Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

    In 1954, life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.

    In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.

    In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents.

    He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, “I do not write for children. I write for people.”

B

    One day a mouse(老鼠)is looking for food. He meets a tiger. The tiger catches (抓住)the mouse. He looks at the mouse and says, "You are too small for me to eat." "Please let me go, Mr. tiger." says the mouse "One day I will help you."

    The tiger laughs, "How can a little mouse help a big tiger?" he says, "OK. I will let you go. But be careful(当心)next time."

    The next week the mouse is again (又)looking for food. He meets the tiger under a tree. The tiger is in a net (网)and can't get out.(出来).The mouse goes up to him.

    "Don't worry(担心). I can help you." He bits(咬)the net. Soon he bits a big hole(洞) in the net. The tiger can get out of the net.

    It's 8: 00 in the morning. Mr. White goes into the classroom and finds Tom isn't in. Then he begins his lesson. He asks the students to read their English books.

    "May I come in, sir?" a boy asks at the door.

    "Come in, please," says Mr. White. "You're twenty minutes (分钟) late, Tom."

    The boy is often late and every time he makes an excuse. "I am sorry, sir," says Tom. "I'm late because the traffic is bad, and I have to wait for (等待) the lights to turn green."

    "But why don't you catch an earlier (更早的) bus?" asks Mr. White.

    "I just take the earlier bus. But the later (晚点的) bus often overtakes (超过) the earlier one!" answers Tom.

    Tony Wheeler was born to travel. His father worked for an airline. For the first 16 years of his life, Tony and his family lived in many different countries.

    In the early 1970s, Tony met a young woman named Maureen. They soon married. Before getting jobs, Tony and Maureen wanted to travel. They took a year-long trip from England, through Asia, to Australia. On the trip, they visited places like Iran(伊朗), India, and so on.

    When Tony and Maureen arrived in Australia, people asked many questions about their trip. To answer these questions, Tony wrote a book called Across Asia on the Cheap. The book told people about different countries' weather, customs(风俗)，and places to visit. But unlike other travel books then, Tony Wheeler's book also talked about places most tourists did not go. He also wrote about unusual things to see and do. The book was very popular.

    Tony and Maureen started a company called Lonely Planet… They continued travelling. They wrote books for each place they visited. Today, 800 people work for Lonely Planet. The company has over 650 books. Tony Wheeler, the great traveller, still writes about travels to many places and will bring us more surprises.

Confucius（孔子）was one of the most important people in human history.He taught people to be polite and love each other.His ideas changed people's life.

Early Life

Confucius was born around 551 B.C.in China.That was over 2，500 years ago.Some say that Confucius was born into a rich family.Others say he was born poor.One thing is clear：Confucius lived during a time of great trouble.

Philosophy（哲学）and Teachings

Different groups in China were fighting.People forgot about good manners（礼仪）.This made Confucius sad.He wanted people to be kind and polite to each other.He believed in the idea of"ren".That means "loving others"."People should follow the Golden Rule，"he said.The Golden Rule is"to treat others as you would like to be treated".He believed that a good leader should treat his followers with care.This would help the leader set a good example.Confucius thought leaders could make people follow the law（法律）

____.

Confucius promoted（提倡）music education.He thought music had a strong influence on people and believed that music could make the things on the earth get on well with each other.

So music made it possible for our society to develop well.

Death

Confucius died at the age of 71 or 72.After his death，he was honored as a man of wisdom.His ideas helped shape the Chinese government.Today he is known as one of the most important teachers in Chinese history.