Garfield first appeared in a comic strip on June 19, 1978. Garfield is well known all over the world. Lots of Garfield books have been translated into 26 languages. Garfield products are sold in 69 countries.

    Jim Davis is Garfield's creator. Jim was born on July 28, 1945 in Indiana. He grew up on a farm where his dad raised cows. Jim and his brother Dave helped with the farm work. They had 25 cats. Their mom always made sure there was plenty of food for the cats.

    As a boy, Jim was in poor health. When he had to spend time resting, he drew pictures. He added words to his pictures to make them funny.

    After college Jim worked a few years at an advertising company. In 1969, he got a job to help a cartoonist. Jim noticed that there were many comic strips about dogs but few about cats. He thought that was strange since the world is full of cat lovers.

    He remembered the 25 farm cats he grew up with. They gave him ideas for a cat comic strip. In the comic strip, Garfield became the central character in daily difficult experiences with Jon, his owner, and other characters. He is lazy, funny and hungry.

    Jim Davis has received many awards for his work. Twice he was given the Best Humour Strip Cartoonist of the Year Award. He has won four Emmys(艾美奖)and other honours.

Face—to—face with the New Me

    Jessica's mother noticed Jessica hadn't returned to the dentist waiting room just before her surgery was supposed to start. She walked to the bathroom and found Jessica in here, crying. She took her daughter into her arms. "We're going to say goodbye to the old Jessica," she said. "And hi to the new Jessica."

    Jessica, from St Louis. US, had been wishing for this day since high school, when the bullying about her started. Now that it was finally happening, she was nervous.

    It was a social—media post two months ago that got her here. Someone posted a photo of Jessica with a comment about her overbite. The post was shared many times, with many people making mean remarks about her appearance.

    The bullies didn't know the road Jessica had traveled. She underwent nine operations on her ears from age 2 to 12 years old. She was almost deaf in her right ear. Her adult teeth didn't start coining in until she was 11 or 12, and doctors couldn't figure out why they were pushed outward. It got worse as she got older. Jessica had been trying for years to get her teeth fixed, but it was always too costly.

    When her story got out, Maryann Udy, a dentist, got in contact with Jessica and offered her a new smile—free of charge. The surgery was long and complicated It took several months before Jessica's new smile was ready.

    Later that year, she looked at her old photos online and smiled. "I loved her," she said. She's grateful to be in less pain, to be on the path to a new smile. Sometimes, though, it feels like something is missing from who she was.

    Still, she loves taking selfies and admiring her new appearance. "I looked good before," she said. "I look even better now."

    It is a fine Saturday morning. Alice and her parents are in a big bus. There are many people in it, Some of them are from England and others come from the USA and Canada. They are going to the Great Wall. Alice finds there are two Chinese in the bus. One is Mr Li, the bus driver. The other is a young man about twenty. He speaks English very well. He is now talking about the Great Wall. People in the bus are all listening to him. They like to see the Great Wall. They want to see it very much.

    Alice is an American school girl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. She doesn't know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese to her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese well.

    It's Saturday morning. Alice goes out. She is going to see the flowers show. But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks an old Chinese man. The old man doesn't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and some paper. She draws flowers on it and then gives the picture to the old man, companying with a body gesture (肢体动作). The old man smiles and shows her the right way to the flowers show. Finally, she walks for about 15 minutes and gets to the flowers show. The flowers are so beautiful that Alice likes them very much. And she also buys one bunch of flowers for her mother and two cards for her father.

    Mrs Brown lives in a small town in Australia. There is a big farm near the town.

    On Saturday morning, she goes to her small shop. She opens the window of the shop and looks at the Farm. It's very beautiful. There are many cows, horses and small animals on the farm. Suddenly she sees a Kangaroo with her baby. It's interesting to see them! The mother kangaroo is wearing an old jacket. They stand there and look hungry. Mrs. Brown gives some bread to them. The kangaroos get it. They become happy and jump away. Suddenly a wallet drops on the floor from the jacket pocket. She picks it up and finds $300 and a photo in it. That is a man's photo with his name "John" on it. "John? I have a brother. His name is also John," Mrs Brown says. "Is this man my lost brother?" she thinks.

    She takes the wallet with her and begins to look for the man. She asks many people in the town, and then she comes to the farm and asks the farmer. Hey! It is John, her lost brother. They are very happy to see each other.

China's 15-year-old Chen Ye won the gold medal in the men's bowl final of skateboarding(滑板男子碗池决赛) at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sept. 25. 2023, 

Chen started getting into this sport at the age of 8. "I remember one day I went to a sports store, and by chance I saw a skateboard. I decided to give it a try, "Chen told China Daily. Although it was really challenging to stay on the board at first, Chen found it very interesting, compared with other hobbies. "Every time I learned some difficult skills, I felt the joy of making breakthroughs(突破), "said Chen. 

Gradually, Chen needed a better skate bowl for training. To meet the need, his father decided to make a skate bowl himself. "He gave up his job and worked on the bowl late into the night, "said Chen. "I'm really thankful for my father's support. "

As a junior high school student, Chen needed to find a balance between his schoolwork and skateboarding. His only "privilege(特权)" was being free from P. E. classes, during which he would do schoolwork because he needed to practice in his own skate bowl for hours after returning home. He trained in the morning, studied in the afternoon and sometimes had to have extra classes with the teachers' help. While getting ready for the competition this year, he trained for more hours at night to avoid interfering(干扰)with daytime classes. 

Looking at seven years of learning skating, Chen said this experience made him stronger and more determined to do something he truly loves.