Travel Light

    Getting away for a short time always seems like a great idea—until you have to pack. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The rule is: pack light. Here are some tips to help you pack.

    Make a list. Think of what you need from your head to your toes.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you've done this once, it'll be easier next time.

    2). Consider buying small-size samples of shampoo, toothpaste, and other items at your local drugstore. You can reuse the plastic containers next time you go away too.

    3). Choosing which clothes to bring is probably the hardest packing decision to make. Think once again from head to toe — hat, shirts, jeans, sneakers, etc. Once you've picked out what you want to bring, think carefully. Do you really need that extra pair of jeans? If so, fine.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Don't try to fool yourself. You are the one who will be left holding the bag.

    4). Weather is an important factor in your packing. If it's cold, you could wear a jacket, a sweater, a regular shirt, and a T-shirt. Putting them on will keep you warm. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Remember how much easier it will be to carry your bag! As for shoes, you may want to call ahead to see if dress shoes are necessary. If so, one pair will be enough, along with one pair of comfortable shoes. Remember that it is you who have been invited somewhere, not your things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} So, do it right—pack light.

    Let's face it: homework can be almost as frustrating for parents as it is for kids. Getting kids to do their homework can be a challenge, and when they do sit down to study, a variety of other problems can appear.

    Doing homework may not be as fun as playing video games or chatting with friends, but it shouldn't be something that kids hate. Your children's assignments should not be busywork, but should help them build a skill or learn something new.

    You can offer help by stepping in to answer questions or offer encouragement. This gives you a chance to see what they are learning and how well they understand the material. It helps you understand their learning style and shows you care about their education.

    Many kids refuse to study by asking why they have to learn things they'll never use in real life. If your son or daughter shows little interest in their assignments, you can make them seem more important by pointing out ways you use them in daily life.

    Parents who feel that their kids have too much homework can talk about it with the teachers, but they're in the minority. A 2007 survey showed that 15 percent of parents said their kids had too much homework. About 60 percent said the homework load was just right, and 25 percent thought their children had too little homework.

    If you think it takes your child too long to finish homework, try to determine whether the problem lies in having too much work or managing time poorly. One of the things homework is supposed to do is to teach time management.

    If your child feels bored while doing homework, consider the following suggestions to make study sessions more enjoyable.

    Get help from friends: if your children are struggling with an assignment, let them call a friend for help or invite a friend over to work on it with them. You might also invite neighborhood kids over and let them do homework together. Have them sit around the dining table and help each other.

    Add physical activities: set mini-goals for homework and allow time for stretching, jumping around, or a snack after each goal is completed. For a kid who can't sit still, find active ways to study.

    Turn the tables: let your children teach you a lesson. Let them give you a quiz on the things they have just learned.

    It is important for everyone to learn how to apologize effectively. You might think a simple “I'm sorry.” will take care of everything.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are some situations in which you need to apologize properly.

    Apologize truly.

    Apologizing through a half-hearted “sorry” will get you nowhere.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. If you are really want to apologize, you must do it truly. Accept the fact that you are wrong.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Contrary to what you might think, apologizing over and over again isn't going to help, especially you are apologizing to someone who is your boss.

    Don't wait too long to apologize.

    One piece of advice on how to apologize effectively is to do it as soon as you realize your mistake. Some people put off giving an apology because they think it will save them from the offended(被冒犯的) person's anger. However, that's just not polite. If you can't approach the person personally at once, send him or her a message first.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't expect too much.

    You can't expect that person to forgive you immediately. If you are going to apologize, you have to be prepared for the worst. The conversation isn't going to be the most comfortable one either.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Learning how to apologize effectively is very important. It shows people that you are a very kind person.

A．Don't apologize again and again.

B．However, that's not exactly true.

C．Pay a visit to others ahead of time.

D．You'd better prepare yourself for anything.

E．But make sure you make an apology in person as well.

F．In fact, it might get you into even bigger trouble than before.

G．A lot of people don't know how to make an apology to their boss.

As a new teacher at Doull Elementary school in Denver, Kyle Schwartz thought of a simple way to know her third graders, most of whom came from poor families. She asked them to complete the note, "I wish my teacher knew..." and share something about themselves. Their honest answers gave the teacher a chance to understand her students' difficulties." I wish my teacher knew I have no pencils to do my homework," wrote one child. "I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading homework is not signed because my mom is not free a lot," wrote another. Some showed hope for the future. "I wish my teacher knew that I warn to go to college."

"Some notes are really heartbreaking." Schwartz tells ABC News. "I care deeply about each of my students and I don't want them to be poor forever." She explains, "I hoped to know more about their lives and how I could better support them. So I decided to let them tell me what I needed to know. That was why I created the fill-in-the-blank exercise."

       the third graders were allowed to answer anonymously （匿名地） , most wanted to include names. And some were even excited to read their notes out loud, like one shy girl who bravely said that she was lonely. "After she told the class, 'I don't have friends to play with me, I was worried about what they would do," Schwartz tells Us Weekly. However, I felt encouraged to see how much support the other kids offered her. They invited her to play at break and sit with them at lunch. You see, children have an unusual ability to express empathy（同情） ."

"The results have been surprising," says Schwartz. "It shows the importance of giving people a voice and really listening to them."

（以下A（易）、B（难）两种题型任选一种，前4个小题为A（易）题型，后4个小题为B（难）题型，做A种题型的不做B种，做B种题型的不做A种）

    Earth is home to around 7, 000 languages, around half of which are expected to disappear by 2100.

    Languages disappear for many reasons. Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because parents want children to fit in.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Native American children of the late﹣19th century were required to attend boarding schools where educators forbade them from speaking their native languages.

    The United Nations ranks endangered languages according to their risk level. For example, a "critically endangered" language is one that even grandparents don't speak often. New York's Onondaga language is an example with only 50 speakers left. An "extinct" language has no speakers. It is gone forever. Alaska's Eyak language is one example.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In the same way, different languages contribute to cultural diversity. Saving these languages benefits our understanding of other cultures. Languages can show how a society looks at the world and what it values. A language may describe something in a way that is funny, too. In Welsh, it rains not cats and dogs, but old wives and walking sticks.

    The Endangered Language Alliance wants to save languages from disappearing.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, its efforts are limited. If an endangered language is going to make a real comeback, it'll probably get its start in schools. For nearly 100 years, public schools in Hawaii did not teach the Hawaiian language. Now students can keep learning in Hawaiian from elementary schools to college and beyond.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At least one did. In 1881, a Jewish linguist named Eliezer Ben﹣Yehuda brought the 3,000-year-old language Hebrew back to life. Today it is one of the official languages of the country of Israel, with more than 4million speakers.

A. The last person who spoke it died in 2008.

B. Why should we save endangered languages.

C. Various animals and plants benefit our environment.

D. With just 5 speakers left, it is absolutely endangered.

E. Can a language with zero native speakers come back to life.

F. Sometimes societies force minorities to give up their language.

G. The non-profit group finds native speakers and records their stories.

    I returned to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, after college graduation. I had been there before my mother became a minister.

    Two weeks later, I told my mother I was bored. She said, "Here're the car keys. Go and buy some fruit." Delighted, I jumped into the car and speeded off.

 Seeing me or rather my car, a boy quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his bananas and nuts. "Banana 300 naira. Nuts 200 naira!" I bargained him down to 200 total for the fruit and nuts. When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira note. He didn't have change, so I told him not to worry. He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

   When, two weeks later, I ran into this same boy, I was more aware of my position in Nigerian society where it wasn't that uncommon to see a little boy who should have been in school selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

    "What's up?" I asked him. "I…I don't have money to buy books." I took out two 500 naira notes. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira means a lot to a family that makes only 50,000 each year.

    The next morning, an officer told me, "In this place, when you give a little, people think you're a fountain of chance." Possibly it's right, but this happens everywhere in the world. I wondered if my little friend had actually used the money for books.

    After six months' work in northern Nigeria, I returned and saw him again standing on the road.

    "Are you in school now?" I asked.

    He nodded.

    A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted. I held out a 500 naira note. "Take this." He shook his head fiercely and stepped back as if hurt. "What's wrong? I asked. "It's a gift."

    Shaking his head again, he handed me a basket of bananas and nuts before he said, "I've been waiting to give these to you."