George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen, he became his father's helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines. On holidays, he often took one engine into pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write.

      He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young teacher.

      On his eighteenth birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we will think of this great man—George Stephenson.

Jim comes from America．He has lots of good friends in his class，and Su Ling is one of them．Today is Ling's birthday．She has a birthday dinner at home，and she asks Jim and other classmates to her house．Ling's mother cooks Chinese food for them．The food is so delicious，and Jim likes it very much．

In America，Jim usually has hamburgers，potato chips，bread and ice-cream like many Americans．Some people think that's why Americans are so fat．After he comes to China，he knows about Chinese food．At first，he really doesn't like Chinese food．It is different from American food．But later，he loves it! Now he usually has porridge and eggs for breakfast，some vegetables，rice and chicken for lunch，and noodles and fruit for dinner．His favorite Chinese food is dumplings．He thinks they are really delicious．“People in America don't eat them．What a pity!”Jim says．But Jim doesn't eat meat often．He doesn't want to be fat．

Only a Ribbon

    In one of the London hospitals，a short time ago，there was a young doctor. He noticed one of the patients，a ten-year-old poor girl called Katie，who had a very painful illness.

    Katie lay in her bed，day after day，with nothing to help her forget her pain and cheer up. One day the doctor noticed her trying to make a doll of her finger, and speaking to it. But she was soon tired of it，and lay back into her bed.

    That afternoon，the young doctor saw a beautiful ribbon in a shop window. He thought that it might help cheer the little girl up，so he went in and bought it for her. When he handed the ribbon to the girl，she was too surprised to speak. There were tears in her eyes. This little gift made her feel rich and happy.

    The nurse later told the doctor that the girl played with the ribbon all day long. She twisted（盘绕）it round her head. She held it in her hand while she slept.

    Some weeks later，Katie's illness became worse，and it was necessary to perform a dangerous operation. When Katie was brought into the operation mom，she cried out for the young doctor. He was brought，and he held one of the girl's hands，while the other tightly held the ribbon.

    During the operation，the ribbon fell off Katie's hand. As soon as she woke up and opened her eyes，she looked at her friend and said in a low voice，“My ribbon.”The doctor gave it to her and she smiled happily.

    It was only a little gift，but it made the girl's stay in the hospital bright with beauty and love.

    Yes Man Changed My Life

    Yes Man is the best book I've ever read. It's the true story about the life of Danny Wallace. Before Danny Wallace became the 'Yes Man', his life was boring and he felt old. So he decided to make things more exciting. He started saying “Yes” to every question people asked him. And he did it for a whole year. From the day he started, it completely changed his life.

    It's an interesting story. When I finished the book, I also wanted to change my life. So I had a holiday and became a 'Yes Man' for a week. This is what happened.

    I started on Saturday morning. At 10 in the morning, I got my first question. I saw a poster in the window of a travel agent (旅行社). I needed a holiday so I went in. A lady asked me where I wanted to go. But before I could answer, she said, “A beach holiday, sir?” In fact, I don't like beaches, I like cities. But I said, “Yes.” Five minutes later, everything was ready. My flight was the next day.

    I arrived at my hotel at lunchtime. It was very, very hot. I just wanted to have a rest, but the guide said, “we have a bus to the beach in ten minutes. Do you want to go?” I said, “Yes.”

    It was about 40℃ at the beach. A man asked me “Sunglasses? Do you want sunglasses?” I had a pair of sunglasses in my bag, but I said “Yes.” Five minutes later, another man came，“ Beautiful hat, sir?” I said, “Yes.”

    Three hours later, I had two pairs of sunglasses and three hats. It was difficult to carry all my new things back to the bus.

    I decided: no trips tomorrow, just rest. When I got back, the guide asked, “Oh, there's a water skiing course tomorrow. Do you want me to book a place for you?” I can't swim very well and I don't like the sea. I wanted to cry.

    My name is Alex. I had an interesting and scary experience last Saturday. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was walking down the Main Street. I stopped in front of a jewelry store to look at some rings in the window. I really liked one of the rings. While I was standing there, two men came out of the store. They ran across the street, got into a car, and drove away quickly. Then I saw something on the ground. It was a black bag. I thought maybe they dropped the bag while they were driving away in the car.

    I went to pick up the bag and opened it. There was a diamond watch in the bag. I took the bag with the watch into the jewelry store and showed it to the store manager. The manager looked scared by what had happened but he was very happy to see the watch. He said the two men were thieves, and that the police were looking for them. He also said the watch was very expensive. To thank me, he gave me fifty dollars. I was happy that I helped him. However, the thieves stole many pieces of jewelry. They took ten rings, three watches, four necklaces, and ten pairs of earrings. I hoped the police would catch them soon.

On 18th November.1908, three men went up in a balloon (气球).They started early in London. The headman was Augusta Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.

Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to change its weight. It was for use over the sea. They were also carrying some bags of sand.

After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 metres, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand, but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.

At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing, so they climbed to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 metres! Everything became icy. They were so cold that they decided to land. They came down in Poland heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797kilometres from London!