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.

    Mr. Black went to the country on business. Bad luck! The rain (A)lasted from Tuesday to Sunday and all the traffic stopped. His bags were heavy and he could not carry them to a town. He had to stay in an inn(小旅馆) alone. There were several houses in the small village but he could not talk with anybody when night fell. He could not see any televisions and there was no cinema, either. (B)He had to go to bed early after supper. But he often woke up early in the morning. He would not get up, but lay in bed, listening to the rain falling.

    (C)一天早晨他正躺在床上听收音机，suddenly he remembered it was his birthday that day. He borrowed a bike from a farmer. It took him three hours to get to a small town. There he found a restaurant. He told the waiter (D)_______ (take) some nice food for him. He called out after he ate a little. “Waiter! Your food tastes terrible! Call your manager(经理) here! ”

“Sorry, sir, ” said the waiter, “our manager has gone out for lunch. ”

    A smuggler(走私犯) drove to the border. When a soldier looked in the truck， he was surprised to find six big bags.

    “What's in them?” the soldier asked.

    “Dirt，” the smuggler answered.

    “Take them out，” the soldier said. “I want to check them.”

    The smuggler opened the bags， and sure enough， each one of them was filled with dirt. So the soldier let him go.

    A week later， the smuggler came back， and once again， the soldier looked in the truck.

    “What's in the bags this time?” he asked.

    “Dirt， more dirt，” said the smuggler.

    Not believing him， the soldier checked the bags and， once again， he found nothing but dirt.

    The same thing happened every week for six months， and the soldier finally became so frustrated(沮丧的) that he left and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. Then one night， the smuggler went to the restaurant and had a drink. The waiter saw him and said， “Listen! Drinks are free tonight if you tell me what you were smuggling all that time.”

    Slowly， the smuggler got close to the waiter and said， “Trucks.”

    Esperanza lives in a poor Latino(拉丁美洲人) neighborhood in Chicago, .America. She dreams of having her own house one day. Her parents told her that when they moved from their last house, they would have a new' and shiny(亮闪闪的) house. But the house is small and old.

    Many people live in Mango Street in a big old house. Esperanza lives behind it with her family. A lot of the people who have come from Mexico don't speak English. Many miss their home country. Esperanza understands their sadness, but she also feels at home in America. She is an American, but her roots(根) will always be Latino,

    Esperanza is young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast. She is stuck between being a girl and being a woman. In the poor and dangerous area where she lives, this is difficult for her. Mexican people usually live in a close neighborhood. This means that people live packed(挤塞的) in together. Everyone knows everyone else. So Esperanza knows other older girls that do things she is not comfortable doing. It is just a fact of her life.

    But Esperanza has good friends too. She becomes friends with two sisters named Lucy and Rachel. They ride bikes and have adventures together. Esperanza is also friends with a girl named Alicia. Alicia is afraid of the rats in her apartment. She shares her poems with Esperanza.

    You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Jane Addams. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

    Jane Addams (1860-193)

    Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the pot and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by supporting education and services for people in need in 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Rachel Carson (1907-1960)

    If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects on humans and co the world's lakes and oceans.

    Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

    On December 1,1955,in Montgomery, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger .Her simple act brought a great change to the life of the black community in the US." The only tired I was, was tired of giving in, "said Parks.

    Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-now)

    Wan Sandra Day O' Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find weak at a law company because she was a woman. In 1981, she became the first woman to join the US .Supreme Court O'Connor gave the deciding choice in many important cases during her 24 years in bar field.