Last December it was very cold and it snowed a lot. One Saturday, John was playing on the hill near his house with some friends. Suddenly, he fell over and hurt his leg. His friends ran to tell his mother. His mother and brother took him to the hospital.

    The doctor said John had to stay in hospital for four to five weeks. John liked the doctors and the other children in the hospital because they were very friendly. At first he was happy because he didn't have to go to school. He laughed at all of his friends. They had to do a lot of homework. He enjoyed listening to music and watching his favourite television programmes all day.

    But soon the Christmas holidays started. John was still in hospital. He was tired of watching television and listening to his CDs and he wanted to go home. "This is ▲" he thought. He felt sad so he started to cry.

    But then a man came to his room with a bag of presents and a Christmas tree. John knew him from the television. He was a famous sports star who was visiting all the sick (生病的) children. And the man was not the only person who came that day. All the students from John's class came to visit him. And his maths teacher brought him his "favourite" present — some maths homework!

    Lao She wrote Teahouse in 1957. The play shows the audience life in China between 1898 and 1945. It takes place in a teahouse in old Beijing and it tells us the story of Wang Lifa and his customers(顾客). It describes the changes in Chinese society over fifty years.

    The story starts in 1898 during the Qing Dynasty(朝代). It continues in 1916, and finally, it brings the audience to the end of the Anti-Japanese War（抗日战争）in 1945. After the war, Wang loses the teahouse and he dies.

    Lao She was born in Beijing in 1899. He wrote many plays, novels and short stories. He was named a “People's Artist” and a “Great Master of Language”. He was one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century.

    In Lao She Teahouse today, waiters bring tea to the customers and sell them delicious Chinese food. If you like the Beijing Opera, folk music, acrobatic (杂技的) or magic shows, you can enjoy them at the teahouse. Lao She Teahouse gives a wonderful welcome to everyone around the world.

    Chopsticks were invented in China. There are many stories about who may have invented them. One of them is about Dayu.

    Dayu was an ancient Chinese leader who helped his people fight floods. He was always busy and often ate in the wild. He used a pot to boil (煮沸)water and cook animal meat. Most of the time, he was in a hurry and didn't want to wait to eat. But the meat was too hot to pick up with his hands. In those days, people ate only with their hands.

    So Dayu picked up some twigs (树枝)to help him hold the meat. The twigs later became the chopsticks we know today.

    But of course, this is just one story. The earliest chopsticks we have found so far are more than 3,000 years old, dating back to the Shang Dynasty (朝代).The six bronze chopsticks were found in the Ruins of Yin (殷墟)in Anyang, Henan.

    At first, chopsticks were just used as cooking tools. It was only after some time that people started to use chopsticks to eat.

    Robert Fredy was general manager of a large hotel in Ashbury Park, New Jersey. One cold day two years ago when he stopped his car at a traffic light, Stephen Pearman; an out-of-work taxi and truck driver, walked up to Fredy's car hoping to earn some change by washing his windshield(档风玻璃) , Like many motorists who try to keep the beggars off. Fredy turned on the wipers to show he wasn't interested.

    Pearman put his head close to the window. "Come on, mister. Give me a chance. I need a job, "he said. Something in Stephen Pearman's voice moved Robert Fredy. In the seconds before traffic started moving again, Fredy handed Pearman a business card and told him to call if he was serious.

    "My friends told me he was just pulling my leg," said Pearman. But I said. No, he's a businessman. I need to give it a shot."

    Two days later, 29-year-old Pearman appeared in the manager's office of the big hotel. Fredy gave him a job and lent him packet money while training him.

    Today, Pearman works full-time setting up the hotel's dining halls for business meetings. In the past two years, he has found a flat, married and repaid Fredy's loans (货款).

    "Mr Fredy gave me a second chance." says Pearman. "And I took advantage of it. I could have just come here a while and left. But there is no future washing wind-shields."

    Fredy always keeps away from the street people, "But Pearman seemed so honest and open, asking for a chance rather than just money," Fredy says. "I don't hand my business card to just anybody. But I'm glad I did in this case."