Thomas Alva Edison is one of the greatest inventors of all times. One of his most famous achievements is the electric light. He tried thousands of times to make a long lasting light bulb. Although the light bulb is not his invention, he is the only one to have made such a successful light bulb. Many people remember him for the invention of the electric light. He held a lot of patents (专利权) worldwide. Many of them were approved(批准) in America.

    We can find his inventions in many fields. In fact, many of the advanced inventions were based on his ideas. He invented a phonograph (留声机),a film picture camera, a ticket recorder and so on.  

    Edison was not a good student at school. But he loved to do new experiments. When he was still a child, he built his first lab to perform his experiments.

      An amazing story of Edison's childhood is that he almost made his servant die. Edison used to think that birds ate insects and these insects might make them fly. So he collected these insects and blended (混合) them to make juice. He then let his servant drink the juice. After drinking the juice, the girl lost her sense. But luckily, she was saved.

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?" "l'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man. "It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm." The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "l'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?" "l can't drink anything now, sir, "answered Mr. Brown "l'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards cause accidents, you know!"

    Chris Rock was born in the state of South Carolina in the United States. When he was a child, his family moved, and he grew up in a poor area in Brooklyn, New York.

    As a teenager, Rock left high school and started telling jokes in comedy clubs in New York City, Even at age 18, Chris Rock was very funny. He told jokes about his family (his parents were very strict) , and about growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s. Many of his jokes were also about high school, which Rock says was terrible.

    Famous comedians (喜剧演员）went to see Rock's performances. One comedian (Eddie Murphy) helped him get work on television and in the movies. Chris Rock still acts in movies, but he does not want to be a serious actor. For him, comedy is more important. It makes people laugh, but it can also make people think.

    Today, Chris Rock still does live comedy shows around the world. He also created a TV show called "Everybody Hates Chris." It is about his teenage years growing up and going to school in Brooklyn. In 2006, it was considered as one of the best comedy shows on American television.

    Bob Smith is old. He has two big houses and a new car. He has no wife, but he is a father of four children. He has two sons and two daughters. One son is from Canada. His name is Jack. The other is from England. His name is Mike. One of his daughters is from China. Her name is Meimei. She is eleven years old. The other is from America. Her name is Lucy. She's eleven, too.

    Bob Smith is not the children's real father, but he loves them very much. The children love their "father", too. Bob Smith has many toys for the children. He gives different toys to different children. The boys play with toy cars. The girls play with doll and toy animals. Bob Smith is their good friend.

I haven't seen my teacher Mr. Jenkins since I finished school, but I often think about him. I wasn't good at most school {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. The only thing that I could remember is where the rain comes from! However, when I was 15 and went in Mr. Jenkins' class, everything changed. 

Before I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} by Mr. Jenkins, science had simply been a subject full of strange words to me. I didn't know what CO2 was and I didn't really want to know, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I found it so boring and difficult, but Mr. Jenkins made everything interesting. He used to teach things {#blank#}4{#/blank#} seemed difficult with lots of examples and in simple language. One day, he even took us outside and built a rocket! I remember that he let us {#blank#}5{#/blank#} some fuel（燃料）into the rocket, and then another student lit a match to set {#blank#}6{#/blank#} off. It was great fun. 

I know that I wasn't smart, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} Mr. Jenkins made me feel that I had my own strengths. Then, I became {#blank#}8{#/blank#} active student in learning new things. I was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} in the study of the stars and planets and he asked me to give a report to the class. Now I take a job as a science teacher {#blank#}10{#/blank#} Mr. Jenkins.

 Do you like watching old movies? Maybe you will see one with Carole Lombard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She died when she was only 

34. In her short life, she made 70 movies. 

 Lombard's real name was Jane Alice Peters. In 1921, she was playing baseball in the street near her school. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} he was only 13 at the time. The movie was one of the last movies without sound. She acted so well that she won the hearts of some people. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The studio(制片厂) gave her a new name, and she acted in several films. Then at age 18, she was in a bad car accident. The accident left scars(疤痕) on her face. The studio broke the agreement, but she did not give up. She continued to act. 

 It was Paramount Studio that made Lombar d a star. She made many movies for the studio. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Lombar d was married to actor William Powell for only 23 months. But seven years later, she married the great love of her life, actor Clark Gable. It was a great Hollywood love story.