【正文】 9。s mother NOT do? 10. W: Dad, I39。t make choices for me. M: Ha! If you were a grown woman, you wouldn39。s father NOT believe that she is a grown woman? Long conversation M: You should get a sense of humor, Mom. W: I39。t think that breaking shop windows is funny. M: If it isn39。t know what is. These shop windows only show things out of date and out of fashion. They39。s fun to break old stuff. W: And that39。m saying. You don39。s funny. When I was a teenager, I enjoyed movies and going out with my friends, not causing trouble or breaking things. M: This is just the big difference between your generation and mine. W: No, it isn39。t have your bad attitude! And they certainly never break shop windows! M: Whatever, Mom. I39。re going? M: I don39。ll go out and break stuff. Passage Educator methods, such as not buying toys for children who act up, do not always work. I personally think that even though parents teach their children many things, they should not act like teachers all the time. After my educator methods failed, I spent some quality oneonone time with my daughter with NO lecturing about her behavior. For example, we went out for ice cream. While we sat and ate, we spent a long time watching other people and talking about the things around us. Then we went to a bookstore where she looked for a book to buy. It took her a long time, but I was patient. We finally bought her a book and finished our outing together. At the end, we decided to have similar outings once a month, because it really was fun. My main goal was to let her know that I love her. Homework Long conversation M: Grandma, Grandpa tells me I plain too much about my chores. Do you think he has a point? W: Your grandpa says a lot of things, Jerry. Don39。s true. Many years ago, your grandpa didn39。s right, Jerry. By the end of the month, he had $20. M: Wow! No wonder Grandpa says young people plain too much! Your generation worked much harder! Grandpa became rich, and he did it all with one apple. W: Not quite! After that first month of selling apples, my father died and left us a fortune. Your grandpa never had to work again. Questions 1 to 5 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 1. What did Grandpa say to Jerry? 2. What does Jerry know about his grandpa? 3. How did Grandpa earn $20? 4. Why does Jerry think that Grandma39。t really spoken to him about his plans? You can ask him. If your teen has an I39。s crazy, but there are people who are rock stars. Instead of immediately saying no to your teen39。ll need to do to reach his goal. Questions 1 to 5 are based on the passage you have just heard. 1. According to the passage, what is an important task for parents? 2. According to the passage, who is Deb? 3. Why did Deb take Kate to the Disney Studios? 4. What should be done with teens who are putting off their life choices? 5. How should a parent respond to a teen who wants to be a rock star? VOA Most children in the United States are returning to school after the summer holiday. Public education for children in the United States is free. But parents still have to buy equipment, new clothes and other supplies for their children before every new school year. The National Retail Federation studies such sales each year. It is an anization of many kinds of stores, as well as panies that sell goods by mail order and the Inter. The group recently released a report on backtoschool sales this year. The report says American parents will spend almost 15,000 million dollars this year to prepare their children for school. A research business carried out the study for the National Retail Federation. It asked more than 8,000 Americans about their backtoschool needs and shopping and spending plans. The study found that 93 percent of families with schoolage children plan to purchase clothes, shoes and school supplies. Families will spend an average of almost 500 dollars on those things. This is an increase of more than 7 percent from last year. Almost half of those questioned also said they planned to spend about 100 dollars on electronics and puterrelated products. The National Retail Federation says that would be a 15 percent increase from last year. The group says most families have enough money to buy electronic and puter equipment for their children. It says this helps parents continue their children39。s the least we should do for them. Q: What should be done for people in need, according to the man? 3. M: Believe it or not, my baseball coach taught me a lot about being kind. W: That really isn39。t always parents who teach us. Q: Who taught the man to be kind? 4. W: Why do you let your little sister cling to you all the time? M: Since our parents died, she needs me more. I can39。s something to learn from! Q: What did the woman39。ve got to meet my father. He39。d like to. You just tell me when. Q: Why should the man meet the woman39。s busy she always finds time to talk to me. That39。d like to go more, but I don39。t worry about it. That39。s the best way to help someone. Q: What did the mother do to help the woman? Long conversation W