(单句改错) Though children are young, they should be listened carefully.

Life for Cathy Taylor’s three children is very busy. Their school days are busy enough. After school, though, Cathy takes the two boys from football to basketball. Then she has to take her daughter to piano lessons. The tired children don’t get home until 7 pm. They have a quick supper, and it’s time for homework.

The Taylors are like many American and British parents. They take their children from activity to activity, and try to fit as much as possible into their kids’ lives. Doctors say many children are under too much pressure. Teachers complain(抱怨) about teaching tired kids in the classroom.

Most children take part in after-school clubs. Activities include sports, language learning, music and math classes. Pushy parents are nothing new, but now parents seem to push their children a lot more. Parents see other children doing a lot of things, and they feel their own children should do the same.

Linda Miller, a mother of three in London, knows all about such pressure. “In some families, competition starts from a very young age,” she says. “Mothers send their kids to all kinds of classes when they are very young. And they are always comparing them with other children. It’s crazy. People shouldn’t push their kids so hard.

Dr Alice Green agrees. She also says that these children may find it hard to think for themselves when they are older. “Parents are trying to plan their kids’ lives for them. When these kids are adults, they might find it difficult to plan things for themselves.” Parents should learn to give their kids a bit more time to themselves. On one hand, children need organized activities. On the other hand, they also need time and freedom to relax, and they need time to do things by themselves.

(   ) 8. Cathy Taylor sends her daughter to       .

A. math classes     B. language school B. sport club      D. piano lessons

(   ) 9. Why do teachers complain about teaching those children in the classroom?

A. Because they are very tired.     B. Because they know a lot of things.

C. Because they are under too much pressure. D. Because they can’t plan things for themselves.

(   ) 10. From the passage, we know children take part in after-school activities because       .

A. they have interest in them           B. their teachers tell them to do so

C. their parents push them to do so         D. they see other children doing these things

(  ) 11. The writer probably thinks that parents should       .

A. compare their children with others    B. plan their children’s lives for them

C. take their children to different classes  

D. give children time and let them do things by themselves

As an exchange student, I have been staying in a host family in Beijing for the past five months. The parents are   36  in their mid-30s and the son just turned 5. In exchange for room and board, I teach their son   37 .
Like in many of the other Chinese families, he’s an only child. And though he has   38 plastic trucks and boxes full of crayons, I don’t know   39  he has the time to play. When he’s not in the kindergarten, he’s taking after-school classes. On the weekends, the boy goes to more classes. He has one day off―Sunday.
Compared to his schedule, I feel like my childhood was   40  a waste of time. I learned how to climb trees and draw cartoons. I wasn’t learning Chinese at his age. But he and lots of other children are learning English. Both his parents dream that he will have   41  jobs, higher pay, and bigger houses.
The boy seems to take no interest   42  learning English. He doesn’t need a teacher, but a playmate. He is,   43 , only 5. When I think about my life as a 5-year-old, I know for sure I wasn’t half as   44  as he is.
In the evening, when his parents   45  him to speak with me in English, he gets   46 . He lies on the floors, hides under the table and climbs on the furniture. When he finally stops   47 , and starts talking, it isn’t in English, but it isn’t in Chinese,   48 . He speaks in his own language.
He   49  not be a very good student, but I’m not a great teacher. I just want to be his big brother   50  can speak in gibberish(胡言乱语) with him and help draw trucks, robots or spiders.

Smiles and tears are part of life. But do you find enough time for smiling? I’m not asking if you experience lots of good times. Of course, we should smile during the happy times. But do you also smile during the difficult times.
Erma Bombeck is famous for her funny books. But she wrote one about a more serious subject –cancer in children. The book is titled, I WANT TO GROW HAIR,ＩWANT TO GROW UP. Erma talks with many children who have cancer and learns important lessons from them. She learns, for example, that cancer survivors know how they should smile at life, though they are receiving chemotherapy.
She tells about the experience of 15-year-old Jessica. Jessica’s leg was cut off at the knee because of cancer. She was learning to wear a prosthesis(假肢). Jessica told about playing soccer. She hit the ball hard with her foot. The ball flew off in one direction while her man-made leg flew another way. Then the brave girl lay on the floor, laughing happily.
As the saying goes, “There’s a time to cry and a time to laugh.” Do you find plenty of time to laugh.
You can smile if you find reasons to smile during the difficult times. Only survivors know how to smile. If you can smile even when you’re in trouble, you will make it. Remember to smile and the whole world will smile with you.