Many of you have heard a Cinderella (灰姑娘) story, but you may not know that there are over a hundred different ways to tell the Cinderella story. When writers tell the same story in a different way, it is called their “version” of the story. The story of Cinderella has many different versions. Let's read two of them and find out how they are different.

The version that most people know is the oldest one written in 1697 by Charles Perrault from France. This is the version where the birds help make Cinderella's dress and the mice turn into carriage men (马车夫) and help Cinderella go to the dance in a pumpkin (南瓜) carriage. In this version, many of the animals are Cinderella's friends. They help her meet the Prince. Cinderella marries the Prince and they live happily together ever after.

In another version of this story written in the 1850s by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm from Germany, the birds help Cinderella in the whole story. Cinderella's father gives her a little tree when he comes back from a party. She plants the little tree and her tears water it until it grows into a tall tree.

The birds now live in the tree and they give Cinderella a dress of gold and shoes of gold. Cinderella goes to the party to meet and dance with the Prince. Later, he finds Cinderella at home doing work for her stepmother (继母). Cinderella marries the Prince and they live happily ever after.

Now you can understand what the word “version” means and how more than one writer can tell a story in a different way. That is why there are many versions of the same story.

    Hello, everyone! I'm Mike. I live in Beijing with my parents. I'm in Class Two, Grade Seven at Beijing International School. I'm looking forward to the busy weekend. All the students in our class are going to Tian'anmen Square to watch the flag­raising ceremony(升旗仪式) on Saturday morning.

    We're going to gather(集合) at five o'clock at the school gate. It takes us about twenty minutes to get there by subway. After watching the ceremony, we are going to visit the Railway Museum. I hope the weather will be fine! In the afternoon we are going to have a basketball match in the gym. In the evening we're going to see a movie. I don't think we're going home early on Saturday evening.

    On Sunday morning I'm going to Beihai Park with my friends. We're going to take a walk in the park and collect litter there. It must be very interesting.

    One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up arid put it in your bag. "Thomas said." It isn't worth(值得) the trouble. "His father said nothing but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(樱桃).

    The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty(口渴的) to walk on. At the moment, his lather dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son picked it up and put it in his mouth.

    And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had caught' up all the cherries, his father said to him," My dear son, if you had bent(弯腰) down in the beginning to pick up that horseshoe, you wouldn't have bent so many times for the cherries. Always remember this lesson：If someone don't worry about the little things, he will find it impossible for him to do the great things."

    Have you ever watched old movies? If so, maybe you have known Carole Lombard (卡罗尔·隆巴德). She was a famous actress in the 1930s. She died when she was only 34. In her short life, she made 70 movies.

    In 1921, when she was only thirteen years old, a movie director saw her in the street. He decided to put her in a movie. The movie was one of the last silent movies. She acted well enough to win the hearts of many people. At the age of 16, she left school to act. In 1926, an accident happened to her. The accident left scars on her face, but she didn't give up. She continued to act.

    Later, she married Clark Gable that was an actor. He was the great love in her life. They lived happily together.

Hello, boys and girls! Look at the photo of me. Guess, who am I? Oh, yes, I'm Mr. Bean. I'm an English actor. I was born (出生) in England in 1955. My name is Rowan Atkinson. Look! I have a big head, and my hair is short and black. I have a round face, big eyes, a big nose and a wide mouth. My ears are big, too. Now I'm in the USA．I have some (一些) good friends here. They are nice to me. Now I'm old, but I'm very happy.