Homework is a problem for students all over the world. As a student, you have a lot of homework to do every day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. And it helps you understand important knowledge. Luckily, there're several things you can do to make homework less difficult.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Write your homework down in your notebook if you need to. Don't be afraid to ask questions about it. Understand why you should do your homework.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Many schools have study halls. The students can study there. It's more interesting to play with your friends. But the more homework you finish at school, the less you'll have to do that night at home.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It is difficult to hold your attention for too long. So take some breaks while doing your homework. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. If you don't finish your homework at school, think about how much you have left. It's a good idea to make a homework plan, especially when you want to enjoy sports or other activities.

The Spring Festival

    The Spring Festival，Chinese New Year，is the most important festival for all of us. All family members get together on New Year's Eve to have a big meal. ①At the same time，everyone celebrates to each other. At about 12 o'clock，some parents and children light crackers. The whole sky is lighted brightly. We may watch the fireworks excitedly. How busy it is！

    On the first early morning of one year，many senior citizen get up early and they stick the reversed(倒着的) Fu or hang some couplets on the front door. Some house's windows are sticked on red paper cuttings.

    The Chinese New Year lasts fifteen days. ②所以在那十五天的时间里，我们总是挨家挨户的去探访我们的亲戚朋友。 At that time children are the happiest because they can get many red packets from their parents，grandparents，uncles， aunts and so on. The last day of the Chinese New Year is another festival. It names the Lantern Festival.

    So the Chinese New Year comes to the end.

    The population of Earth is still going up. There will be less and less good land for growing crops in the future. People worry that there will not be enough food for everyone in the middle of this century.

    Recently scientists have discovered one strange plant named fedtschenkoi（玉吊钟）may help. It can absorb（吸收）carbon dioxide(CO₂) at night. It only needs 10 times less water than food plants like beans. This means it can grow in the desert(沙漠).

    In which ways could this plant help us?

    Since deserts are increasing in size because of the changes in Earth's climate, growing plants there will be more and more important. Although it is dangerous to eat this plant, scientists can still study something about it: how it absorbs CO₂ at night while many other plants only do this during the day, and why it is suited to the desert.

    There is another direction to take the research in. Producing a desert plant to eat will be difficult, but there is still possibility to use the genes(基因)from this plant and put them into food plants.

    The other way is to grow this type of plant for fuel(燃料). At the moment we grow plants for fuel in good land. If we do it in deserts instead, more good land can be used to grow plants for food.

    Desert plants have special qualities, which could be an answer to our future food or energy needs. Scientists are working hard on it.

    Jack was seven years old. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} One day, their mother took them to their aunt's house to play when she wanted to go to the big city to buy some gifts. It was the holiday season.

    The children had a good time at their aunt's. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Then, at half past four their aunt took Jack into the kitchen (厨房). She gave him a delicious cake and a knife and said to him, " {#blank#}3{#/blank#}and give one of the pieces（块）to your sister, but remember to do it like a gentleman(绅士)."

    "Like a gentleman?" Jack asked. " {#blank#}4{#/blank#}"

    "They always give the bigger piece to the other person." said his aunt at once.

    "Oh," said Jack. He thought about this for a few seconds(秒). Then he took the cake to his sister and said to her, " {#blank#}5{#/blank#}".

 The National Literacy Trust once did some researches(调查) on reading. About 32,000 children from different schools in the UK answered the questions from it. These children are aged from 8 to 18.

 The research shows that children in the UK are reading less in their free time. Just over a quarter of the students said they read outside school. About the same number said their parents didn't feel that reading was important. Half of those students said they enjoyed reading"very much" or"quite a lot". About two in five thought reading was"cool", but about one in three said they only read when they had to.

 Jonathan Douglas from the National Literacy Trust said, "Our research not only shows that children are reading less and having negative attitudes(消极的态度) to reading but also shows the relationship(关系) between this and their performance in reading tests." The research also finds that many children in the UK like to read e- books outside school. The percentage in 2014 was about 6% and it grew to 12% in2015.

 In today's world, there are so many activities for children to do. But if they sit down and do some reading, they will find reading is really interesting and useful.