My hobby is playing chess — one of the greatest games in the world. My mum taught me how to play when I was seven years old. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But then, on my eighth birthday, I won for the first time. I nearly always beat her now.

    To learn the rules doesn't take long. One day is enough. But if you want to be good, you have to practice for years. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} — just a chess set and someone to play with. Chess sets can be very cheap, or quite expensive. Some people collect chess sets as a hobby, but I enjoy playing.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} We meet on Wednesday every week to practice. I am the best player in the club, and the captain（队长）of the school chess team. This year we won the All England Schools Championship (冠军赛).

    I'm saving up my money to buy a chess computer. They are very expensive, but also very good for practice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I'm sure I will be a world chess champion some day.

    My name is Jack. I'm 25 years old. I think I can help you for your Beidaihe School Trip. I like sports. I can play basketball, soccer and tennis. And I like music, too. I can sing and dance and play the drums. And I can also work on the computer. I believe (相信) I can help kids with these things. I like kids and want to be their friends. I'm a funny man. I'm sure children like me. Please offer (提供) me this job.

    Jack London was born in San Francisco in 1876. Life was hard when Jack was growing up and he started working when he was 10. He did lots of different jobs. In his free time he went to the library and he spent many hours there, reading. In 1894 he went back to school, and published his first short story Typhoon, off the Coast of Japan. Then in 1896 he went to the University of California at Berkeley, but he had to leave because of money problems.

    In 1897 he left for the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. However, he became ill and came home and started working as a full-time writer. He wrote short stories and soon he was well-known. In 1903 he wrote his most famous story: The Call of the Wild.  His next novel was The Sea-Wolf (1904) which is perhaps his best literary novel.  With the earnings he bought a large farm in Califonua, where he died in 1916, aged only 40 years old.

    London was a prolific writer in his short life.  Between 1905 and 1916 he published 18 novels and six collections of stories, as well as a play, various works of non-fiction and a biography.  He is best-known for his descriptions of nature and the animal world.

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    Every student spends lots of time studying and almost everyone would like their study to be more efficient (高效的). Here are two ways to help you manage your time better when studying.

Your study environment

    Watching TV while studying is a bad idea and makes your study ineffective (无效的). So you'd better turn off the TV while you're studying. Some students like listening to music while studying. Music is OK, but whether it helps or hurts depends on whether it can keep your mind at peace. Make sure that any music you listen to is actually helping you study, but not drawing your attention away. Good lighting and temperature are necessary, too. When it's too hot or too cold, it will be harder for you to give all your attention to what you are working on.

    Full attention for at least 40 minutes at a time

    One of the most important things you can do to study efficiently is to give all the attention to your study for at least 40 minutes at a time. Don't let anything else draw your attention away from the study during the period. Then have a rest and relax. Don't study for too long a time because your brain gets tired and it needs a rest.

    If you choose these ways, you will make an improvement in how you manage your time for study.

What do they think of doing the chores?

A. The girl's duty.

B. Keeping healthy and learning life skills.

C. Dirty and no time.

D. Boring

E. Being happy to help parents.
F. Easy and not taking too much time.