Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning and sold the fish in the market in the afternoon. Then he bought some food for his family. When winter came, they were often hungry. One morning the hungry man fell into the river and wasn't found. Dick's mother left her three-year-old son without saying good-bye. His aunt had to look after him.

    Twenty years passed. Dick became a tall, strong man. He found work on a farm. He worked hard and wanted to get more money. He often went to see his aunt with some nice presents. The woman was very happy but one day she died in a traffic accident. The young man was very sad. After he buried her, he decided to buy a beautiful tombstone (墓碑)for her. He went to town and came in a shop, but all the tombstones were too expensive. He asked, "Do you sell an old tombstone, sir?" "Yes, we do, sir," answered the shopkeeper. "Is it as expensive as the new one?''

    "No, it's much cheaper," said the man. "But another name was engraved(刻) on it." "It doesn't matter," said Dick. "My aunt couldn't read."

    A man came out of the airport. A lot of taxis were there. He asked the name of every taxi-driver. Then he took the 3rd one. It cost 5 dollars from the airport to the hotel. "How much does it cost for the whole day?" the man asked. "One hundred dollars," said the taxi-driver. This was very expensive, but the man said it was OK.

    The driver took the man everywhere. He showed him all the parks and museums in the city. In the evening, they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars and said, "What about tomorrow?" The taxi-driver looked at the man and said, "Tomorrow? It's another 100 dollars." But the man said, "That's OK! See you tomorrow." The driver was very pleased.

    The next day the driver took the man everywhere again. They visited all the parks and museums again. And in the evening they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars again and was going home tomorrow. The driver was unhappy because he liked the man and above all, 100 dollars a day was a lot of money.  "So you're going home. Where do you come from?" he asked. "I come from New York." "New York!" said the driver. "I have a sister in New York. Her name is Lucy. Do you know her?" "Of course I know her. She gave me 200 dollars for you!"

    It's seven o'clock in the morning in Chennai, India Lavin always has her morning bath before school. But she doesn't have a bath at home. She has a bath in a small river outside with her best friend, a baby elephant.

    Lavin lives at Arignar Anna Zoo with her parents, brothers and sisters. Her father works at the zoo and he is a special keeper for the baby elephants. Lavin is only six years old, but she can control(控制)the elephants and she has a very special friendship with them.

    At eight o'clock in the morning, Lavin goes to school, but she doesn't go on the school bus. She rides an elephant to school. After school, Lavin plays football with her elephants.

    Now it is the evening, and the baby elephants are tired Lavin sits next to them and sings to them. Sometimes, they all sleep together-friends together in the day and friends together at night.

    On March 14, one of science's brightest stars went dark, Stephen Hawking, the world-famous British scientist, died at 76 in Cambridge, UK.

    Hawking is considered by many to be the greatest scientist in history since Albert Einstein. He came up with the theory that the universe began with the Big bang and will end in black holes. His theories became the base for a lot of later research. He also wrote books to help common people understand the universe. His most famous book is A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 1o million copies around the world, according to CNN. Besides his scientific achievements, Hawking was also someone who had a strong will. when he was 21, he got a serious illness that stopped him from walking and talking Later in life, he had to sit in a wheelchair and speak using a computerized voice. But this didn't stop him from living a meaningful and colorful life

    He celebrated his 60th birthday by going up in a hot-air balloon; when he was 65, he took part in a zero-gravity (=Ee flight to experience weightlessness. He hoped to travel into space one day. In 2015, Hawking spoke about how he felt life was unfair when he first knew about his illness. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life, he said

    Mike lived in a small village near New York two years ago. He had a big brown dog. He liked the dog very much because once it saved a boy.

    One day, his dog stood next to an old well(井)." It stayed there for about half an hour," Bow-wow-wow," barked the dog. It barked and barked. Mike heard it and ran over to the well." Why do you stay here, my dear?" Mike asked. "And why are you barking?" The dog looked at him and looked at the well. "Bow-wow- wow ,”he barked even louder. Mike asked his friend Jim for help." Come here, Jim," he said." The dog wants to tell us something.”

    They looked down in to the well .They saw a. boy there. The boy couldn't speak. He was too scared(惊恐)。Mike went to get a rope( 绳)at once. He climbed down to save the boy with the help of the rope. The dog was really clever.