Do other countries' students also have so much homework? What do they usually do in their free time? You may feel curious about them.

    On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who studies hardest?

    Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That's much more than the stud the US (26.496), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleeps most often in class?

    Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes doze off in class. In South Korea, it's 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.

    South Korean students don't like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), china (90%) and the US (89%).

    Who is the most distracted (走神)?

American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated books in class.

What do they do after school?

    In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.

“Hi, Mrs. Grady,” said Mark when their neighbor opened her door. “Would you like us to shovel（铲） your sidewalk and driveway?” Shoveling was Jamie's idea, a way to earn enough money for the new Ocean Kingdom video game that came out the next day.

    Mrs. Grady was happy, “That would be wonderful, boys. I think the job is getting to be too much for me.”

“It will cost 10 dollars,” Jamie said. “If that's OK,” Mark added.

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Grady said disappointedly, “I haven't been able to get to the bank. I can offer homemade cookies, but I realize that's not what you had in mind.”

Mark was going to say that Mrs. Grady could pay them another time, but Jamie cut him off. “We'll come back later.”

Mrs. Grady doesn't look like the person who'd come to Mark's rescue last summer when Mr. Dunn's dog Goldie had just wanted to play, but Mark didn't feel comfortable around big dogs. He wanted to call for help, but his tongue seemed locked behind his teeth. Then Mrs. Grady's front door had flown open. She must have seen him from across the street. “Hold on, Mark. I'm coming!” “Goldie” she'd called. As soon as Goldie had turned her head, Mrs. Grady had slipped between Mark and the dog. She wasn't much taller than Mark, but she'd stood firm as a rock in front of him. “Goldie, go home!” Then she'd swept her broom to hurry the dog along. “Get!” Goldie had obeyed.

When Mark showed thanks to Mrs. Grady, Mrs. Grady laughed. “It was nothing. Good neighbors watch out for each other, don't they?”

And now Mrs. Grady needed Mark as much as he'd needed her last summer. He smiled and waved at Mrs. Grady, then his shovel deep into the snow.

“Hey!” Jamie shouted. “What are you doing?” Mark couldn't explain about Goldie and watching out for neighbors. “I like Mrs. Grady's cookies,” he said.

    In Hollywood, as in war, truth is often the first casualty. Stories told on screen demand heroes, devils and a clear plot line. Real life, on the other hand, tends to get messy—the lines between good and bad often cross. Two years ago, director Oliver Stone was severely criticized in the press for playing fast and loose with certain facts in JFK. Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father has largely escaped such criticism in the U.S., but only because Americans are unfamiliar with the story it is based on.In Britain,where people have lived with the case of the Guildford Four for 20 years,the film's reception has been considerably stormier.

    The movie tells the tale of Gerry Conlon,who along with three other youths was falsely accused of killing five people in a 1974 I.R.A.bombing of two pubs in Guildford,England.The four—three men and a woman—served 14 years in prison before their convictions（定罪）were overturned. Seven friends and relatives of Conlon's (the Maguire Seven),including his father,also served many years on false charges of having made the bombs.

    Though Sheridan never set out to make a documentary,he has been attacked for needlessly twisting the facts of the case.The film,for instance,shows the Maguire Seven on trial with the Guildford Four,though the cases were tried separately.In some of its most affecting scenes,it shows Conlon,played by Daniel Day-Lewis,sharing a jail cell with his father,though the two were often not even in the same prison.A grand and heroic part is carved for actress Emma Thompson,playing Conlon's lawyer,Gareth Peirce,but in reality Peirce was a minor figure and another lawyer, Alastair Logan,deserves most of the credit for freeing the Four.An important scene in which Peirce steals a crucial piece of evidence from a police file was fabricated for the film;it was a police investigation that uncovered the buried evidence of Conlon's innocence.

    Sheridan insists that he was seeking an "emotional honesty" and that the real subject of his film was a son's changing relationship with his father.But if that was his intended subject,say some close to the case,the director should have used someone else's story."The truth is that Gerry Conlon had very little time for his father,"says Sean Smyth,an uncle."It's a good film,well acted and everything,"admits Conlon's aunt,Anne Maguire."But I think if they'd put more of the true facts in,it would have been a much more powerful film."

    Scientists are studying different foods, and they will see which foods protect us from cancer(癌症), and which cause it. It is known that a healthy diet(饮食) will help keep a healthy body weight, which can also decrease the risk(风险) of many types of cancer.

    Fruit and vegetables

    Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. They can decrease the risk of some cancer types like mouth and throat cancer. They are a good source of many important nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and are an excellent source of fiber.

    Our advice

    Try to get plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Eating fruit and vegetables with a variety of colors will help you get many kinds of vitamins and minerals, as the chemicals that give these foods their colors are good for you.

    Meat

    Eating lots of red and processed meat can increase(增加) your risk of stomach cancer. Red meat includes all fresh and frozen beef, pork and lamb. Processed meat includes ham, bacon and sausage. White meat, such as chicken, is unlikely to increase your risk of cancer.

    Our advice

    Eat smaller and fewer parts of red and processed meat. Try using beans or peas instead of meat in your diet. When you cook meat, use low-temperature methods.

    Fat

    Fat is a necessary part of our diet but high-fat diet can increase our risk of cancer, heart disease and other diseases. Meat is higher in saturated fat(饱和脂肪) and eating too much saturated fat may increase your risk of breast cancer.

    Our advice

    Try not to eat too much fatty foods. In particular, try to cut down on saturated fat contained in fatty meat, biscuits, and butter. Try to avoid frying foods in lots of oil.

    Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition & Tour is a unique international resource to explore Shakespeare's work. Open all year round, it gives you an opportunity to learn more about the most famous playwright(剧作家), Shakespeare, and helps you seek to further the experience and international understanding of him.

    Group Visits to the Exhibition & Tour

    Opening Hours

    Theatre Tours:

    Monday - Sunday:          9:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

    Exhibition:

    Monday - Sunday:          9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

    Groups of 15 people or more are required to pre-book their visit, and each group will have its own guide for free. To make a reservation, please fill in a Group Request Form and return it to us via email.

    Exhibition and Tour Prices

    Adult:                     $15.00

    Senior (60+):               $13.50

    Student (with valid ID):       $11.50

    Child (5-15):               $ 8.00

    Complimentary:           Every 16th person free

    Getting here

    Shakespeare's Globe 21 New Globe Walk, London SEl9DT,UK

    We have currently improved security, with all bags being checked. Please arrive in good time, and do not bring any large bags and check the calendar before your visit or call+44(0)20 7902 1500 to find out about our latest opening times.

    Visitors are advised to arrive by public transport or by taxi. There is a car park on Thames Exchange on the north side of Southwark Bridge (open 24 hours, seven days a week). Cabs may be found all year round on Southwark Bridge. It may also be possible to pick one up from outside the entrance hall on New Globe Walk.

    Where to eat

    Swan at Shakespeare's Globe serves modern British seasonal food for dinner, afternoon tea or drinks in our beautiful bar and restaurant set over two floors, available for pre- and post-theatre dining.

    Swan Restaurant

    Monday- Friday:    12 noon - 2:30 p.m. & 6:00 p.m.- 10:30 p.m.

    Saturday:           12 noon- 3:30 p.m. & 6:00 p.m.

    Sunday:            12 noon- 9: 00 p.m.

    British writer John Donne once said: “No man is an island; every book is a world.” As an enthusiastic reader, I can't agree with the latter part of the sentence more. Every summer, I endeavor to find some peaceful places where I can attack some classics without being disturbed. Thomas Hardy wants to live far from the madding crowd. I am no friend to chaos, either.

    I read George Orwell's 1984 in a New England beachside cottage with no locks on the doors, no telephones or televisions in the rooms. 1984 is a good book that needs deep reflection. Attempting Sound and Fury lying on the bed of a poorly-occupied motel, however, was less fruitful: I made it through one and a quarter volumes, but then my eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't keep them open.

    But this summer I find myself at a loss. I'm not quite interested in J.D.Salinger, say, or Frankenstein. There's always War and Peace which I've covered some distance several times, only to get bogged down in the “War” part, set it aside for a while, and realize that I have to start over from the beginning again, having forgotten everyone's name and social rank. How appealing to simply fall back on a favorite—once more into The Call of the Wild or Alice in the Wonderland, which feels almost like cheating, too exciting and too much fun to properly belong to serious literature.

    And then there's John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. This title does not amaze but confuse. We're never short of sour grapes, but we've never heard of angry grapes. Anyway grapes are my favorite fruit of summer. These stone fruits can always make me feel cheerful and peaceful all at once.