When Justin Tong was a child, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him doing lots of housework such as carrying out the rubbish and sending newspapers. But when he grew up, he was better off than his childhood friends and lived a happier and healthier life.

This is the finding of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 children in London. It showed that the children who had worked hard in childhood had a richer and a happier future. "Children who worked in the home or community gained competence(能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society," said Daniel Brown, the psychologist(心理学家) who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."

Brown's study followed these children in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Brown, the researchers compared the children's mental-health scores with their childhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

    Working at any age is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this.

    Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, "One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work."

①In ancient(古代) China, people have three names: their family name, given name and courtesy name(字).

②Take the famous poet Li Bai as an example. His family name is Li, his given name is Bai and his courtesy name is Taibai.

③People use their given names when they are with their family or friends. And your elders like your grandparents and parents call your given name at home. But in the workplace, people use their courtesy names.

④Men get their courtesy names when they are 20 years old while women at 15 years old.

⑤People's courtesy names have something to do with their given names. For example, Zhuge Liang's given name is Liang. It means "bright". His courtesy name is Kongming. And the meaning is "very bright".

A group of boys stand around a tree. "1 tall tree!" they say to each other. "It will be exciting to climb to the top."

The boys then decide to play a game to see who 2 climb to the top of the tree first. One of the climbers is 3 8-year-old boy named David. He is 4 child in the group. Nobody thinks he will win.

Then the game starts. All of the boys try their best to climb as 5 as they can. Though the other boys climb faster than David 6 the beginning, he gets to the top of the tree fastest in the end.

His mother is proud. She asks him, "David, 7 do you reach the top of the tree so quickly?"

"It is easy," David says. "8 children keep looking down as they climb. When they realize how high they are, they are afraid of falling down. However, I only look up. When I see how close I am to the top, I keep going higher and higher until I 9 the top."

It is true in life that if we just keep going forward without 10 back, we are more likely to reach our goals.

Have you seen a group of people with their eyes staring at a screen, singing out loud without a care in the world? If so, you have witnessed (见证) a period of karaoke time, and the people are entertaining themselves by singing along to recorded music. You don't hear the words. Instead, the words appear on a screen for the singers to follow and sing the words. This form of entertainment originated (起源) in Japan, and the word karaoke means "empty" (kara) and "orchestra" (oke).

Karaoke was invented in the early 1970s in Kobe, Japan. The inventor was a musician named Daisuke Inoue. One day, a businessman asked him for a recording of his music so that he could sing along to it at a business meeting in another town. The recording was so good that the businessman returned and asked for more songs. This gave Inoue the idea of inventing the first karaoke machine.

In its early days, the karaoke machine was found mainly in hotels and restaurants. Singers performed in front of the other customers. A lot of people loved the idea of singing their favourite songs, but didn't feel comfortable singing in front of strangers; so in the 1980s, the karaoke box was born. This was a private (私人) room where people could sing with their friends without other people hearing them. Eventually, karaoke found its way into people's homes as part of home theatre systems.

As technology advanced, karaoke-based video games were created. By 2003, people could also access karaoke services on their mobile phones. This made it possible for music lovers to burst into (突然开始) song at any time, in any place. In some countries today, karaoke machines are even found in cars and taxis for the entertainment of passengers. Karaoke is definitely here to stay, and it will continue to adapt to our changing lifestyles.

Welcome to Vicinity

Linda: My grandfather has a dog. The name is Coco. It is two. My brothers and I like it a lot. It's so cute. 

David: Dale is ten years old. I like him. He has a sister. Her name is____. She is six years old. I like her, too. 

Cindy: Frank and I are teachers. We have a daughter. Her name is Alice. She likes to sing and dance. Our son Dale likes green best. 

Frank: I'm 35 years old. I like oranges. John is my father. Helen is my mother. I have a brother. His name is Mike. We love our parents.