Considered one of the greatest English writers，Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30，1865，in Bombay, India．Young Kipling was especially close to his mother．For Kipling，India was a wonderful place．He learned the language and connected with the country and its culture．

    However, at the age of six，Kipling's life changed when his mother, wanting her son to receive a good education in British schools，sent him to Southsea，England，where he attended school and lived with a family named the Holloways．

  These were hard years for Kipling．Mrs．Holloway was a strict woman．She beat and laughed at the young man，who also tried to be good at school．

Kipling's solace(安慰)came in books and stories．With few friends，he made himself busy in reading，but Mrs. Holloway always took away his books．

    Kipling's mother finally knew about her son's hard life．She rushed back to England and placed him in a new school in Devon．There，Kipling discovered his interest in writing，later becoming editor(编辑)of the school newspaper．

    In 1882，Kipling returned to India and worked for a magazine，writing poetry and stories in his spare time．In 1892，he married Caroline Balestier．Then，the couple lived in America．Kipling seemed to love his new life，which soon saw the Kiplings welcome their first and second children．As a writer,too，Kipling wrote The Jungle Book(1894)，The Naulahka：A Story of West and East(1892)and The Second Jungle Book(1895)．Kipling was delighted to be around children．His books enchanted(使着魔)girls and boys all over the English—speaking world．In 1907，he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature(文学)and became the first English author in the Nobel history．

  Kipling's The Jungle Book was adapted(改编)to a Disney film in 1967．A new live—action version(改编本)of the movie came out early this year ,which has proved to be a success．

    "Jenny" Lang Ping, was born in 1960, Tianjin. She is a former Chinese volleyball player and the former head coach of the US Women's National Volleyball Team. Her nickname is the "Tron Hammer".

    In 1987, Lang Ping moved to Los Angeles to study and serve as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of New Mexico. She keeps Chinese nationality although she has lived in the USA for more than 15 years.

    Because of her central role in the success of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team in the 1980s, Lang was seen as a cultural icon and is one of the most respected people in modern Chinese sports history. The Chinese Women's Volleyball Team with Lang was the first team to win the World Championship several times, including the1984 Olympics. She will always be remembered as one of the very first world champions for China. In 1989, she took over Modena, one of the top teams in the Italian League, and enjoyed great success there.

    In 1995, Lang became the head coach of the Chinese National Team and eventually guided the team to the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the second place at the 1998 World Volleyball Championships in Japan.

    She became the coach of the US National Team in2005. Lang guided the team to the 2008 Olympics, where the US team faced off with China in her home country. The US team won the victory against China 3:2. The US team went on to win the silver medal, losing to Brazil in the final 1:3.

    She was the head coach of the Chinese Women's National Volleyball Team in the World Volleyball Championships in Japan in 1998. In 2014, she was the only female head coach among the 24 teams' coaches in the World Volleyball Championships. On August 21, 2016, Lang Ping guided the Chinese Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. With the victory, Lang Ping became the first person in volleyball history, male or female, to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games as a player in 1984(Los Angeles) and as a head coach in 2016(Rio).

American children like to celebrate their birthdays. They usually celebrate them with a party. They ask their friends to their parties. They don't have parties on the right dates(准确的日期)of their birthdays if they come on a school day. They may hold(举办) them at the weekend. 

Today many children like two kinds of parties in America. One is at home. Parents decorate the house with balloons(气球)and coloured paper. They make a special birthday dinner. The children play games. The other is away from home. Some are at a special restaurant. The children eat pizza and ice cream. The waiters also sing and say happy birthday to the children. Some are at a park, or at a cinema, or in some other places. 

There is a cake with candles(蜡烛) at every birthday party. When the candles are lighted(点燃), everyone sings the special birthday song Happy Birthday. 

Many people don't have birthday parties when they are not young. They say they would like to forget how old they are. But they do like to keep the happy birthday parties of their childhood in mind(记忆). 

Once there lived a king in a small country. Every summer, the king went to his palace(王宫） near a1 , and then went back to his palace in the city in autumn. 

One afternoon, the king went 2 in the forest. He didn't tell anybody else where he went, so he was very happy to enjoy the peace as he swam. Suddenly, 3 heard a loud noise. Looking around, he saw a big bear coming towards( 朝 着 )him. The king was very4 . He jumped out of the water and ran away at once. He ran and ran until he was completely lost. Finally, he 5 an old house in the forest. He knocked on the door and an old 6 opened it. "I'm your king, " he said to the old man. "I'm really hungry. Bring me something to eat7 . "

The old man lived a hard life and his food was not good enough for the king. He had only three eggs, 8 the king was very hungry, the farmer had to cook the food and gave it to the king. The king felt much better9 he ate them. "Thank you, good man, " the king said. "How much should I pay for that?"

"Twenty pounds. "

"Twenty pounds? How10 they are! Are eggs rare(稀有的)here?" "No, " answered the old farmer, "but kings are!"

Without(没有) changes(改变), our lives would be very boring. It would be like listening to the same song on your MP3 player over and over again. 

Some people don't like changes. They want to do the same things and see the same people every day. When something changes, it makes them feel uncomfortable. It is like some children, and they can't go to sleep if all their toys are not in their places. But the change is a big part of life and we all change in small ways every day. The young get stronger and the old get weaker. We meet new friends or get new hobbies. 

You will go through many changes in your lifetime. In America, some people change jobs ten times during their lives. Some change their homes eleven times. They like changing because they think it improves their lives. 

China has seen many changes in recent years and they are living longer. People have more money, more food and they have a better education. Children are growing taller and the children in Shanghai are now the tallest in China. Changes have been good for China and they will be good for you.