Think of life as a game in which you are playing with five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit and you keep all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber (橡胶) ball. If you drop it, it will bounce(弹跳) back.

    But the other four balls, family, health, friends and spirit, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be broken. It will never be the same. You must understand that and try to have balance in your life. How?

Don't look down on yourself by comparing with others. It is because we are different and each of us is special.

    Don't let other people set goals for you. Only you know what is best for yourself.

    Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don't be afraid of difficulties. Be brave!

    Don't run through life so fast, or you will forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

    Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is a treasure you can always carry easily.

    Don't use time or words carelessly. You can't get them back. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that's why we call it "the present". Life is not a competition but a trip, step by step.

    April 13^th, 1539

    Outside Mexico City

Dear Mariana,

    Today we arrived safe. It was a long and dangerous trip over the ocean. The winter storms were strong. We were always a little sick from high waves.

    The journey from the shore to Mexico City is also long and dangerous. There are robbers in the countryside. We will travel together with the other ship passengers, thinking we will be safer as a group. Tomorrow we will travel into the city to find our uncle.

    Father says it will take a year for this letter to reach you. The trip from New Spain to Spain is very long.

Your loving brother,

Tomas

    April 20^th, 1539

    Mexico City

Dear Mariana,

    Father and I finally arrived at Mexico City. Here, old buildings are being pulled down; new ones are being built. Just around the corner from Uncle's city house, Aztec workers are pulling down a small, beautiful pyramid. Father says it is one of the last Aztec temples.

    In the center of the city, I met an Aztec boy named Carlos. He speaks a little Spanish. Carlos learns Spanish at his new school. He told me that the Spanish set up new schools for the Aztecs. There he got his new name, Carlos. He says he likes his new school but misses his old city. I wonder what this city used to be like before Cortes came.

    Tomorrow we will go to Uncle's farmland. He and father are talking about the Aztec workers that father will oversee.

Your brother,

Tomas

found v. 建立        battle n. 战役        conquer v. 征服

C

    When the American were getting ready to send their first men to the moon, an old Australia was watching TV in a restaurant(饭店). There was an Englishman in the restaurant, too, and he said to the Australian, "The Americans are clever, aren't they? They are going to send some men to the moon. It is a very long way from our world(世界) . " Oh, that's nothing." The Australian answered quickly. " Our country is going to send some people to the sun in a few months. That's much farther(更远) away than the moon, you know."

    "Oh, yes, it is," the Englishman said, " but the sun is too hot for people to go to ."  The Australian laughed and said, "We won't go to the sun in the day, of course. We will go there at night."

    Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history？Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2000years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.
    Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in today's Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3years old. 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 leaned 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 3000students in his lifetime.
    Today, people still follow Confucius'lessons. He told us that we 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. 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 ideas are about kindness and good manners. He said young people should take care of the old. People should give up only thinking of themselves and work for others. Some of his popular words are："A kind person should care for others"and"A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to other. "People uses his ideas to help themselves and society. At present, more than 100Internet websites are telling people about him, and his ideas have gone far into east and south Asia.

    Jack thought himself a basketball fan. He watched quite a lot of American NBA basketball games. Not only did he watch them, he spent much of his free time playing on the court too. Then came the final year of his middle school. All of his regular teammates stopped showing up on the court because they were simply too busy preparing for the high school entrance exam to play. He was, of course, under much stress himself, like everyone else. A good exam result meant a good high school; a mediocre(平庸的) score meant a mediocre school. Much was at stake. However, he loved basketball so much that he still found time to play, this time with a group of guys who were said to have skipped classes(逃课) before.

    Some of his teachers started worrying about him. They asked his mother to go to school to let her know that Jack was hanging out with problem kids. When his mother returned home that day, she wanted to talk to Jack. Knowing the purpose of her visit to the school, Jack thought his mother would punish him for befriending those bad guys. To his surprise, his mother was not angry with him at all. She wanted to hear her son's side of the story. So Jack told his mother about what he knew of Simon and Peter. Simon's parents were badly ill; Peter's father had lost his job. They both seemed to Jack to be normal kids. Jack's mother thought for a moment, then went on to say that she was OK with her son playing with them and that she and her son should think of ways to help these kids. Soon Jack's mum introduced some part-time jobs to Simon and Peter, which they accepted. She believed in her son and cared about those who were less lucky.

    Jack's basketball friends and he have left for different places, but they still keep in touch. He knows Peter is now a manager of a local bank.  Simon is currently a freshman at a university. Sadly, it is impossible to get together to play basketball again, but whenever they get on the phone, they talk about it all the time.

    31-year-old Michael Phelps has become a phenomenon(神话) in swimming.

    Phelps won four golds and one silver at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He ended his journey to the next Olympic Games and magic performance successfully. Within 12 years, from Athens to Rio, Phelps won 22 gold medals. He was one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Olympic Games.

    At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won eight gold medals. That was more than the whole Australian team could put together. He beat(打败) Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven wins in the pool at one Olympics. Phelps has put his name next to seven world records.

    Michael Phelps started to swim at the age of 5. Guess which stroke(动作) he first tried, the backstroke. It's because he didn't want to put his face in the water. By the age of 7, he had taken part in a lot of swimming competitions. At 11, he met Bob Bowman who saw the kid's great talent.

    How did Phelps become so good? He was born with the body of a swimmer. He stands 1.87 meters high and has a wide wingspan(臂展). He knows how to use his body to full advantage. His hands and feet are like paddles(踏板) in the water and he has a strong kick. But that's not all; he also has the heart and will to win. He thinks that anything is possible as long as you keep practicing.

    Swimming is Phelps' life. Every day he spends five hours in the water, swimming about 11 kilometers. He never takes a day off. This is a young man who knows what he wants. "If I didn't swim my best, I'd think about it at school, at dinner, and with my friends. It would drive me crazy," he said.

    "There are no limits(限制). The more you dream, the further you will get."