“Do you believe in life after death?” Jack's boss asked Jack.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Well, then, that makes everything just fine,” the boss went on. “About an hour after you left yesterday to go to your grandfather's funeral(葬礼), he dropped in to see you.”

    I'm Lee. I'm 13 and I'm in Class One. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. they are Gina, Lily and Ben. Lily and Gina are in Class Two. Ben is in Class One, too. We are all in Grade Seven.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. My favorite sport is ping-pong. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I have three ping –pong balls and four ping-pong bats. Lily and Gina are sisters. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They think it is boring. Their favorite sport is tennis. They play tennis with their parents and two brothers. Ben's favorite sport is soccer. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. He plays soccer very well

B. I have three good friends.

C. I like playing sports with my mother.

D. Because it is interesting.

E. We like sports

F. I don't like playing basketball

G. They don't like ping-pong.

    "This one's for you," Sergeat(警官)Barstow shouted and left quickly through the back door. I was a little puzzled. I looked out of a window of the Ashfordly Police Station and saw an elderly woman come into the building.

    "Good morning, Madam," I said.

    "Good morning," she said pleasantly." You're new, aren't you?"

    "Yes, Madam."

    "It's about that man who's been annoying me," she said." I've been here about him before."

    "Could I have your name and address, please?"

    "Miss Fraser. Josephine Fraser. I live at 43 Prince Terrace. Now, can you please do something about Jackson?"

    "What's he done, Miss Fraser?"

    "Done? He's thrown garbage all over my stairs again. He must be stopped."

    "Where does he live?"

    "Next door, Number 41," she said.

    "I'll go and see later and warn him off, Miss Fraser."

    "I would be most grateful."  With that she left.

    Half an hour later, I reached Prince Terrace. No. 41 was in a bad state of repair. I knocked. No reply. I entered. The place was deserted. I wondered if the Jackson was a tramp(流浪者). Anyway, it seemed he had left, possibly because of Miss Fraser's threatening police action. I decided to visit her.

    I knocked on her door and it was opened almost immediately." Ah!" she said gladly." You're just in time for coffee." I followed her inside. Miss Fraser told me more about her battle with Jackson. But when I asked specific questions, it clearly showed that she had never seen Jackson. Finally, I managed to leave.

    Sergeant Barstow smiled kindly as I returned." Nick, did you kick(踢出) Jackson, out of that house?"

    "Jackson" I cried." Who is he?"

    "There is no Jackson," he said." Miss Fraser is lonely and she likes company. We always let the new young men deal with Miss Fraser. It gives her deep satisfaction. That's what we are here for, isn't it to satisfy the public?"

    There are four people in Simon's family. They have different habits.

    ◆ Simon's father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He likes reading books very much. There are many books in his bedroom. He doesn't like going to the cinema.

    ◆ Simon's mother is a music teacher. She likes listening to music, but she has no time to go to concerts.

    ◆ Simon's brother is seven years old. He likes watching cartoons. He usually watches cartoons when his parents aren't at home.

    ◆ Simon is a middle school student. He likes playing football. He often plays football with his friends after school. He likes playing computer games at home. But he doesn't like watching TV.

    Doctor Seuss was born in 1904

    In 1954, Life magazine published a report about school children who could not read well. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He hadn't received training in art. Yet, he drew pictures for most of his books.

    By the middle 1950s, Doctor Seuss had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books were very popular with young readers. They enjoyed the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

    In 1957, Doctor Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old child was able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it too. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books with very few words for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book was called Green Eggs and Ham.

    In 1984. Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize. He was honoured for education and enjoyment that his books provided for American children and their parents.

    Doctor Seuss died in 1991 at the age of 87. But his influence remains. Today his books are still very popular. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books help change the way American children learn to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people."