The Sunday Mail magazine interviewed some parents about whether children should do chores at home. Different people have different opinions.

 Ms Miller thinks that kids these days already have enough stress from school. They do not have time to study and do housework, too. Housework is a waste of their time. They should spend their time on schoolwork in order to get good grades and get into a good university. When kids get older, they will have to do housework. So there is no need for them to do it now. She thinks that doing chores is not so difficult.

However, Mr. Smith disagrees with her. He thinks it is important for children to learn how to do chores and help their parents with housework. It's not enough to just get good grades at school. Children these days depend on their parents too much. Doing chores helps to develop children's independence and teaches them how to look after themselves. It also helps them to understand the idea of fairness. Everyone should do their part in keeping the house clean and tidy. The earlier kids learn to be independent, the better it is for their future.

    One day last November, Liz Douglas went shopping. She spent hours at the supermarket. After she paid for all the things she bought, she went back to her car and put the shopping bags on the back seat (后座) of the car. Then she started to drive home.

    Ten minutes later, it began to rain heavily. Soon, Liz found it hard to see the road clearly. There was a lot of water on the road, so she drove slowly. Although Liz was an experienced driver, she felt afraid.

    突然，Liz看见她前面的一棵树并试图停车。But it was too late. Liz closed her eyes. She hoped that the airbags (气囊) in the car would work when the car hit the tree. Unluckily, they didn't.

    However, Liz was lucky. When the car hit the tree, a bag of bread flew out of one of the shopping bags. The car turned over, and the bread landed between Liz' s head and the roof(顶部) of the car. It stopped her head from hitting the roof of the car.

    About half an hour later, firefighters (消防队员) helped Liz get out of the car. They sent her to the hospital, but she went home soon because she didn't get hurt badly. Her head was free and she only had a few cuts. Liz's son went to get the things Liz bought from the car and gave the bag of bread to her. She was going to keep it as a souvenir (纪念品) because it brought her good luck.

    Recently, the relationship between the two countries got worse because of the Diaoyu Islands.

    The Japanese government signed a contract(合同) on Sep 11 with the Kurihara family. It was to pay the so-called “private(私人的) owner” 2.05 billion yen (166 million yuan) to “buy” part of China's Diaoyu Islands.

    Anti-Japan(反日) feeling grew strongly among Chinese people. Many people walked into the streets and shouted out “Diaoyu Islands are China's.” Some have decided not to buy Japanese products any more. “I am boycotting(抵制) Japanese goods as a show of support. I'll work hard to make the country much stronger,” Liu Xiushan, 33, a lawyer in Beijing said to China Daily.

    However, some didn't show their anger in the right way. They broke cars and stores of Japanese brands. Some used rude words. These actions are bad for our position and image. Some actions were against law.

    Li Jingjun, a 17-year-old high school student in Guangzhou, was shocked by what he learned from TV and the Internet. He joined protects(抗议) in his city on September 15. But he acted differently. He called for rational (理智的) actions.

    “We have every right to say the Diaoyu Islands belong to us, but we should watch our behaviour. Bad manners can harm our dignity(尊严) and sense of justice(正义感)” ,said Li Jingjun.

A.

Cutting up the chicken Heating up the oil Putting in the chicken Adding some salt

B.

2 kg of chicken 0.5 kg of carrots 1 bottle of cooking oil 1 bottle of cooking wine

C.

Taking pictures Doing interviews Making a report…

D.

Starting a discussion

Making a decision

Telling group members what to do

...

E.

Washing the dishes

Cleaning the table

Sweeping the floor

Taking away the trash

...