Homework is a problem for students all over the world. As a student, you have a lot of homework to do every day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. And it helps you understand important knowledge. Luckily, there're several things you can do to make homework less difficult.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Write your homework down in your notebook if you need to. Don't be afraid to ask questions about it. Understand why you should do your homework.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Many schools have study halls. The students can study there. It's more interesting to play with your friends. But the more homework you finish at school, the less you'll have to do that night at home.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It is difficult to hold your attention for too long. So take some breaks while doing your homework. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. If you don't finish your homework at school, think about how much you have left. It's a good idea to make a homework plan, especially when you want to enjoy sports or other activities.

    In Sydney, Australia, there lived a man called Mark Simon. Mark enjoyed betting so much that he would bet on anything. One day, Mark showed a frog to a stranger. He bet the stranger $60 that the frog could jump farther and faster than any other one in Sydney. The stranger said he would bet Mark if he had a frog. Mark left his frog with the stranger and went to find a frog for the stranger. The stranger opened the frog's mouth and put a bag of sand into it Soon Mark came back with a frog for the stranger. The two frogs were put on the floor and given a push. To Mark's surprise, the stranger's frog jumped off smartly but his frog just sat there. Mark had to give $60 to the stranger. After the stranger left, Mark picked up the frog, and found it quite heavy. He turned it upside down, and the bag of sand came out He knew he had been fooled and started running after the stranger.

    The "green" car has become popular in recent years. A green car is an environment friendly car. Today, most cars are powered (驱动) by petrol (汽油). They make our life easier. But cars have also made problems for the environment.

    There are a few new types of cars that use no petrol or a little petrol.

    Electric cars：This kind of car uses a battery (电池) for power. When you're not driving it, just plug it in like a mobile phone to power up the battery. They don't make exhaust (排放物). But car makers still can't make a battery that lasts for more than a few hours. That's why electric cars aren't very popular.

    Fuel cell cars (燃料电池车) : Fuel cell cars use hydrogen (氢) and oxygen (氧) to make power. The only exhaust they produce is clean water. But fuel cell cars are still much too expensive to make.

    Solar cars : This kind of car has large panels (板) on the top that take power from the sunshine. The car holds that power in a battery. Solar cars might be the cleanest of all. But no one uses them, because solar panels can't get enough power from the sun to make a car go for a long time. Also, they are very slow.

    Hybrid cars（油电混合车）： This kind of car is the most exciting kind, because it is very clean and not too expensive. The hybrid car is very smart: Half the time, it uses petrol, and half the time it uses a battery. So, when the petrol engine is working, it puts some of its power back into the battery. It uses much less petrol than other cars. It also makes less pollution for the environment.

    What will the life be like in the future? I think that our life will be easier in the future. (A)We will have robots and they will help us do the boring jobs. And we (B)needn't do things like washing dishes and making the beds. I hope that doctors (C)can keep us alive for a long time. I hope that when I am 80 years old, there will be something and it will keep me alive for another 80 years. (D)我将会活到160岁。

    Hi! My name is Jack. I am a middle school student. There are four people in my family. I live with my dad, my mom, and my sister, Irene. Irene is only two years old, so I usually play with my cousin, Kevin.

    Kevin is the only son of Uncle Frank and Aunt Dolly. He is in a middle school, too. He gets up at 6: 30 every day. Kevin's home is not far from his school. He usually takes the bus to school. It only takes him 15 minutes. Sometimes he walks to school. It's a 30-minute walk. But he thinks it's good exercise. In his free time, he likes dancing, singing, playing the piano and playing soccer. He dances very well. He gets some awards (奖) in dancing. Every day he dances and does sports.

    However, Kevin doesn't forget his lessons. He does his homework first after school. He is very busy, but he is one of the best students in his class. His classmates and teachers love him very much. He usually teaches me to dance. Kevin often says, "I want to be a great dancer one day." Can his dream come true?

    I'm forty now. I left school twenty-two years ago. Here's my list of five things I hope to share with you teenagers at school.

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    I always wanted to be the best, and one way of feeling good about myself was to see how much better I was than others. There was only one problem with this. When I saw they were better than me, I felt terrible. Now I compare me with myself. I ask myself if I do things as well as I could.

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    How much time do you spend worrying about the future? I used to worry a lot. Now I know most things you fear will usually never happen. They're just monsters in your own mind. Even if they happen, they will often not be as bad as you expected. In six months, you probably won't remember most of the things you worry about now.

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    When I was young, I often failed to start things I expected to do because I thought they'd taken too long to finish. I always wanted to write a book, for example. But when I thought it might take me more than a year, I lost my enthusiasm(热情). It seemed such a long time. Now I know a year is nothing, if I'd started that book when I was 16, I might have written 10 more by now. I'm upset with myself for not even trying.

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    As a young child you try many new things. If you fail, you try again and again until you learn. But at school you are usually encouraged to do things right. Then you stop trying new things in case you get them wrong. You are losing chances to challenge yourselves. I always remind myself: I had fallen off the bike many times before I learned to ride it.

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    I hated losing when I was younger. Of course, it's nice to win sometimes and to be the best at something. But we can't all be winners all the time. Learning to lose is one of life's most important lessons. If you try your hardest, then you should never be angry with yourself.