Beethoven (贝多芬) was born in a small city near the Rhine in Germany. His father always drank and his mother was a maid (女仆). They lived a poor life.

    Beethoven was a talented (有天赋的) child in music. People at that time thought he was as clever as Mozart. His father wanted to make money from his talent, so he told him to practice and play all the time. If he didn't do that, his father would be angry with him and beat him.

    Beethoven was very short and ugly. He couldn't hear well from the age of 22 and later he heard nothing, but all these unhappy things didn't make him dislike music. He began to write sonatas (奏鸣曲) at 12, and later he became a great musician.

    His life was so short that he didn't leave many works. But people think he was one of the best musicians in the world.

    I'm a Chinese student studying in Canada. I have been a boarder(寄宿生) with the Carsons for more than a year and a half.

    The Carsons live in their own house, which has four bedrooms including the one in the basement(底层) which I live in. Judy does all the work in the house and Andrew is responsible for the work in the garden. When they go out in the evening, they often ask me to look after their children.

    Judy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, lived in another city. Judy was their only child and naturally they doted on(溺爱) Judy's children. They often sent the children presents.

    Last April Mr. Morris died. Now that Mrs. Morris was quite alone, I expected that Judy would want her to come and live with them. One day, Margaret told me grandma was coming to live with them and her daddy and mummy would want my room back. The news didn't surprise me and the next day I went to Judy and asked her about it. I said I couldn't think of living in their basement room any longer if it was needed for Mrs. Morris. Judy seemed surprised at first. Then she told me there was no deed for me to move, for they hadn't yet come to any decision about her mother coming to live with them. "Naturally I'm worried about my mother. She has been in poor health." She smiled sadly and added. "To be honest, Andrew and my mother have never got on well. We'll wait a bit and see what happens. Perhaps Moter will be all right living herself, of perhaps they will both change their minds."

    That was six months ago. During this time I've heard that Mrs. Morris has had two illnesses and that her health has got worse. A nursing home was mentioned once but Mrs. Morris refused to go there. So up to now she's still living alone and I'm still living in the basement room.

    An old man lived with his little grandson. Every day the old man got up early to read books.

    One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa, I want to read books as you. But I always forget what I read. What are the advantages of reading?

    The grandfather didn't answer him, but he said to the boy, Take this little basket to the river and bring back a basket of water for me. "The boy went to the river to fill the basket with water but all the water leaked out before he got back home. The boy was sad, but his grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to walk faster next time.

    The next time the boy ran faster, but the basket was still empty before he retumed home. The boy said, "See, Grandpa, it's no use!"

    "Is it useless ""the old man said "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and found that the basket was different. It was much cleaner.

    That's what happens when you read books. Maybe you can't understand or remember everything. Something will change in your mind after you read. Just like the basket.