Mr. Brown is 80 years old. Every morning he goes for a walk in the park. And he comes home at half past twelve for lunch. But today a car stops at his house at twelve. Two policemen help him get out. One of them says to Mr. Brown's daughter. “The old man can't find his way home in the park, so we bring him back” The daughter thanks the policemen. Then she asks her father, “Dad , you go to that park every day. But today, you can't find the way. What's wrong with you（你怎么了）?” The old man smiles（笑） like a child and says, “I can find my way. But I don't want to walk home.”

    One of the best-known American writers of children's books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere．Now, an art show called "Doctor Strong From Then to Now" is travelling around the United States．The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong．

    Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children's book was published (出版)．Since then, he has written forty—five books that have been sold more than one hundred million copies around the world．

    Doctor Strong's books are known for their easy use of words and colourful, hand drawn pictures．These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures, The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others．

    The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the art show．It included about three hundred Doctor Strong's early drawings and some of his writings．

Most of Doctor Strong's books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages．For example, in McElligot's Pool, he describes the danger of pollution．He discusses the arms race (军备竞赛) in The Butter Battle Book, written in nineteen eighty four．

    Doctor Strong says he never planned to write stories just for children．He says he writes stories that interest people of all ages．He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand．

    Laura has an aunt who works in London. She loves Laura so much that she invites Laura to

    London every summer.

    Last year Laura was happy to go to London and see some famous places in London, including the British museum, National Gallery (画廊)and other great buildings. How beautiful! She fell in love with them, but one thing made her very unhappy. It's her first time to go to a big square, but when she passed the square alone, a thief(小偷)stole her wallet in her pocket. She had to walk to her aunt's home angrily.

    This year Laura's aunt invited her to London again. One day, when she passed the same square with her aunt, she was more careful not to be stolen. After a while, she saw a man go close to her and put his hand in her pocket with a smile. Then he took out his hand quickly and left. She became very angry and shouted, "Stop it, or I will call the police!" To her surprise, she found her aunt and all the other people there laughing with the word "Congratulations(祝贺)"! In fact, the man was not a thief. Instead, he put ten pounds in her pocket. It was an interesting game. The organizers(组织者)wanted to correct the bad impression(印象)of the square, so they hired(雇佣) some "thieves" to do that game.

    In 1834, the clock tower in London was burned down. People planned to build a new clock which would be the biggest and best in the world. So the clock had to be big and keep very good time. The big clock was made in two years. Five more years later the tower was finished. Then people put the big clock in the tower, and made it ring out for the first time on July 11, 1859.

    In order to give the big clock a good name, people held a meeting. Someone wanted to call it the Queen of Bells, and someone thought Victoria was good. At last, a man named Benjamin Hall stood up. He was a big man. Before he started to speak, someone shouted, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Everybody laughed and agreed with him.

    From then on, Big Ben became its name. And it also became a famous building of London. People all over the world write to Big Ben. They even send birthday presents-bottles of oil to help keep Big Ben running. Big Ben is not only a clock but also a dear friend of people.