Fred is eight years old. He goes to school near his home. He always goes there and comes home on foot. One day he comes home from school late. His mother sees him and asks him, "Why are you late, Fred?"

    "My teacher is very angry and asks you to go to her office tomorrow."

    "To her office? Why?" his mother asks. "Because she asks a question in the class." Says Fred. "Nobody can answer it, but I can."

    "You are so clever, my son." His mother says with a smile.

    Her question is "Who puts the tomato on my chair and makes my trousers dirty?" says Fred.

    Deborah Ahenkorah comes from Ghana, a country in West Africa. She has loved to read since she was a little girl. But all the books she read when she was little were American books and they showed a world that was different from hers. When Ahenkorah grew up, she started Golden Baobab. It is an organization that provides African children with books written by African people.

    Golden Baobab does this in several different ways. First, it organizes programmes and workshops (讲习班). These workshops support African writers. In these workshops writers can learn new things and improve their writing. Second, Golden Baobab connects writers to publishers (出版商). Finally, it offers the Golden Baobab Prize. This is the most famous way in which Golden Baobab works. Any writer who is an African citizen (公民) can compete for the prize, and each story must happen in Africa.

    "Children need books they can relate to. When they see characters who are like themselves in a story, they know that their experiences are important," said Tiffany Morris, who works for Golden Baobab.

    According to Ahenkorah, Golden Baobab has already helped create over 850 stories. She wants to make Africa's book publishing industry a success. "We could have an industry of books, games, toys and characters that come from stories that are made just for African children," she said.

    This is a big dream and also a big challenge. But Ahenkorah and Golden Baobab are working to make it come true.

    Margaret Hilda Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister and served three terms in office. She is one of the greatest political figures of 20^th century Britain.

    Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England She studied chemistry at Oxford University and was made chairwoman of the Oxford University Conservative Association(保守党协会). In 1951, she married a wealthy businessman, Denis Thatcher, with whom she had two children.

    She often stated that she was brought up very strictly, "I owe everything in my life to two things: a good home, and a good education. My home was ordinary, but good in the sense that my parents were passionately interested in the future of my sister and myself. At the same time, they gave us a good education—not only in school, but at home as well. "

    In 1970, Thatcher was appointed secretary for Education and Science. Five years later, she challenged Heath for the leadership of the Party and, to the surprise of many, won. In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives came to power and Thatcher became Prime Minister.

    In foreign affairs, Thatcher had a close political and personal relationship with US president Ronald Reagan. She was nicknamed the "Iron Lady" by the Soviets. She visited China four times and made a great contribution to Hong Kong's returning to China.

    Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in 1990. She remained in the House of Commons until 1992. In the same year, Thatcher was made a Baroness(贵族) by the queen and became a member of the House of Lords.

    Reading Thatcher's whole life, it seems that she always knew what she wanted, and then she would put all her efforts into it to live her dream. She had a quick mind and an even quicker tongue. Her sense of self confidence and ambition(雄心) ruled her life from the time she was a small child, through her Oxford years and during her early years in politics.

    One day in a restaurant, the American writer Anne Herbert wrote this sentence on a piece of paper: "Random(任意的) actions of kindness." Later she repeated it in an interview on a TV show, and it soon caught people's eyes and made people think about how small "kind" actions could make our daily lives better.

    One rainy night, a woman was standing at a bus stop waiting for the bus. A man came by on a motorcycle and offered to give her a ride. Of course, the woman said no. It would be crazy to accept a ride from a stranger on a motorcycle. Suddenly the man reached out and put a 50-dollar bill in her hand. He said, "Please take a taxi. It hurts me to see you standing here in the rain." Before she could refuse, he left quickly on his motorcycle.

    Kind actions can be contagious. Once, a woman was going through a toll station(收费站) on a highway. Instead of paying for one ticket, she asked for two. She said to the toll collector, "The second ticket is for the car behind me." She didn't know the person in that car. She just did it without thinking more. So when the next car came up, the toll collector said to the driver, "You don't have to pay. The woman in the blue car just paid for you." The driver was so surprised that he decided to pay for the person behind him. This continued with 14 drivers that day.

    So just imagine what the world will be like if we all practice random actions of kindness from time to time?