Making Peace with Your Parents

    As a teen, you are going through big changes physically and mentally. Your interests are expanding（增加；扩大） {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Here is the challenge: Kids need to explore the world in new ways, and parents need to protect them from the dangers that are all out in that world. These conflicts（冲突）can easily set off fireworks in otherwise calm house. Sometimes conflicts can't be avoided. But by paying attention to the building blocks of successful relationships, you can work towards making home a happy and healthy place for you and your parents.

For instance, try to find a time to talk when your parents are not angry, tired, distracted , or hungry. A good time to talk is when you are all relaxed. Timing is everything. If the conversation begins to turn into an argument, you'd better calmly and coolly ask to stop the conversation—for now. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Listen to what your parents are saying, and repeat it back to them. This shows them that you're listening. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Respect is the building block of good communication. People who respect each other and care about each other's feelings can disagree without getting things ugly.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}How do you build trust? Trust comes by actually doing what you say you're going to do. Some teens find that doing fun activities with their parents can improve their relationships. Sometimes we forget that parents are more than rule-makers—they're interesting people who like to watch movies and go shopping—just like their teenagers!

    What do you do if you are trying your best, but your relationship with your parents continues to be rocky（难以维持的；不稳定的）? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}You can find supportive adults, such as a teacher or a coach, who can lead an ear.

    Remember you can only change your own behavior. Your parents are the only ones who can change theirs.

A. It also gives them a chance to clear things up if you're not on the same page.

B. You can pick it up again when everyone's more relaxed.

C. And then you will be able to accept what your parents say.

D. Faced with the challenge, children don't know what to do.

E. You are more likely to get along with your parents and have more independence if your parents believe in you.

F. And your desire to take control of your own life is growing.

G. You may consider seeking outside help.

    Many of today's parents fondly remember childhood days spent playing outdoors. When children make mud pies and observe ants, it may seem like just fun and games, but the truth is the outdoor play is an important part of growing up healthily. The National Association for the Education of Young Children reports that outdoor play reduces (make…less) stress and restlessness in children and improves their attention.

    Outdoor play is the perfect way to fight against the childhood's obesity(being fat).Research shows that children who play outdoors are more fit and thin, according to the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play. Children who spend time outside on a regular basis  also have healthier immune (免疫) systems. And playing outdoors is a good way to get enough vitamin D.

    Playing outside enables children to relax , reduces tension（紧张）and helps them solve problems. When children play outdoors, they learn to share and cooperate (work together) with one another. Kids who feel confident outdoors are likely to become able clever adults.

    The outdoors is a giant laboratory for learning that improves creative thinking and problem solving. Researchers have found that children learn best when their body, mind and spirit are involved (牵连的), and this appears in outdoor play. Outside activities develop all five senses, which create a powerful learning environment. The outdoors also lets children have the chance to explore (探究), experiment, form questions and create their own ideas about how the world works.

    Although there are the many advantages of outdoor play, time spent outside has been reduced for many of today's children. Kids today spend much more time in front of electronic media than children a generation (代) ago. The lack of outdoor play is tied to the childhood widespread obesity. And experts predict that the situation is so serious that this generation will have much trouble when they grow up. To get kids involved with the outdoors, encourage them to collect rocks, fly kites, climb trees, garden, camp, swim, go fishing, watch birds and butterflies or play games with other children.

    Welcome to our school. You can do a lot of things here. Come and join us.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    The Price of Success

    One problem for schools is that many students do not want to study hard. As a result, they perform (表现) poorly in their classes. This is especially true in the United States, where average scores for math and science are lower than in many other countries. In recent years, schools and charities have been looking for ways to help students get better grades in these subjects. An organization called the LMD Foundation introduced a program called Learn and Earn recently.

    In the program, money was used to get a group of students to study harder in math and science. In addition to the normal school day, they went to after-school classes for four hours each week. The students were paid eight dollars for each hour of after-school class. By the end of the year, the students in the program had higher grades than a similar group of students who had not taken part.

    Not everyone thinks that this is a good idea, though. TV reporter John Tulenko studied data (数据) from a similar program. He found that students' grades went back down when they stopped getting paid. Many people are worried about this. They think that the students study because they want money, not because they enjoy learning. Also, some people believe that these types of programs are a bad idea because it is a large part of a teacher's job to get students to study. If students are given money, some teachers might stop trying to do this.

    However, others believe that these learning programs can be helpful for students from poor families. Many of these students do part-time jobs after school, and some even quit school at a young age to work. Some do this to help get money for their families. Others feel that they can learn more by working than by going to school. Programs like Learn and Earn let these students stay in school and still make money.

    Some spiders hunt on the ground, others build webs to trap their food, but the grass water spider catches its prey by running along the surface of the water.

    This special water spider lives on the grassy banks of streams where mosquitoes, damsel flies and other insects come to feed and breed.

    Although it is one of the largest spiders in New Zealand, it has an unusual ability. It doesn't disturb the water as it waits for its meal, and there is barely a ripple(波纹) when it skims(掠过) across the surface at lightning speed to catch its prey.

    Grass water spiders deal swiftly with larger insects like damsel flies by pulling their heads under the water and holding them there until they drown.

    After a meal, the grass water spider spends up to half an hour grooming(修饰) itself. It wipes its eight eyes, brushes its antennae(触角), and takes special care to clean the hairs on its body.

    It is the hairs that trap tiny bubbles(泡沫) of air so that the spider can run down a blade(叶片) of grass and stay underwater for up to an hour when it is frightened. The hairs also keep the spider dry, even underwater.

    It is only when the female spider is caring for the young that she does not hunt on the water. After mating, she produces a large egg sac(囊), which she carries around for five weeks. Once the eggs start to hatch, she attaches the sac to some blades of grass or a thistle. She then tears the sac open and releases the tiny spiders into the nursery web.

    An 8-year-old southeast Kansas girl is being praised for her quick, calm thinking. She grabbed the steering wheel(方向盘) and drove the family's SUV when her mother fell unconscious on their highway ride to school.

    Abby Porter and her mom, Shelly, were heading for her school in Riverton when Shelly had a medical emergency. She passed out(昏倒) behind the wheel.

    Abby is a second-grader whose father sometimes lets her drive their tractor. With her mother falling down heavily, Abby leaned over and took the wheel. At some point, Abby even successfully performed a U-turn on the four-lane highway, because she was going home to her daddy, according to Galena Police Chief Larry Delmont.

    "That was at 8:37 in the morning, and there was a lot of traffic," Delmont said. Officer Jimmy Hamilton noticed the SUV going about 20 mph and weaving a bit between the two lanes. He suspected someone was driving under the influence. As he got closer, he noticed the woman fell over in the driver's seat and saw Abby at the wheel.

    Hamilton tried to get in front of Abby's car to slow her down, but she kept switching lanes to avoid bumping into his car. Hamilton got alongside her and told Abby to stop the vehicle, but she didn't know how. He then told her she needed to bump into him to stop the car, but Abby said she didn't want to because she was afraid. He convinced Abby bumping into his car was OK.

    "I never saw her cry," Hamilton said. "From just the expression on her face and the tone of her voice, you could tell she was scared. But she stayed with it."

    Emergency crews got Abby's mother to the hospital, but Delmont said he didn't know what caused her to lose consciousness.

    The police department in Galena, a town of about 3,000 residents about 150 miles south of Kansas City, planned to present Abby with a plaque(匾牌) for "outstanding bravery in a life-threatening situation".