With the change of different seasons, people will need different kinds of clothes. When school begins in autumn, it is cool. So at this time of year, people often wear something such as shirts, coats and pants. Winter usually comes in December. It is very cold in the last two months. And people should wear warm and heavy clothes. Jackets, sweaters, hats, and gloves can also keep people away from the cold weather. Spring is usually from March to May. In spring, the weather changes again and gets nice and warm. People begin to wear cool clothes. With the summer months coming, people often wear shorts, T-shirts or something else to keep cool. It gets very hot in July and August. Don't forget sunglasses and sunshades(遮阳伞), for they are both what you need in the hot sunny season. 

    We often see top students around us and everyone knows about them. Let us take Jenny as an example. She is the monitor of our class. She spends a lot of time working for our class. But she always gets good grades in all subjects. How do students like Jenny do that? When I asked her, she said, "Hard work is not the whole story. It's not how long you sit at the desk with your books open. It's what you do as you are sitting." In fact, we can see many top students spend fewer hours on their studies than their classmates. Jenny gave me some valuable suggestions.

    If your math teacher gives you five exercises, you should do six. If your Chinese teacher gives eight pages of reading, you should read nine. The more you practice, the more you learn.

    Studying is a matter of your personal interest, so choose the way you are most comfortable with. Some people like working at night when the house is quiet, while others like doing their work early in the morning. However, others like studying as soon asthey arrive home from school while the work is fresh in their minds. No matter(无论) which way suits you, try to do your best.

    Studying is your business and the business comes before entertainment(娱乐). When you are studying, phone calls should go unanswered, TV shows unwatched, snacks given up. Studying is the only thing in your mind. Nothing can pull your attention away from what you are studying.

    Studying is like eating. You should eat a little at a time. You can plan what to do today, but don't do too much. When you can't finish the work you planned to do, you will feel stressed and may lose confidence. On the other hand, you will not study well without a good plan. It all depends on how you manage your time.

    The students who hand in a clearly written paper are already half way to get an A. Tidy papers are likely to get higher marks than messy(乱糟糟的) ones. When you write clearly and do your work carefully, the thoughts in your mind are clear. You are able to make fewer mistakes.

    Teenagers today know about computers and are familiar with using them. We did a survey among 60 young people between 13 and 19 in order to find out what they use computers to do.

    All the young people questioned say that they regularly use computers to play games. Twenty-eight of them do some word processing(文字处理)at home, but not very much. Only ten of them say that they look for useful information for their studies online. And sixteen of them listen to music and watch movies on their computers. Only two of them say they use computers as calculators. And six of them use computers to learn programming(编程).

   Home computer use by teenagers

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴Listen to music and watch movies on computers

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵Use computers to learn programming

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶Use computers as calculators

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Look for useful information for studies online

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸Use computers to do some word processing

    People who buy property (房产) or move into a new apartment or house usually hold a housewarming party (乔迁派对). The party is an opportunity for friends and family to congratulate (祝贺) this person on their new home. It is a tradition (传统) to bring a gift to a housewarming party. Decorations (装饰品) for the new house, such as pieces of art or potted plants (盆栽植物), are good housewarming gifts. You can also bring food or drinks to share with the other guests. The host or hostess of the party will give all the guests a tour of their new home. Sometimes, because housewarming parties usually happen shortly after a person moves into their new home, guests may be asked to help unpack boxes. This isn't common, though.

    A long time ago, people would bring firewood (木柴；柴火) to their friends' new homes as a gift. This is where the name "housewarming" comes from. This allowed their friends to keep their homes warm for the winter. These days, most homes have central heating, so firewood isn't needed.