Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. His father was a painter and art teacher who gave his son the first lesson in drawing. He won a prize — “Science and Charity” for his first important painting when he was only fifteen. He studied in several cities in Spain. But there was no one to teach him all that he wanted to know. When he was nineteen, he visited Paris.

Paris was then the center of the world for artists. Everything that was new and exciting in the world of paintings seemed to happen there. When he was twenty-three, Picasso moved there to live and lived in France for the rest of his life.

    When he was over ninety, this great painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still looking for new ideas and new ways to use his artistic materials.

    When he died in 1973, he was ninety-one years old.

阅读理解

Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in the world. He was born in 1942. He's a famous scientist and expert on space and time. Stephen is trying to find the answers to some very big questions, such as: how did the universe begin? How will it end? These questions are very hard for us to understand. But they are very important and can tell us many things about the universe.

Stephen studied Maths and science when he was a student at university. Then, at the age of twenty-one, he became sick. He was so young, but the doctors said to his family, “He has only two more years to live.” As a matter of fact, the doctors were wrong — he didn't die. He can't walk now but he uses a wheelchair. He can't feed himself and get in or out of bed himself. But he refuses to give in. He talks with the help of a computer. After Oxford, Stephen went to Cambridge University. Three years later, in 1965, he became a Doctor of Philosophy.

Because of his serious health problem, it was difficult for him to draw diagrams (图表) or write. So he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking, he became one of the most famous scientists in the world. In 1981, he met the Pope (教皇) in Rome. They talked about his ideas. Then in 1988, he wrote his first important book, A Brief History of Time. It was sold more than 5.5 million copies in 33 different languages. He was once invited to China. He impressed us with his self-confidence and humorous conversation.

    When Jason's parents saw him for the first time, they were shocked（震惊）.This lovely little baby with shining blue eyes and curly hair was born disabled（残疾的）. But soon the young couple accepted this fact: Jason's arms are just half without hands and his legs aren't fully grown either. They even forgot to think of him as disabled.

    At the age of six, he told his mother he wanted to get down from the prosthetics（假肢）and play with other kids. This was the last time Jason had worn them. He now has an electric wheelchair（轮椅）, but he never uses it at home or when it is easy for him to move using only his body.

    Jason learned handwriting and coloring at school, holding the pen between the ends of his arms. He also learned to eat with forks at home. When he was ten, he fell in love with football. He never had a pair of shoes in his life because of the shape of his feet. He only wore socks on the football field. He never won a match, but he refused to give up. His strong arms and body, as well as some fantastic ways made him a respected（受尊重的）player on the school team. He went to a famous university after high school.

    Now Jason still faces many hardships in life, but he will make you believe that you can do what he has done. “Never be afraid of any difficulty”, Jason often encourages others in his speeches.

    A couple of sparrows(麻雀) lived happily in a huge tree in a jungle. The female sparrow had laid her eggs and they were expecting their babies soon.

    One day, an elephant was unable to tolerate the heat of the summer sun. He destroyed all trees, including the tree where the sparrows lived.

    The sparrows managed to escape by flying away, but they lost their babies. The eggs fell down to the ground and broke into pieces. They cried loudly and decided to kill the elephant.

    They asked their friends, a woodpecker and a fly for help. The fly took them to meet one of his friends, an old frog. The frog was wise and he came up with a good plan soon.

    The frog explained, "Fly! Your task is to buzz in the elephant's ears in order to make him sleepy. The woodpeckers task is to hurt his eyes and make him blind. In this hot summer days, he will certainly search for water. I will sit by the nearby pit(深坑) and shout at the top of my voice."

    He continued, "When the thirsty elephant hears me, he will think there is a pond or lake nearby and follow my voice. And when he does so, he will fall into the pit and die."

    The others agreed to the frog's plan. Everyone did their tasks perfectly. Finally, the elephant fell into the pit and died.