B

    John's birthday is on August 16th. His parents are going to have a party for him. He is very happy about it. He would like to invite his friends to the party. Last Sunday night, while John was in his room, his mother walked in.

    "Are you still doing your homework?" she asked.

    "No, I'm writing a letter to Uncle Tom," John answered.

    John's mother was very surprised because John never wrote letters to anyone.

    "Are you asking him to come to your birthday party?"

    "No," John answered, "Uncle Tom never comes to my birthday parties."

    "Then what are you writing about?" his mother asked. "Will you read me the letter?"

    "OK," John said, "but I haven't finished it. I have only written two lines. I'll read them to you."

    "Dear Uncle Tom, thank you very much for sending me such a nice gift. I hope..." her mother stopped him. "But Uncle Tom hasn't sent you any gifts."

    "I know," John answered. "I'm not thanking him for this year's gift. I'm thanking him for last year's. You know, it's never too late to thank him."

    Jack Brown, an office worker, lives in Washington. He inherited(继承) a million dollars when he was 23. But he wasn't happy at all. When his college friends were looking for their jobs, he didn't have to. Jack decided to live a simple life like everyone else. He gave $10,000 of his money to a charity to help poor children live a better life. Today he is 36. He still wears cheap shoes and clothes and drives a small car only, but he is very happy.

    Up to now Jack has helped some children from poor countries all over the world by sending them $ 200 a month. The money was used for the children's study, food, medicine and clothing. Jack received a report each year on the children's progress. They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English.     

    When Jack first heard about these children, he wanted to help them. "It was nothing special," he said."Until I went to these countries and met the children I was helping, I didn't know anything about their life. "Once lack went to meet a little girl in Africa. He said that the meeting was very exciting. "When I met her, I felt very, very happy," he said. "And I saw that the money was used for a good cause. It brought me happiness. I want to do everything I can to go on helping these children. "

    One of the best-known American writers of children's books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere．Now, an art show called "Doctor Strong From Then to Now" is travelling around the United States．The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong．

    Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children's book was published (出版)．Since then, he has written forty—five books that have been sold more than one hundred million copies around the world．

    Doctor Strong's books are known for their easy use of words and colourful, hand drawn pictures．These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures, The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others．

    The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the art show．It included about three hundred Doctor Strong's early drawings and some of his writings．

Most of Doctor Strong's books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages．For example, in McElligot's Pool, he describes the danger of pollution．He discusses the arms race (军备竞赛) in The Butter Battle Book, written in nineteen eighty four．

    Doctor Strong says he never planned to write stories just for children．He says he writes stories that interest people of all ages．He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand．

Lu Xun is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century. Besides his famous stories, he also wrote many influential(有影响力的) articles about the life of Chinese people. 

Born in a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (wealth) family in 1881, Lu Xun had a happy childhood. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (unlucky), his father became seriously ill and died in 1896. From that tine on, his family were no longer accepted by their relatives and friends. These early {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (experience) deeply influenced his writing. 

When he studied at university in 1899, he already believed that Chinese society had to change and become modern. In 1902, he went to study in Japan. There, he began writing articles {#blank#}4{#/blank#} several Chinese student magazines to make a living. He showed a gift for writing and translating and he even wrote several books, though none was popular. He returned to China in 1909 because {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (he) family was in need of money. 

After working for several years as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} teacher in Beijing, Lu Xun again returned to writing. In 1918, he created his famous short story Diary of a Mad Man {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was the first Chinese novel to use the everyday language. So it came out to be a great success. And his other novels, such as The True Story of AhQ and Kong Yiji, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (read) by Chinese young people in that period. 

Although successful, Lu Xun still worried greatly about China' s future. In 1926, he moved to Shanghai and gave up {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (write) stories in order to focus on articles which could call on people to fight for a better country. 

Since his death in 1936, Lu Xun' s influence {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (grow) with time. Today, many of his writings are included in school textbooks and his works are valued by millions around the world. 

A son takes his old father to a restaurant for dinner. They sit down and order a meal（点餐）. The man orders some rice and vegetables with chicken. His father likes jiaozi very much, so he orders some jiaozi for his father. His father is very old and he doesn't look healthy. Some food is on his T-shirt or pants（裤子）after eating. Some people in the restaurant don't look happy about him when they see him eating food. But the son doesn't care (关心) at all.

When the son gives the waiter money, the waiter says, "Oh, the dinner is free."

The son asks, "Why?"

A young man is next to the waiter and says, "Sir, I'm the boss (老板) of this restaurant. I think you're a great man. You love your father very much, right? I learn a lot from you." The son says, "Yes, you are right. But what do you learn from me?" The boss says, "A lesson (课) for every son and hope (希望) for every old father."