There are all kinds of funny things. They happen in class every day. We met one today and had a good laugh.

Mr Li, our history teacher, is having class while Zhang Feng is talking too much in class. Mr Li said, "Be quiet, please." But it is no use. Then he said, "I have a question: When do people talk least (最少)?"

No one could answer it. Mr Li called Zhang Feng. Zhang Feng stood there and didn't know how to answer it. Then he had an idea, "In February, sir."

"Why?"All of us became puzzled.

"Because February is the shortest month of a year." Everybody burst into a big laugh.

Mr Li said with a smile, "I know. You talk so much because it's February. You want to make it the same as the other months, right?"

All the students laughed again. Zhang Feng's face turned red."Sorry, sir. I won't do that." "That's the boy! Let's go on having class."

When Leon Martin asked for his parents’ advice on how to become a UX (User Experience) designer (设计师), they both went silent. “In fact, I had no idea what he was talking about,” said Anne, his mother. “I don’t know whether he was talking about designing clothes, computer programs of a fancy brand of bike.”

Even when her 18-year-old son explained that it was something about “behind the scenes” online design, his mother was still a bit lost. “I felt like I had totally failed as a parent,” she said. “My job as a parent is to open doors so my children can achieve their potential (潜力), but now can I do that when I don’t even understand what their dreams are?”

________ Research has found that more than 2/3 of parents in England are now facing the problem that, when their children express interest in new education and job choices, they may know nothing about them. More than 75% of parents feel it is almost impossible to offer their children good advice in such a fast-changing job market.

Micheal Rea did a survey of over 2,000 parents of secondary school students in England. She found that many parents were afraid their children hardly follow them. “We all know that parents’ opinions and suggestions play an important role in shaping and influencing their children’s career dreams,” she said. “But we usually spend much on our own experiences. And things have changed so much since most of us were at school.”

Bryony Mathew, writer of the Awesome Career Books, said the world was changing so rapidly that parents should not try to decide on certain careers for their children.

American schools begin in September after the long summer holidays. There are two terms in a school year, the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children go to public schools.

High school students study only four or five subjects at a time. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have an assignment(课外作业) for every class. After class they have many activities. After high school, many students go to college(大学). They can go to a small one or a large one. They usually have to pay a lot of money for college education. But there are scholarships(奖学金) for good students, and many college students work part-time in order to(为了) get money for their education.