Chinese are very generous when they begin to educate their children. No caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the USA or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a good start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a large number of money on education. Even poor parents will buy a computer for their child.

    However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children are skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize is that today's children lack (缺乏) self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. These activities are teaching a child not only to read, but also to think. And that is more important.

    Do you know anything about the way of shopping in Western countries? In the West, people usually make a list before they go shopping. Most people like to go to supermarkets or big shopping malls.

    In the West, most supermarkets or malls open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 6:00 p.m. But some big supermarkets and big malls are open until 11:00 p.m. at night. When people go into a supermarket, first they should get a basket or a cart(手推车) at the entrance(入口处). Then they begin to choose things and put them into the basket or the cart. After they get everything they want, they pay the money. There are always a lot of people in the supermarket at weekends. They must wait for their turn.

    Most people go to the supermarket or the shopping mall once a week. Some people go shopping twice or three times a week.

    Welcome to the House of Noodles! In our restaurant, we have some great specials. We have different kinds of noodles like mutton noodles and beef noodles. There are some delicious vegetables in the noodles. What size bowl of noodles would you like? A large bowl of beef noodles is only eight yuan. For mutton noodles, a small bowl is five yuan, a medium one is seven yuan and for a large one, it is just ten yuan. You can also order our cabbage and egg noodles for just four yuan. And we have free green tea for you every day. All our noodles are good and at a good price!

    Inventions have the power to change our world. Some inventions are designed for work. Some are just for fun. Others can help people and the planet. Every year, Time magazine shares its best inventions of the year. Below you can read about five of these inventions to learn what's special about each of them.