My name is Paul. My parents and I live in a small house in the forest(森林). There are many trees around our house. A lot of animals live in the forest. Sometimes we can see cute deer(鹿) near our house. Deer are my favorite animal. I also like birds. They always sing happily in the trees. There is a lake behind our house. The water is very clean. I often swim in the lake in summer. My father likes fishing in the lake. My mother is good at cooking, so we often have delicious fish to eat. My pet cat Angela can enjoy a big fish dinner often.

    A university professor recently made several tests with different animals to find out which was cleverer than other animals.

    In one test the professor put a monkey in a room where there were several small boxes. Some boxes were inside other boxes. One small box had some food in it. The professor wanted to watch the monkey and to find out how long it would take the monkey to find the food. The professor left the room. He waited a few minutes outside the door. Then he got down on his knees and put his eye to the keyhole (钥匙孔). What did he see? To his surprise, he found himself looking into the eye of the monkey. The monkey was on the other side of the door and looked at the professor through the keyhole.

    Professor Xu Yuanchong was born in 1921. He is best known for translating (翻译) Chinese ancient poems into English and French. Xu took foreign language studies at Tsinghua University and then he studied abroad. After that, he became a professor in English and French.

    During these years, he has been working on translating. Up to now, he has translated more than 100 Chinese classics from Chinese to both English and French. The first poem he translated from Chinese to English is Don't Cast Away in 1939. It's a poem written by Lin Huiyin. In fact, he translated this poem to express his love to a girl he liked. Though he failed, he got a life-time career in translation.

    In 2007, Xu had a cancer. During the time, he did what he liked every day and didn't give up translating. What's more, he didn't go to sleep till three or four o'clock in the morning. He still held on to work over twelve ours a day. Also, he became the first Asian to win the"Aurora Borealis"Prize.

The Angel of the North

    The Angel of the North is a modern sculpture (雕塑) in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, designed by Antony Gormley. Completed in 1998, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, 20 metres tall, with wings measuring 54 metres across. The angel, like much of Gormley's other work, is based on the shape of his own body.

    According to the artist himself, the Angel of the North symbolises (象征着) the change from the industrial to the information age and stands proudly as a beacon (灯塔) of hope for the future of the region.

    It cost £800, 000 to make, with the money coming from the British government. It took four years to make the sculpture. It was made in three parts, the body, which weighed 100 tons, and two wings, which weighed 50 tons each. Angels are usually thought of being white, as they represent light, but Gormley's Angel of the North is a reddish brown colour. This is because the steel has a special paint to protect it from strong wind.

    The parts of the angel were moved from Hartlepool to Gateshead at night in big trucks. It took 5 hours to move everything, even though the journey is very short. The Angel of the North was put on the hill in Birtley on the 15th of February, 1998.

    The sculpture was made in memory of the coal miners who worked hard in the dark earth below the hill to bring wealth to the North East in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a sign for Gateshead.

    The sculpture has since become one of the most famous landmarks in England as can be seen in television and film. It is the largest sculpture in Britain. Over 150,000 people come to Gateshead to see the sculpture every year.

    On a farm lived a father and a son. The father always got up early and read by the window. One morning, the son came up to him and said, Dad, I read books at night but forget most of them the next morning. What's the good of reading?

    The father didn't reply to his question at once. He passed him a basket that was used to carry coal (煤). He said, "Get some water from the river with the basket and then I'll tell you the answer."

    The son felt surprised but he did as his father said. He tried many times but every time the water leaked(漏掉) from the basket.

    An hour later, the son came back with the empty basket and told his father it was impossible to hold water with the basket. The father said with a smile, "Yes, you are right, my son. The basket can't hold water. But did you notice the basket was different?" The son found the dirty basket had become clean. The father continued, "Reading is like holding water with the basket. Although we can't remember all we read, we have changed while reading."

Mother's Day first began in America. A mother was very kind. After she died, her daughter wanted to remember her so she wanted to make a day for all the mothers. In 1913, America decided to make the second Sunday of May to be Mother's Day and every family had to put up a national flag to show their love to mothers. Later, it became an important festival to remember and praise(赞扬) all the mothers in the world.

In China, some people want to make our own Mother's Day. There is a famous story about Mother Meng. She loved her son very much and did a lot for her son. Chinese people think she was a great mother, so people want to make lunar(阴历的) April 2nd to be the day. Because Mother Meng's son——Mengzi was born on that day.

On Mother's Day, children often help their mothers do some cleaning and they also buy gifts for their mothers. Some mothers even go for a trip and have some other activities to celebrate this day.

Mother's Day

What do you often do to celebrate(庆祝) Mother's Day? (No more than 15 words) {#blank#}5{#/blank#}