing the earth, the air, the water and everything that grows and lives. We can't live without these things. If we continue doing like this, we will destroy ourselves.

    What will happen in the future? Perhaps it is more important to ask "What must we do now?" The people who will be living in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conservation(对自然环境的保护) is necessary. Many are helping to save our world. They plant trees and protect animals in forest. In a small town in the United States, a large group of volunteers cleaned the banks of their rivers. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called No One's Going to Change Our World. It was made by the Beatles, Cliff Richard and other singers. The money from it will help to protect wild animals.

If you live with one parent, you know that a lot of other kids do, too. More than 20 million kids in the United States live with one parent. Separation(分离) and divorce(离婚) are the most common reasons for this. In other cases, the mom and dad may never have lived together, or one of them may have died. 

Living with one parent instead of two can bring out a lot of emotions. These feelings can be pretty strong, and they can be confusing, too. You might feel terribly sad and angry because your parents divorced. 

You also might feel happy that your parents split up and aren't fighting anymore, but you may also feel upset when your mom brings home a man that she is dating. You might love the uncle or grandma who takes care of you, but sometimes you might wish you could have one family with both a mom and a dad. 

Emotions all by themselves aren't either good or bad. They're just feelings. Because living with one parent can sometimes be stressful, it can help to talk about it. You can talk with your parent, a relative, school teacher, or another trusted adult. Talking with other kids who live with single parents can be a great idea, too. 

Do you know citywalk? Many young people like it very much in China now. They think it's 1 .

When young people arrive 2 a new city (城市)—Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, they like to 3 with good friends around the city. For them, citywalk is "walking around the new 4 " on foot.

Citywalk helps young people to 5 a city. People usually follow a city route (路). When they walk, they can learn the local culture (当地文化) and have 6 food. It also helps them make 7 new friends.

Citywalk follows one 8 : don't go to the center places. 9 these places are busy and 10 . People can not feel free there.