Parents in Spain are being urged to go on a weekend homework strike this month in protest against the unacceptable amount of after-school tasks their children are given.The homework load of Spanish children has long been a sore point with some parents,who argue that the burden is too great,places too much pressure on pupils and eats into family time.

    According to a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),Spanish 15-year-olds have 6.5 hours of homework a Week compared with an average of 4.9 across the 38 OECD countries. The Spanish Confederation of Associations of Mothers and Fathers of Students (Ceapa) is calling on parents whose children attend Spanish state schools to boycott weekend homework in November.

    "We've lost a bit of common sense in this country when it comes to talking about education and we've got a system in which boys' and girls' free time has disappeared",said Jos Luis Pazos,president of Ceapa."Schools are passing on tasks to families that they shouldn't be.It starts with children from the ages of three to six doing half an hour's homework every day.For us,that's an unacceptable situation".

    Pazos said Ceapa disagreed with the belief that children should endure huge amounts of homework in the hope that it would ensure them a better future.They should be.happy when they're little and that life isn't just about someone telling you that you have to suffer inexplicably（难以理解地）.The model needs to change because society has changed.

    Schoolchildren have to fit their homework around the school day,which varies from region to region and school to school,but starts early from around 8 am or 9 am and finishes anywhere between 2 pm and 5 pm.However,schools are increasingly using an 8 am-2 pm timetable to save money and in the face of evidence that suggests the longer hours do not yield better results.

    A spokesman for the education department of Madrid said homework was a matter for individual schools rather than regional governments.They're the ones who know best what the need is in each case.

    A few years ago, my wife, Sue had some serious health problems. She had suffered surgery after surgery and had also put on weight. Diets had not helped her and she suffered constantly from undiagnosed pain. One day the whole family sat down and drew up a “wish list”. To our surprise, one of Sue's items was to run in a marathon. Given her history and physical limitations, I thought her goal was completely unrealistic, but Sue became committed to it.

    She began by running very slowly and every day she ran just a little farther than she did the day before. Soon she could run three miles. Then five. Sue kept practicing and longed to run in the St. George Marathon in southern Utah.

    On the big day, I parked our van near the finish line, waiting for Sue. The rain was steady and the wind was cold. The marathon had started over five hours ago. The fast and strong competitors had finished already. Several cold and injured runners had been transported past me, and I began to panic. The image of Sue, alone and cold, off the road somewhere, made me sick with worry.

    Another hour passed and I spotted a small group running up. As they approached, I could see Sue, in the company of three others, and a woman in her twenties was near Sue. It was obvious that they had become friends during the race. I could see her begin to struggle. But when the finish line came into sight, she confidently even happily picked up her pace the last hundred yards to the finish line. Few people were left to congratulate my wife. They openly praised and embraced her, “She made us believe we could do it,” her new friend stated.

    From then on, she was carrying herself differently. Her head was more upright. Her shoulders were squared. Her walk had a new confidence. Her voice held a new, quiet dignity. It was not as if she had become someone new; it was more as if she had discovered a real self she had not known before. It was perseverance that made her realize she was an undiscovered masterpiece with a million things left to learn about herself. She truly liked her newly discovered self. So did I.

    Hilary Smith belonged to a good family. But by the age of twenty, he had spent all the money the good old family had. He then had some trouble with the bank and was put in prison. He escaped from the prison and ran to Australia without delay.

    Hilary did not like Australia and Australia did not like Hilary. What he could do seemed to be one of two things: die or work. Then he remembered that he was not alone in the world. He had an aunt.

    She was his father's only sister, but his father used to say she brought no glory to the family. Hilary, of course, tried to discover what she had done. It seemed that she had failed to marry a nobleman. Instead, she had chosen a husband who was connected with "trade". Of course as soon as she became "Mrs. Parks", her brother considered her dead. Later on, Mr. Parks died and left her a lot of money; but that did not bring her back to life in her brother's opinion.

    Hilary discovered his aunt's address. Fortunately she remained faithful and honest to him even after she fell ill. So Hilary's star shone again, and soon he moved into her house and lived as comfortably as a sailor who had just reached harbor. He had only about six pence in his pocket.

    One thing was soon clear: his aunt was seriously ill, and nothing could cure her illness. Hilary was very worried. Fate had found a home for him, and was now going to throw him out of it. There was only one thing that could save him: her will.

    "Will?" she said, "yes, I have made one. That was when I was a girl and had not much money. I left all my money to some religious people."

    "Didn't you make another will when you were married?" Hilary asked.

    His aunt shook her head. "No," she said in a low voice, "There was no need. When I finally had a lot of money, I found I had no relations."

    On the next day he went to the public library and examined a book of law. It told him what he already believed. When a woman is married, an earlier will loses its value. A new will must be made. If no new will is made, the money goes to the nearest relation. Hilary knew that he was his aunt's only relation. His future was safe.

    After a few months had passed, Hilary's problems became serious. He badly needed money. He had expensive tastes, and owed a lot of money to shopkeepers. They trusted him because his aunt was rich, but the debt was terrible.

    Unfortunately his aunt did not want to discuss money matters at all. In the end they had a quarrel about the small amount of ten pounds. Hilary was not very angry. He began to wonder about a new problem. Was it kind to want his aunt to live any longer? Was it not better for her to die now? While he was considering what to do, his aunt told him that she was going to send for her lawyer. So she was going to make a new will, Hilary thought. She might leave all her money to someone else. Soon he reached a clear decision. He must do a great kindness to the poor old woman.

    One night when the old servant who had been nursing his aunt went off, he doubled the amount of some medicine. The total amount was too great and it could just put her to sleep forever.

    "Thank you," his aunt took the glass from his hand with a grateful look." I want, more than anything, to sleep, and never to wake up again. Is that what you wish, Hilary? Don't blame me if I have some doubts about what you intended to do. Sick people get these ideas, you know. One thing I ought to explain to you. Mr. Parks never married me. He already had a wife and couldn't marry again. That made your foolish father very angry with me...Well, if I am alive tomorrow, I shall make another will in your favor. If I die tonight, you'll get nothing...No, Hilary, don't try to take the glass away. If you do that, I shall know and I don't want to know. Good night, Hilary."

    Then, very carefully, she raised the glass to her mouth and drank.

    Forest Schools originated in Sweden in the 1950s and spread to other countries, particularly Denmark where they have become an important part of the Danish early years program.

    In a typical Danish Forest School, young children from 3 years are taken into the forest for 4 hours each day of the week. They take no toys with them, but instead use only what the forest provides (and their imaginations) to develop their games. There is a primitive hut in the forest, which is used in extreme weather. Activities are child-led and fun, such as finding small animals or stomping in puddles. Because of high adult to child ratios, children can safely try out activities which are often considered too dangerous, such as climbing trees or lighting fires, and by dressing the children in good protective clothing, they are able to play freely. By setting children small manageable tasks at which they are unlikely to fail, and giving genuine praise, children's independence and confidence grow.

    A Swedish scientific study found that children in the Forest School are more balanced and socially capable, have fewer sick days, are more able to concentrate and have better co-ordination than the city nursery children. The primary reason appeared to be the greater opportunities to play in nature, so that children play for longer at a time, tending not to disturb each other as much as children in the city nursery. The study observed that where children were interrupted, they became irritable, their stress level rose, and their ability to concentrate fell.

    The study also showed that the Forest School children had 25 % fewer sick days than the city children. One reason for this is that the air is nearly always better outside than indoors. Outside a child is not so exposed to virus and bacteria and not so likely to be infected by other children. Another reason may be that, since stress has been shown to have a negative effect on the immune system, high stress levels may be weakening the city children. The Forest School children, on the other hand, are in a pleasant, natural, fun and less stressful environment.

    Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his family immigrated to New York, America, from Dublin, Ireland, in 1848 when he was just six months old. As he grew up, Augustus liked racing his friends around the block, buying candies at the store, especially drawing—drawing pictures of the shoemakers at his father's shoe shop. At the age of 13, his father told him it was time to go to work. Augustus replied, "I should like it if I could do something which would help me to be an artist." He began as an apprentice to a cameo cutter out of stone and shell, and carved cameos of people, lions, and even the head of Hercules from Greek mythology, when the Civil War had just begun.

    At 19, with his earnings and his parents' support, he travelled to Paris and Rome for further training and artistic study. Before he left, he drew a portrait of his mother in pencil and sculpted a small bust(半身像) of his father out of clay. Then, 22-year-old Augustus opened an art studio in Rome and worked on his first life-sized sculpture, called Hiawatha. An art patron was impressed with this sculpture and promised to help Augustus "until your genius and labors shall have met with the reward to which I feel they are entitled".

    In 1876, Augustus was chosen to design a monument to the Civil War hero Admiral David Farragut of the U. S. Navy. Completed five years later, when he was 33, his first major sculpture for the U. S. was unveiled at Madison Square in New York City, the sculptor's boyhood home. One art critic called it "the best monument of the kind the city has to show". Then the giant Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago in a setting by architect White, 1884-1887, was considered the finest portrait statue in the U. S.

    However, in 1900, aged 52, his doctors told him he had cancer. Even though he was often ill, he continued to work at his home and studio in Cornish, New Hampshire.

    In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt requested that Augustus redesign American coins—to convey the strength of the nation. Augustus made lifelike pencil sketches of his coin designs. Yet, Augustus died in August 1907, two months before his l0-dollar and 20-dollar gold coins were issued. Augustus Saint-Gaudens had fulfilled his dream-and more! He was one of the greatest American sculptors not only of his day but also of all time.

    Our tolerating ability is indeed way beyond our imagination. But not until the very critical moment will we realize our potential tolerating ability.

    There was a woman in the countryside who got married at the age of 18 and had to escape with her two daughters and a son wherever she could at the age of 26 due to the Japanese army's invasion, Many people could not bear the suffering of being a fugitive (逃亡者)and wanted to commit suicide. Knowing that, she would come to those people and soothed them by saying, "Don't do that silly thing. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. The Japanese armies are bound to be driven away one day!”

    Finally, she insisted until the day when all the Japanese armies were kicked out of China. However, her son died of disease without sufficient medicine and nutrition in those days of hardships. Her husband, after knowing the death of his son, lay in bed for two days without eating and drinking anything. She teared to her husband and said, "We have a tough destiny, but however tough our lives will be, we should persist in our efforts."

    After she gave birth to the second son, her husband died of edema (水肿), which almost, blew her away. But eventually, she recovered and embraced the three young children, saying, "My sweet hearts, don, feel scared. You still have me, your dear mum!”

    It took her painstaking efforts to raise her children up and, the life of her family was getting better and better. Two daughters were married and so was her son finally. She said to everyone she met," Look! What I said is absolutely right. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome! My life is so happy now!”

    She lived until 86. Before she went to Heaven, she said to her children, You all should live to your best. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome!”