Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.

 Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

 Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

 He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled (困惑的). All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

 Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.

      Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn't make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous.

In fact, he does well and successfully in the kitchen. He's in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes.

      By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove,

      North Carolina, US, he had become president of his school's cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion. 

      Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering business（饮食业）. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to the noodles or fishes.

      At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school's microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches.

      “I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave,” he said.

      Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients （作料） into common dishes. “It started with a strong interest and I wanted to know more,” he said.

      He began to watch the Food Network and read chef（大厨）blogs.

      Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater（备办食物）for his uncle's wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add something new to them.

      Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers and so on. Kenny's dishes are always a hit.

 Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny's success comes from his ability in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a good chef to the students in his cooking classes.

“He's so smart at cooking that he doesn't let anything stop him,” Hicks said. “I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special.”

    A 2-year-old boy is being described as a hero after using Face Time to save his mother after she was badly hurt.

    According to a report from KGUN, Laura was trying to stop a fight between two dogs when one of the dogs bit(咬) part of her middle finger almost completely off.

    Laura tried to call 911 herself, but she said her hands were too badly hurt to make the call. "I asked my daughters to call 911, and they're four, and they were quite afraid to even touch the phone, because it was covered in my blood(血) ," Laura told KGUN.

    The mother continued to lose a lot of blood and thought she would go into a deep sleep--until her 2-year- old son Bentley came up with a dishcloth from the kitchen. After cleaning some of the blood off his mother's iPhone, Bentley continued to use Face Time to call Laura's friend Connie.

    "All I could see was his little forehead. I said 'Hi Bentley' and it was quiet for a little bit. Then I heard Laura shouting," Connie told KGUN.

    Connie then called 911, and Bentley unlocked the door to let firefighters into the house.

    Laura told KGUN she is very thankful for her little hero and has since taught all of her children how to call 911.

    Lisa goes to school on foot every day. One morning, Lisa leaves home after breakfast without an umbrella. Then it begins to rain. The rain becomes heavier and heavier. Lisa's mother worries about her daughter and decides to find Lisa to give her an umbrella. She drives along the way her daughter always walks. She looks left and right through the car windows to look for Lisa. Finally, she finds Lisa walking in the street happily. She also finds that every time lightning strikes, Lisa will stop, look up at the sky and smile. Lisa's mother is very surprised. She shouts to Lisa, "Lisa, what are you doing?" She answers, "God is taking photos of me, so I smile!"

    Charlie and his family don't always live in their house. Sometimes they live in a houseboat. There are 4 rooms in the bottom of the boat. One of them is his parents' bedroom. Another one is his bedroom. Then there is a kitchen and a bathroom. Charlie's bedroom is small, but he likes it very much. It has a small window. He doesn't open it because it's under the water. When the boat is in the water, Charlie can look out of his window and see many fish under the water. Once he saw an old car under the water. He thought it was funny to see the fish swim through the car windows.

    In the school year, Charlie's family keep their boat on the bank (岸) of the lake. In summer Charlie and his family often take their boat out to the middle of the lake. They stay on the lake for a few weeks. Then they go fishing for their food. Charlie's mother grows vegetables in pots on the boat, so they also have vegetables to eat. When it is very hot, they jump into the water and go swimming. Charlie thinks a houseboat is the best place to live in.

AFamily Bakery

It's 3:00 in the morning. Angela is ready to start the day at the family bakery(面包房). Vincent and his wife, Angela, are its owners(主人).

Everyone in the family works in the bakery. The oldest daughter, Claire, is good at making cakes. Maria is the middle child. She works at the counter(柜台),and sometimes she makes cookies. Paul, the youngest, is 14,and he makes bread. Vincent says, "Paul has good hands for bread." All the family work in the bakery ,but the children only work there before or after school.

The bakery is open every day. The bakery sells cookies, cakes and bread. Mr. Martin is a regular customer(常客) ． He goes to the bakery every morning. He always takes the round loaf of bread with no butter. He says it's good. Mrs. Salerno is also a regular customer. Every Friday, she buys two loaves of Italian bread and a large box of cookies. Her six-year-old daughter, Laura, always gets one free cookie. Mrs. Salerno says Vincent's bakery is the best in the city.