Jane Austen(1775-1817),an English novelist, started writing young and completed six novels in her life. Today Austen's books are more popular than ever. In the last 10 years, five of her six novels have been made into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be best-sellers.

Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University, says that her novels are about marriage, friendships and the family, which are still with us today. “The stories are timeless," Jenkyns said.

Pride and Prejudice(偏见)(1813) is Austen's most famous work. It is a love story about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. At first, these two dislike each other. Elizabeth is pretty ,smart and lively. She is proud because Darcy doesn't know about her family.  Mr. Darcy is handsome, rich and has a better family background. So, he is proud as well. At the same time, Darcy holds a prejudice against the Bennet family. He has no understanding of why the family, especially its mother and daughters should try so hard to find wealthy and powerful husbands. He thinks they are vulgar. Anyway, Elizabeth and Darcy finally fall in love and become a romantic couple but their families don't want them to.

In Pride and Prejudice, some of the main things that Jane Austen wants to teach people are as follows.  Opposites can attract each other. Lovers should not ony make each other feel relaxed or comfortable, but also educate and improve each other.

 Austen is often called the greatest romanti writer, so it is surprising she remained unmarried. "Maybe she was too romantic, waiting for the perfect man,”Jenkyns says.

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

    There were many famous explorers during 1400--1600. What were the names of the most famous explorers? What were the major achievements of the famous explorers? This website provides what you want to know.

    Famous Canadian Explorers   The discovery of the New World opened up new colonies(殖民地) in Canada. One of the most famous Canadian explorers was Louis Joliet who explored the Great Lakes area and discovered the Mississippi River.

Famous Spanish Explorers Famous Spanish explorers explored the Caribbean and South America. Just a few famous Spanish explorers conquered (征服) millions of local people who made up the nations of the Incas and the Aztecs. Famous Spanish explorers included Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Hernando De Soto, Vasco Nunez de Balboa and Juan Ponce de Leon.

Famous English Explorers The most famous English explorers started their voyages of discoveries during the Elizabethan reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The most famous English explorers included Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Martin Frobisher and Sir John Hawkins.

    Famous Portuguese (葡萄牙的) Explorers   The famous Portuguese explorers led the way when it came to exploration. The most famous Portuguese explorers included Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Bartholomeu Dias and Miguel Corte-Real.

    Helen Keller lived in the U.S.A. She was a great woman.

    When Helen was a baby, she got very sick. After many weeks, the doctor said, “She is better, but now she can't see or can't hear.” Her mother and father were very sad.

    After a few years, things got worse. There was no way for Helen to speak with other people. She heard nothing. She saw nothing. She didn't understand anything.

    Then one day a teacher came to live with Helen and her family. The teacher helped Helen learn about words. Helen was a very bright child and soon she learned to spell her first word. When she was older, she went to college(大学).

Helen was very famous. She helped many blind(盲) and deaf(聋) people. She traveled around the world and helped many people.

    Helen was a very old woman when she died. The world remembers her today as a brave and wonderful person. She was blind and deaf, but she found a way to see and hear.

     My name is Danny. I'm from England. I am eleven. I'm tall with black hair. I have two big eyes. My fax number is 010-74862635.

     (Hello! I am Jane. I'm from the USA. I have a round face and two big eyes. I'm short and thin. I'm twelve. My parents work in Beijing.

    Look at the photo. Who's the girl in it? It's me, an English girl. My name is Amy.

    I'm in Grade Seven. I'm twelve. My home phone number is 022-43765986. I have a round face and long, black hair. I like Chinese very much, and I'm very good at it.

    Who am I? I'm from Japan. My name is Yukio. I'm thirteen. Now I'm in Beijing. I'm short, and I'm very heavy(重的). I have two short legs.

My favorite animals are monkeys (猴子). I like them{#blank#}1{#/blank#} they are smart. Here are some new {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (photo) of monkeys in my phone. They make me happy when I see them. 

There is a monkey festival in my hometown. "Where are you {#blank#}3{#/blank#}?" you may ask. I'm from Lopburi. The festival is important to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (we). It is usually on {#blank#}5{#/blank#} last Sunday of November. You can see all {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (kind) of foods on the big tables. The food tastes {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (good). It's all for monkeys. The monkeys sometimes fight for food. That {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(sound) funny, right? The monkey festival attracts (吸引) many people every year. People can watch some {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(interest)shows, too. The performers (表演者) wear beautiful clothes. I always have much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (fun) at the festival.