The final exams are the most important assessment (评估) throughout the whole term in Canada. It usually takes up 20 to 30 percent of one’s marks. But doing bad on the finals doesn’t mean that one can’t have an acceptable final score, as it includes other marks as well, such as unit tests, projects and presentations.

Different from those in China, exams in Canada don’t last all day. Students just come to school when they have exams. For example, if you have an exam on Monday morning and one on Tuesday morning, you can have a break between the different exams to have time to relax or study.

For most science subjects, there will be at least one week for students to review their studies---teachers often finish the lessons one week before the exams. But when it comes to liberal arts (人文科学) subjects, things are a bit different. For every liberal arts class, students need to produce a project before the finals. The projects usually last one or two weeks and require students to mix up all the knowledge they’ve learned during the term. When I was in Grade 10, the project for my English was to find the similarities between the novels we’d studied that year and present them in a visually(视觉的) creative way, such as by making a poster. These projects usually take up 5 to 10 percent of a student’s final marks.

Some think that the projects are nothing but a distraction (分心的事) that wastes your time before finals, but I believe they’re a great way to review everything and add some fun to our busy lives.

Xiao Pang, a 13-year-old Chinese boy, has too many activities. His father takes him away from school sixteen afternoons a month and drives him across town to practice. “I do most of my homework in the car when we are driving to the practice center, and I have to do the rest when I go home. What I always need is just more sleep,” he said in a sleepy way.

“More and more children become unhappy because they have too many activities to do,” said Mr. Wang, an expert （专家） of child development （发展）. “41% of the children aged 9-15 said they felt worried most of the time, and more than 75% of them said that they wished they had more free time to play. ”

“Over-scheduling （过多的日程安排） is a growing problem for Chinese families. ” said Mr. Wang, “All these family members are always very busy for it, especially for dinner time. More families have dinner quickly or often have to eat fast food on their way to football practice or music lessons. ”

We all know it is important for children to learn how to relax. If they don’t learn that now, it will be more difficult to learn when they get older. Children need time to relax. Parents should think about what is right for them.

Students at a primary school in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian Province were required to clean the school toilets to help them develop good habits.

【小题1】 They can’t see the advantages of students doing such chores(杂事). They think that the school should provide students with a proper education, not the chance to be school cleaners.

In fact, parents, schools and society play an equally(同等地) important role in developing the character of students. It is good for schools to give students such tasks, because few of the students will do them at home. 【小题2】 In recent years, some parents will make mountains out of molehills when students are asked to do some chores in schools. 【小题3】 Some even challenge the schools’ teaching methods and management. As a result, many primary schools, especially those in big cities, do not let students join in outdoor activities during breaks, fearing that they might get hurt. 【小题4】

What the primary school in Fuzhou is doing is worth praising. Doing chores can put a sense of responsibility into students’ minds and teach them the spirit of rules as well as teamwork. 【小题5】