Studying Too Much?
Most people work or study from Monday to Friday. The weekend is usually a time to rest. But today's Chinese teenagers(青少年) can hardly rest on the weekend.
According to a survey, 24% of the Grade 7 students in Beijing have classes on the weekend. Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours' sleep each day because of study. And this doesn't happen only in Beijing. Ji Chunying is a Grade 9 student in Guangzhou.
The 14-year-old girl has to get up at 6:45 am on Saturday. Then she has classes all day. On Sunday, she goes to extra (额外的) classes on maths and physics. But Ji doesn't complain(抱怨) . She says her classmates all work very hard.
Zhao Ming, 13, is from Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Zhao's weekend is not that busy. But he still spends Saturday at school. After finishing his homework on Sunday, he plays basketball. “I feel happy because I still have time to do the things I like," he said. Some students are much luckier. Ding Yi, a Grade 8 student from Laiwu, Shandong, is one of them. On weekends, Ding usually gets up at 8:00 am.
Then she spends some time doing homework. After that she is free to go shopping or watch TV. "My teacher says I don't need to push myself too much. Learning well at school is enough," Ding said, "I feel pretty lucky.
