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    John's birthday is on August 16th. His parents are going to have a party for him. He is very happy about it. He would like to invite his friends to the party. Last Sunday night, while John was in his room, his mother walked in.

    "Are you still doing your homework?" she asked.

    "No, I'm writing a letter to Uncle Tom," John answered.

    John's mother was very surprised because John never wrote letters to anyone.

    "Are you asking him to come to your birthday party?"

    "No," John answered, "Uncle Tom never comes to my birthday parties."

    "Then what are you writing about?" his mother asked. "Will you read me the letter?"

    "OK," John said, "but I haven't finished it. I have only written two lines. I'll read them to you."

    "Dear Uncle Tom, thank you very much for sending me such a nice gift. I hope..." her mother stopped him. "But Uncle Tom hasn't sent you any gifts."

    "I know," John answered. "I'm not thanking him for this year's gift. I'm thanking him for last year's. You know, it's never too late to thank him."

       Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

In l954, Life Magazine published(刊登) a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.

    In l957, Doctor Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun stow and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of his stories they like best. In l 960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.

    In l984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize(普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents.

    He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages.

    World famous physicist(物理学家) Stephen Hawking died peacefully at his home in Cambridge on March 14th, 2018.

    Hawking was born in Oxford, England on January 8th, 1942. He went to school in a small city near London. As he himself admitted, he wasn't very serious about studying. He did very little work, he was never top of his class. However, he still achieved good marks. After leaving school, Hawking first went to Oxford University to study physics. Then he went to Cambridge University to study cosmology(宇宙学).

    At the age of 21, Hawking noticed something wrong with him. He had a bad illness that stopped him from moving and talking. He couldn't communicate except by blinking(眨眼). He sat on a wheelchair with a computer by his side. To communicate with others, he moved two fingers to control the computer's mouse. He chose his words from the screen, which were then spoken by a voice synthesizer(音响合成器). "I've had the disease for most of my life," Hawking once said, "Yet it has not stopped me from being successful at my work."

    Although Hawking was a disabled man, he made great achievements. He received many awards and prizes for his work, including the Albert Einstein Award—the highest achievement in physics.

    Hawking worked at Cambridge University as a professor. His story shows that nobody, however bad their situation is, should lose hope. "Life is not fair." he once said, "You just have to do the best you can in your own situation."

    "All right, everyone, listen up!" said Rey." I have something important to say."

    Rey had always had something important to say since the first day of primary school. "This is really a big project," said Rey. "Trust me. As long as I'm in charge, we'll have the most wonderful project ever!"

    "It seems like Rey is always in charge," murmured(小声说)Jake.

    It was true. Rey always seemed to be in charge of everything. He wanted everything to be as perfect as possible, and he just believed that he was the only person who could make that happen.

    This time, Rey decided to do a play about the Wright brothers and the first airplane flight. He announced that he would be the director, and he had also decided on the role that everyone would play. He would play the part of Orville Wright. He even had made the costumes, which Hannah would like to do.

    The next day, Rey announced he was going to play Wilbur Wright.

    "How can you play both of the Wright brothers?" asked Hannah.

    "I'll just put on different hats for each one," said Rey.

    The next afternoon, no one showed up at the rehearsal (排练) except Rey. An hour had passed, and he still hadn't heard from others.

    Finally, Rey called Stephen. "I quit the play," said Stephen. "In fact, we all quit. We're going to do something else."

    Rey spent the rest of the afternoon working on the play. Moving the set himself took too long, and running around to change costumes left him out of breath. Worst of all, half the airplane dragged on the ground as Rey pulled it across the stage. Rey felt upset and confused.

    He knew now that he couldn't do the play alone. He needed his friends' help if it was going to work at all.

    The next day at school, Rey had a talk with his friends, "I'm going to change. I promise I will listen to you. What do you want to do?

    "Hannah thought the play should he shorter and Jake wanted to make a new airplane that would be easier to handle. Stephen thought everyone should get a chance to play a real part like Wilbur Wright. Fern wanted to be able to act her part the way she wanted.

    "You are probably right," Rey said. "Let's try it your way.

    "Everyone smiled.

    My name is Jack. My home is about 3 miles1school. I leave2school at about 6：20. I usually go to school3. It takes me 30 minutes. But sometimes I go there 4. It takes5 only ten minutes.

    My friend Bob6Kaishandao. He usually goes to school by boat. He7at 5：30 every day. Then he has a quick breakfast and goes to school at six. First, he8to the river bank（岸）. Then the boat takes9 to school. It usually takes him forty minutes to get to school.

    There're different10to get to school. But I think walking is the best.