My name is Jerry Zhang, and I am a father of two young daughters -- one is about four years old and the other is only about one.我来自中国，现在住在美国。

    One day, my older daughter, Madison, told me she didn't want to be Chinese. Those days she was quite interested in the book characters (角色) Madeline and Eloise. She asked me all the time why she was Chinese and they weren't, and how she could have yellow or red hair like them.

    This made me look for books with Asian (亚洲的) characters for Madison to read. However, I only found a few, and they were heavily cultural (文化的) and Madison didn't connect herself with any of the characters in them. And she wash' t interested in them at all Then she told me again that she didn't want to be Chinese, and it made me sad.

    In most of the books for children in the US, the characters look like Americans. There are over 17 million Asians and Asians and Americans in this count, but few of them have Asian faces. I think it's important for Asian children to see themselves in books as interesting and clever kids.

    So I created (创作) a book for Madison. Pepper Zhang in the book is an Asian girl. Her imagination (想象) takes her on a trip to creativity and art I want my children to know that being Chinese or being Asian is a great thing too.

A. Nobody has lived over 400 years

B. She is the one who sells the candy

C. It's the heat that kills it

D. Everything you told me went in one ear and out the other

E. This boy cried so terribly that he scared four other patients out of the office

    Bobsledding (雪橇运动) is a fast and exciting winter sport. A bobsled has a two-person team or a four-person team and it goes at about 100 kilometers an hour. When a bobsled team goes down the course, the other teams wait and watch. Then each team tries to go down faster than the others. Each team can try several times. In the end, the fastest team wins the. prize.

    This is a true story about a bobsledder, Eugenio Monti from Italy. The year was 1964. The place was the bobsled course at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. The two best teams were Eugenio Monti's Italian team and Tony Nash's British team. After their first two runs, these two teams were equal (同等的). Then the Italians made their third run, and it was the fastest of all. The British team got ready for their third run, but suddenly a bolt (螺栓) on their bobsled broke. The British bobsled could not go down.

    When Monti heard this, he took a bolt from his bobsled and sent it to the British team. The British team put the bolt on their bobsled. They went down very fast and won. The British team got the gold medal (金牌), but everyone talked about Monti. They called him a great sportsman. He also got a special prize, the 1964 International Fair Play Trophy ( 国际公平竞赛奖杯). Many people think this trophy is a greater prize than a gold medal. It was new then, but now it is given every year to a great sportsman or sportswoman.

    The world is an interesting place. Different people like different things.

    Some people like loud music. Other people don't. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Many people like sports, but they don't all like the same sports. In some countries, cricket（板球运动）is a very popular sport. In others it is not popular at all. No one plays it or watches it on TV. However, most people like soccer. The World Cup is very popular. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Different people like different foods. Some people don't like meat,  {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Some people don't like potatoes or bread. They prefer rice.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Most people have their favourite colours. Some people like bright colours. Others prefer pale colours.

    Many people like travelling. Different people like different places. Some people like to go to the country.

    They like the fresh air. Some people like to go to the cities. Because they like shopping. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Once, a student complained to his teacher about his unhappy life. The teacher decided to teach him a lesson.

    One day, he asked the student to get some salt and a glass of water.

The student returned with a glass of clean water and a handful of salt. The teacher asked the young man to put the salt into the glass and drink it.

    "How does it taste?" the teacher asked.

    "It tastes bitter (味苦的)," the student replied.

    The teacher didn't say anything else, but asked the young man to get the same amount (数量) of salt and follow the teacher to a nearby lake.

    "Put the salt into the lake," the teacher said. The young man did what the teacher said.

    "Now, taste the water from the lake," the teacher said.

    As the water dropped down the young man's chin, the teacher asked, "How does it taste?"

    "Fresh and a bit sweet," the student said.

    "Do you taste the salt?" the teacher asked.

    "No," the young man shook his head.

    The teacher sat beside the young man and said, "The pain of life is like salt — no more, no less. However, the amount of bitterness you taste depends on the container (容器) you put the pain in." The amount of pain in life stays exactly the same. So when you are in pain, the only thing to do is to open up the mind. Stop being a glass, become a lake.

    The play takes place in a typical, old Beijing teahouse. The main characters are teahouse's owner (Wang Lifa)and his customers, who all live in the same neighbourhood. They come in and out of the teahouse and talk to each other.

    The play reflects(反映) changes in the lives of almost 70 characters. It includes three parts. The first act takes place in 1898 at the time of the Qing Dynasty. The second act jumps forward 20 years and the final act takes place in 1948.

    In Teahouse, the writer Lao She says goodbye to the old Chinese society and hello to the new one. It's about the changes that have taken place in Chinese society in almost 50 years. All types of people come to the teahouse in Beijing. Some come to do business. Others come just to sit and pass the time. There are some good, kind people and there are also some bad, nasty(讨厌的) characters. They meet, they talk, they argue, they gossip(闲聊)and then they get on with their lives.

    Teahouse was first put on in 1958. It is still one of the most popular plays in China. It is a favourite work by Lao She, one of China's most popular writers. Anyone who is interested in Chinese life and history should see the play. It helps one to understand Chinese culture better.