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　　Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers(青少年)．But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son．Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents．"The door to his room is always shut," Joanna noted．

　　Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter．"She used to cuddle up(蜷伏)with me on the sofa and talk," said Mark．"Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something．Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady．The problem is figuring out which time is which．"

　　Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what's on their minds．"In fact, parents are first on the list," said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers．"This completely changes during the teen years," Riera explained．"They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last．"

　　Parents who know what's going on in their teenagers' lives are in the best position to help them．To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them．And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young．Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them．

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475 Riverside Drive

　　New York N．Y．10027

　　Jan．15, 2011

　　Dear John,

　　I'm sorry you didn't get the part you tried out for in that play．I know how much you wanted to be in the play．Now you feel that maybe acting isn't the right future for you．I think you're wrong．You're a good actor．Do you remember when you played Caesar in your summer theatre group's play? You were excellent．People clapped(鼓掌)every time you walked on stage(舞台)．Even the other actors loved you．

　　All actors have to get used to being turned down for a job．It's part of an actor's life．Even famouse actors don't get every part they want．I think you should give acting another chance．You love it so much, and you're good at it．Don't be discouraged because you lose one part in the play．Wait a bit, and try for another one．After all, you can always give up some other time．

Love,

Jane

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　　To be a good teacher, you need some of the gifts of a good actor; you must be able to hold the attention and interest of your audience; you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasing voice which is fully under your control; and you must be able to act what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear．

　　Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he does not sit still before his class：he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express feelings．Listen to him, and you will hear the loudness, the quality and the musical note of his voice always changing according to what he is talking about．

　　The fact that a good teacher has some of the gifts of a good actor doesn’t mean that he will indeed be able to act well on the stage, for there are very important differences between the teacher’s work and the actor’s．The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand．What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage．

　　A good teacher works in quite a different way．His audience takes an active part in his play：they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don’t understand something, they say so．The teacher therefore has to meet the needs of his audience, which is his class．He cannot learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along．

　　I have known many teachers who were fine actors in class but were unable to take part in a stage-play because they could not keep strictly to what another had written．

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　　Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding musical training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills．

　　Although it was suggested in the past that listening to Mozart’s music or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music can boost(使增长)brain power．

　　But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled reaserch together that links musical training to learning that spills over into(波及)skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion．

　　Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the nervous connections made during musical training also prepared the brain for other aspects of human communication．

　　“The effect of musical training suggests that, like physical exercise and its effect on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development, ” the researchers said in their study．

　　Kraus said learning musical sounds could improve the brain’s ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide constructing patterns that are important to learning．

　　The study, published in Nature Review Neuroscience, looked at the explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effect of musical training on the nervous system which could have impacts for education．

　　The study found that playing an instrument prepares the brain to choose what is related in a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing issues and coordination with other musicians．

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　　The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks(火星)fly from his hammer．

　　The son of Mr．Smith, a rich neighbour, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked．

　　“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks(钉), even if it is only to pass the time? ” said the blacksmith．“Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you．”

　　The lazy boy began to see what he could do．But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks．

　　Old Mr．Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods．He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country．It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes．

　　Our young Mr．Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers．He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop．The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer．And after a while, Mr．Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village．

　　“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “ even making tacks can make money．My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches．”

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　　Our grand China tour will show you a different China!

　　But you are required to present a U．S．Passport as an American when entering China．For some important information on how to apply for a passport, see the following forms．

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　　Children, especially boys, tend to idealise their fathers when they are young．Every little boy wants to grow up to be just like his father, and every little girl thinks her father is the smartest man on the earth．It’s not very easy to be a good father, but it’s not that difficult either．Children will truly enjoy spending time with their fathers, not just when they are kids, but even when they are adults．

　　Not all children communicate well with their fathers．Communication is often left to mothers, while fathers dispense advice as and when necessary．Don’t expect all conversations to centre around the dinner table．Go to your children’s bedrooms and talk to them about school, their teachers or their friends．Remember that the conversation cannot be one-sided．When your children open up to you, you also need to open up to them．

　　If your children come home from school feeling upset, go up to them and ask them what is the matter．And if it is something which seems to you to be a silly reason to be upset, don’t voice your opinion．It may be silly to you, but to your children it is important enough．So don’t wave the topic away by telling them not to bother about such stupid things．Simply discussing their problems with them will help them feel better．

　　Don’t shy away from having discussions about your teenage children’s love lives．Generally speaking, your children are definitely not going to discuss intimate details with you．Try to let them know that you are relaxed about topics on love．Tell your children how you met your wife．It is perfectly normal for children to go through feelings for the opposite sex as they grow up, and by keeping the topic closed for discussion, you are only shutting them off from discussing their feelings with you．All they will do is turn to their friends．

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　　When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said” the phone”．Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual．Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology．

　　Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic．My daughter comes home from school at 4∶00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been at school with all day．If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?

　　Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone．“The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone．She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton．Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance(救护车)to her rescue．

　　Point 3 The mobile removes our secret．It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at and time of day to ask where they are, where they are going, and how their last meeting went．

　　Point 4 The telephone separates us．Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window．It was easy to get his number．We were so near－but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”

　　Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives．Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously(同时地)on chat lines(at least my daughter does．I wouldn’t know what to talk about)．We can talk across the world．We can even talk to astronauts(if you know any)while they’re space-walking．And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access(存取)the Internet, the biggest library on Earth．

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　　A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men．The number is said as high as 60％ in Germany．

　　“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world．” Said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study．Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company．She also believes in “Women’s Liberation(解放)”．

　　“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do．But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women．At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but we get less paid．There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones that open only to men．If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life．How many women pilots are there or engineers or scientists?”

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　　Charlie works in a post office．His father lost his job five years ago and his mother is often ill．And he has two brothers and a sister．He works hard and tries his best to buy enough food for his family．

　　Last month his family had to move to an old house outside the city．It's farther from the post office and he has to get up early in the morning in order to catch the 6：30 train．The head of his office is strict and everybody has to get there on time．He knows what it'll mean if he's late．A friend of his had pity on(同情)him and lent his old car to him．The young man was happy and from then on he could go to work by car．

　　Last Saturday Charlie went to buy some medicine for his mother．Bad luck! When he came out of the shop, he couldn't find the car．He was quite worried and began to look for it in front of the shop but he didn't find it．Suddenly he saw a woman parked a car there and hurried into the shop．Charlie saw the car wasn't locked．He got on it and drove it at once．He was afraid the loser would run after him and drove fast．A truck hit it at a crossing and he lost consciousness．(知觉)

　　This morning the young man came back to life and saw there were a few policemen standing by his bed．He asked, "Where am I?"

　　"In Room 103．"

　　"In hospital or in prison?"