Lang Lang is a famous Chinese pianist. He was born in 1982 in Shenyang. He showed his talent(天赋)for playing the piano when he was two. He began to take piano lessons at the age of 3. At the age of 5, he won first prize in the Shenyang Piano Competition. When he was 11, he won first prize at the Fifth International Young Pianist Competition.

    He began his study at the Curtis Institute(学院) of Music in America when he was 15. He became the first Chinese student at the institute. During his study there he made great progress and became a top pianist. On August 14th, 1999, the great Andre Watts was ill so Lang Lang played at the concert instead of him and he was successful. Then he became famous all over the world.

    In August of 2008, more than 5 billion people watched Lang Lang's performance at the opening ceremony(开幕式)of the Beijing Olympic Games. He also played at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Expo(世博会).

    Last weekend, Dave, Bob, Alice and Ann had a trip on the island not far from their houses.

    Dave rode his bike to the river with his guitar at eight first. Then Alice got there. She took No 5 bus to go there. But why didn't Bob and Ann come? They decided to meet at eight. At ten past eight, Ann came. She said, "I'm sorry I'm late. I have to walk here because my bike doesn't work." Ann could play the violin very well. She took it with her. Another twenty minutes passed, Bob arrived there." Bob, you're late", Dave said. "Hmm. On my way, I helped a boy find his parents," said Bob. "Oh Bob, you re great. You're a good boy." All the other children said.

    The boat ride took them about twenty minutes. At twenty to nine, they came to a boat and took the boat to the island. Wow, the island is green everywhere. It's really great.

    They did something interesting there. First they enjoyed the wonderful sights(景色).Then, they had some fruits and drinks.

    At last, they had a show. Dave played the guitar. Ann played the violin. Alice danced and Bob sang. They had a fun time.

No one knows when the first kite was made. The first record of a kite was more than 2,000 years ago in China. Han Xin, the leader of an army, wanted to bring down a king. He decided to dig a tunnel (隧道) into the king's palace. He flew a kite over the wall of the palace to make sure the length of its string (线). In this way, he could determine how long the tunnel should be. His men in the tunnel took the kite string with them. When they reached the end of the string, they knew to dig up.

  Kites have been flown in Japan for hundreds of years. In the 1700s, kites were flown in autumn to give thanks for a good harvest. They were also flown to send good wishes to couples who had their first son. Today in Japan, kites are often flown as part of a celebration, such as the beginning of a new year. And kite festivals are held each year in many parts of the country.

  Kites have been used for scientific purposes in the western world. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin tied a key to a kite and flew it in a storm to find out that lightening was a form of electricity. In the 1890s, Lawrence Hargrave invented the box kite to test ideas about flight. From 1898 until 1933, the United States Weather Bureau (气象局) used box kites to collect weather data. The Wright brothers also experimented (试验)with kites. What they learnt helped them make the first airplane flight in 1903.