On Nov.18th,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（绳子）,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 meters, 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, 797 kilometers from London!

Birthday: February 26, 1982

Birthplace: Wuhan, Hubei

Height: 172cm

Weight: 65kg

    "My dream has come true. I have always wanted to be a Grand Slam(大满贯) champion." These are the words of Chinese tennis player Li Na after she became the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam final in the French Open on June 4, 2011.

    "People were saying I'm getting old. So this is a great success for such an old woman," the 29-year-old girl joked.

    Miss Li has a tattoo(纹身). She has dyed her hair many different colors. And, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she told her fans to "shut up" when they got too noisy in their support.

    Li Na was born in Wuhan, she started to play tennis at the age of 6. She once recalled: "As a child, I felt sad because every day I had to wake up early to practice. After school I had to practice more. I didn't have time to play."

    Luckily, the strong girl didn't give up, thus making history for Chinese tennis time after time.

    Now the new champion is already thinking about winning another Grand Slam title. "when you have one title, surely you will think about another," she says, not hiding her ambition(雄心)。

    "Chinese people are so lacking(缺乏) in confidence on the tennis court. If there is a person like me who can prove we Chinese can do it, the other young players in China will feel the same," she said.

    It all started at the beginning of the fifth grade. At first, Carmen wasn't really sure what was happening. In class, she had to squint (眯着) her eyes to see the blackboard clearly. She had to do the same thing when she read street signs, or when she watched a movie.

    It wasn't long before Carmen found herself squinting all the time, but she didn't want anyone to know that. One day, she asked for a desk closer to the blackboard. Her teacher asked if she had trouble seeing the blackboard. Carmen shook her head, but she knew she couldn't pretend(假装) much longer.

    At home, she had to sit closer and closer to the television while watching her favourite shows. Her mother noticed that and said, "Tomorrow I'm calling the eye doctor to get an appointment for you." Three days later, Carmen had" new glasses and the doctor told her to wear them all the time. Carmen frowned in the car the whole way home.

    "All of the kids at school will think I'm a nerd." she said.

    "You look just as beautiful with those glasses on as you do without them," her mother smiled and said. But Carmen didn't believe her.

    The next day, Carmen kept the glasses in her pocket as she walked into the schoolyard. She avoided her friends and stood alone, feeling unhappy. Suddenly, she heard her friend Tracy shout. Carmen ran over. "What's wrong?" she asked.

    "My silver ring is gone!" Tracy cried. "It's very special and I can't lose it!"

    Carmen could tell that Tracy was very sad. They all looked for the ring in the grassy area of the playground.

      ▲   She took the glasses out and put them on. She caught, her breath. Everything looked so different! So clear! She looked down at the ground and a glimmer of silver caught her eye. It was the ring.

    "Here it is. I've found it!" She handed it to Tracy.

    "Thanks, Carmen. I never thought we'd find it," Tracy paused. "Hey, I didn't know you wore glasses. They look great!"

    Carmen had forgotten that she was wearing the new glasses. "Thanks," she replied shyly. As they walked back towards the school building, two more girls from her class complimented (赞美) her on her glasses. Carmen smiled. "Maybe wearing glasses won't be so bad after all," she thought.

    In 1254, Marco Polo was born in Italy, in the city of Venice. At that time Europeans knew almost nothing about other continents(大洲),except some areas of Asia and Africa(非洲)touching the Mediterranean Sea(地中海).

    In 1271. Marco Polo. His uncle. And his father started a journey to China. For four years they travelled on foot and on camels, across the deserts and through the mountains of Central Asia. Finally they arrived at the city of Kublai Khan(可汗),the Mongol(蒙古)ruler of China at that time.

    In China, Marco Polo found people with a very different culture from his own. He saw a new world with lots of wonders. After leaving China, Marco Polo traveled to Japan, Southeastern Asia, India, and Eastern Africa.

    In 1292-two hundred years before Columbus—Marco travelled back home. The stories of China he brought back quickly spread all over Europe.

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mum came in and asked, "Why not invite John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he had already got better grades in math than anyone else in class. I wrinkled(皱起) my nose," Mum, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mum said nothing. The next day, Mum gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mum said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, kids arrived, dressed differently. John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice," Now it's time for the great prize game. It's the following riddle..."It was a math game. None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went on well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    When we help others, we need to find a proper way, or we may hurt them in another way.

    One weekend, Taylor, an eight-year-old girl, went shopping with her parents. She asked her parents to buy a toy she wanted. Instead of giving her money to buy the toy, Taylor's father encouraged her to make money by herself. "How can I make money?" Taylor thought for a while and had an idea, "Why not make cakes and sell them at church to raise money to buy the toy?"

    The next day, Taylor started her plan. She first needed some money for tools and materials. So she borrowed $40 from her parents and promised to pay it back. Then she began to make cakes by herself. To her parents' surprise, she made $175 by selling the cakes that Sunday.

    Everyone thought Taylor would buy the toy she wanted. She certainly had made enough money for it, but she didn't. Instead, Taylor decided to buy business cards and had her father's phone number on them. Then she began handing the cards out. More people knew Taylor and came to buy her cakes. Even large companies began to try buying her delicious cakes.

    Though Taylor has made a lot of money, she still works hard at school. She also likes to take part in other activities. So Taylor must carefully manage her time. For example, instead of watching TV after school, Taylor might have to bake (烘焙) a lot of cakes for customers. When she has dance lessons on some days, she needs to get her baking done on time so she isn't late for class.

    Making cakes may take time and be hard work, but Taylor sees the fun in it. "I think making cakes is mostly my hobby," she says. She also decorates the boxes that are used to pack the cakes. Taylor uses all kinds of decorations to make sure each box looks special for her customers. People love the extra feeling Taylor gives them by decorating the boxes, so more and more people come for her cakes.

    Taylor's cakes are becoming very popular. She achieves a sweet success.