Fun doesn't have to be expensive

    Everyone likes to have fun, but not everyone has much money to spend. Here are some free or cheap ways to enjoy yourself.

    Go outside

    Going outside in good weather can be a lot of fun if you don't want to stay at home. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you live in a city, you can go window-shopping. Or you can explore an old part of town and admire the buildings.

    Try a hobby

    While you're out, take pictures of things you find. Planning and taking pictures can make you aware of the beauty all around you. Photographic equipment can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. You probably already own a camera or a cell phone that can take pictures. Other creative hobbies can also be done with basic materials. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Find an event

    Libraries often hold free public events. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And while you're there, borrow a book or movie for free. Museums and universities also hold free events.

    If you can't find a free event, you can volunteer at an event that requires tickets. People who organize concerts and plays need help.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sometimes they reward volunteers with free tickets.

    Meet a friend

    Relationships are often the best things in life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} For example, invite a friend for a walk, an event or a time working on your hobby. Hosting doesn't have to be difficult. If your friend comes in the afternoon, you don't have to serve a meal. You can sit and talk, play board games or card games or watch a movie together.

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

B. Stop by one to find out what's going on.

C. Hike or bicycle with a friend on a nearby path or in a park.

D. Whatever you do, find a friend to share it with.

E. It's a good idea to stay at home to watch a movie.

F. You can set up or take down chairs or greet visitors.

G. Drawing and writing require nothing more than a pencil and paper.

What Teenagers Can Do to Earn More Respect?

    As teenagers continue to grow and develop into young adults, the transition (过渡) into adulthood has begun. With so many physical and emotional changes going on, certain manners are often forgotten and other adult traits are not yet accepted as a way of life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} By doing the following things, you will earn more respect.

Contribute to the household

    At the very least, clean up after yourself. As a teenager, you are old enough to clean up after yourself. When you make a mess, clean it up. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} All chore (杂活) that you do help to reduce the load of the person who did them before. Now that you're old enough and capable, why shouldn't you contribute to the household? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Be responsible

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Whether they are basic things, like brushing your teeth or doing your homework, or more involved chores that contribute to the household, simply fulfill your responsibilities on time. When adults know that they can rely on you, their trust and respect for you will increase.

Solve more of your own problem without asking for help

    Instead of taking the easy approach and asking for help, make an effort to solve your problems on your own first. The “easy way” is only easy for you, but it is an extra task for the person from whom you are seeking help. Seek help only after you have made an honest effort to solve your own problems. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you become a good problem solver, you increase your value to the community.

A. Everyone has certain responsibilities.

B. By being aware of these manners and traits, you can manage them sooner.

C. When speaking to a group, speak loud enough.

D. The people doing the chores before will greatly appreciate the help.

E. Depending on the problem, 15 minutes of effort is usually a good guideline.

F. It will make your life more pleasant.

G. This includes, but is not limited to, your dishes and your room.

    There is distinction between reading for information and reading for understanding. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The first sense is the one in which we read newspapers, magazines, or anything else. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Such materials may increase our store of information, but they cannot improve our understanding. And clearly we don't have any difficulty in gaining the new information, for our understanding was equal to them before we started. Otherwise, we would have felt the shock of puzzlement.

    The second sense is the one in which we read something that at first we do not completely understand. Here the thing to be read is at the first sight better or higher than the reader. The writer is communicating something that can increase the reader's understanding. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Otherwise one person could never learn from another. Here “learning” means understanding more, not remembering more information.

    What are the conditions in this kind of reading? First, there is inequality in understanding {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Besides, his book must convey something he possesses and his potential readers lack. Second, the reader must be able to overcome this inequality in some degree. And he should always try to reach the same level of understanding with the writer. If the equality is approached, success of communication is achieved.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It is the least demanding and requires the least amount of effort. Everyone who knows how to read can read for entertainment if he wants to. In fact, any book that can be read for understanding or information can probably be read for entertainment as well.

A．Thus, we can employ the word “reading” in two distinct senses.

B．Such communication between unequals must be possible.

C．We can get access to the content of those materials easily.

D．The writer must be “superior” to the reader in understanding.

E. The writer should have a better communicating skill.

F. Besides gaining information and understanding, there's another goal of reading—entertainment.

G. Reading for entertainment is capable of increasing our understanding for   information.

    Our planet is home to about seven billion people. Since the 1990s, population experts have predicted the number would grow to nine billion before it begins to slow down and possibly decrease.

    But a new report predicts the world's population is likely to increase to almost 11 billion by 2100. Based on the most modem statistical tools, the new report makes use of government records and considers expert predictions, including death rates, birthrates and international migration, or people moving across borders. The report says during the rest of this century, Africa's population will grow from about 3.5 billion to 5.1 billion over the next 85 years.

    John is director of the United Nations Population Division. He says that in the past, researchers thought population growth in Africa would be similar to that of other areas. They expected slower growth rates as birth control use became more widespread. But he says those ideas were wrong.

    “The level of contraception use has continued to increase but slowly — more slowly than expected, and birthrate therefore has been falling less rapidly than expected, and the population therefore continues to grow somewhat more rapidly than we expected.

    The new findings are based on a joint research project of the United Nations and the University of Washington,

    The researchers believe the population of Asia will reach five billion by 2050. That is up from the current 4.4 billion. And then begin decline. The researchers also believe that North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean area will have a total population of below one billion.

    John says the pressure of feeding the rising population is likely to be less than that might be expected.

    “The relatively good news is that the world has been winning the race between population growth and food production. If you look back historically over the last 50 years, certainly for the world as a whole and for many, most individual countries and regions, the increase in food production has outpaced the increase of population.”

    Kenyon Scudder once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict (罪犯) returning home from a prison for away. What he did had brought shame on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.

    When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal (信号) for him when the train passed their little form. If the family had forgiven (原谅) him, they were to put up a white ribbon (丝带) in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.

    As the train neared his hometown, his suspense became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict's shoulder. “There it is,” he said, his eyes filled with sudden tears. “It's all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons.”

A Language Programme for Teenagers

    Welcome to Teenagers Abroad! We invite you to join us on an amazing journey of language learning.

    Our Courses

    Regardless of your choice of course, you'll develop your language ability both quickly and effectively.

    Our Standard Course guarantees a significant increase in your confidence in a foreign language, with focused teaching in all 4 skill areas—speaking, listening, reading and writing.

    Our Intensive Course builds on our Standard Course, with 10 additional lessons per week, guaranteeing the fastest possible language learning (see table below).

    Evaluation

    Students are placed into classes according to their current language skills. The majority of them take an online language test before starting their programme. However, if this is not available, students sit the exam on the first Monday of their course.

    Learning materials are provided to students throughout their course, and there will never be more than 15 participants in each class.

Arrivals and Transfer

    Our programme offers the full package—students are taken good care of from the start through to the very end. They are collected from the airport upon arrival and brought to their accommodation in comfort. We require the student's full flight details at least 4 weeks in advance.

Meals/Allergies(过敏)/Special Dietary Requirements

    Students are provided with breakfast, dinner and either a cooked or packed lunch (which consists of a sandwich, a drink and a dessert). Snacks outside of mealtimes may be purchased by the student individually.

    We ask that you let us know of any allergies or dietary requirements as well as information about any medicines you take. Depending on the type of allergies and/or dietary requirements, an extra charge may be made for providing special food.