I'm Sam. My hobby is playing chess（棋）—one of the greatest games in the world. My mom taught me how to play when I was 7. She beat (打败) me every time for the first year. But then on my eighth birthday, I won for the first time. I nearly always beat her from then on.

    It takes about a day to learn the rules (规则). But if you want to be good, you have to practice for years. You don't need much to play chess—just a chess set (棋具) and someone to play with.

    Chess sets can be quite cheap, or very expensive. Some people collect chess sets as a hobby, but some prefers playing.

    There is a chess club in our school, and we meet every week to play with each other. I'm the best player in the club, and the captain of the school chess team. This year we won the All English Schools' Championship (锦标赛), and I had to go up on stage (台子) in front of the whole school to accept the trophy (奖品).

    I'm saving up my money to buy a chess computer. It's very expensive, but very good for practice. In that way, I'll always have someone to play with. One day I will be the world chess champion (冠军).

    Once Effendi had a joke with the Prime Minister (宰相). He said that the Minister would die the next day. The next day, the Minister fell to the ground from the horse and really died. When the king learned this, he got angry and sent his men to catch Effendi at once.

    When Effendi was brought to him, the king shouted angrily, “Effendi, since you knew when my Minister would die, you must know the date of your own death. Say it out, or you'll die today.” Effendi looked at the king for a while. Then he answered, “But how can I know？I'll die two days earlier than you.” The king was afraid that if he killed Effendi, he himself would die after that. He thought he must keep Effendi alive as long as possible, so he let Effendi go.

    Hi, my name is Toby, and I am now eight years old. When I was five, I decided that I wanted to find out lots about the world, so I started writing letters to somebody in every country in the world. I started the project because I wanted to find out more about the world, help people understand each other better, and make the world a better place--and I still do! It's really not easy to find people in every country, but lots of people have helped me. Thank you!

    We look up all countries, and I think of questions I would like to ask. I'm interested in history, stars and planets, science, wild animals, film making, writing, reading, dancing, and how people protect the environment in lots of places all over the world! I also want to know how people live, what food they eat, and what school is like! Until now, I've written 780 letters and gotten 327 replies.

    I write all letters by hand. My mother is looking after this website for me. You can read all the letters I have written, and all the replies I have gotten. I am also raising money for ShelterBox, because they help people in need all over the world. Thank you for reading about my project!

    Zheng He, the Columbus of the East, was an amazing man.

    He was born in 1371 and, 11 years later, was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his new government.

    The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships may have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than 50 000 kms during the years of his travels. With 28 000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses, Zheng He led a fleet whose size would not be equaled by Europeans for over 500 years.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and jewellery, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. After he died in 1433, the new king, who believed these trips were unlucky and too expensive, had them stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of the great Zheng He.

    Simon lived in a big house with his family in the southeast of Australia. Their house was 20 kilometers from the town, at a beautiful beach. There were five people in his family. They're his parents, his two younger sisters and him. The house had four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. In front of the house, there were many trees and flowers. They had a very big farm around the house, and thousands of sheep were there. In the morning, Simon took a school bus to his school in the town. And after school, he helped his parents do some farm work. At weekends his school friends often came to visit. They usually travelled there by bus. On the farm they played games, went swimming and had a picnic together. They thought it was a nice place to live in. It was so relaxing, and never dull.

    Johnny English is a funny spy (特工). He isn't very smart and often makes mistakes. After he retires (退休)as a spy, he teaches English at a primary school.

    One day, a hacker (黑客)attacks (攻击)the UK. The hacker reveals (公布) the names of all of Britain's spies. Only English is left, since he is retired. He is asked to find the hacker.

    English knows nothing about high—tech weapons (高科技武器). He makes a fool of himself quite often. To find the hacker, he has to work with his old friend, Bough. Soon, they find the hacker as well as a bigger plan behind him.

    English and Bough show that two heads are not always better than one. Sometimes they do silly things. But they stop the hacker's plan in the end. Do you want to meet these two silly spies? You can see them in Johnny English (《憨豆特工3》). It opened in Chinese mainland theaters on November 23rd.