Ma Yun was born on October 15,1964 in Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province. He is the founder (创始人)of Alibaba Group.

At the age of 10， Ma Yun took an interest in English. Each morning， he rode his bike to Hangzhou Hotel to talk with foreigners. In 1988， he became an English teacher. Then Ma Yun met Bill Aho， an American businessman， in Hangzhou. In 1995， he visited the United States for the first time. He stayed with Mr. Aho's family. There， he was introduced to the World Wide Web. Then he returned home and set up one of China's first web companies(公司)， China Yellowpages in the same year. On February 21,1999， he founded Alibaba. He chose Alibaba as the name because everyone knew the story of Alibaba.

Ma Yun had problems along the way. But his hard work made Alibaba an online success.

I was in a shopping mall, so I decided to go and get a cup of coffee. As I was making my way to the coffee shop, I noticed an old gentleman poorly dressed sitting near the shop. I knew from the first sight that he needed help. He had a little lunch in front of him and was enjoying it. It was clear that he had a problem with his right eye. I then joined the line and waited to be served.

    Then it happened. One of the most beautiful gestures(姿态) I had ever seen in my life. There was a young man in front of me in the line who was also waiting to be served. The next thing I knew was that the young man handed the waitress(女服务员) 20 dollars and requested a glass of juice as a favor(善行). The waitress looked at the young man a little perplexed, not fully understanding the request. That was when the young man asked her to give the juice to the old gentleman eating his lunch outside, as well as the change(零钱) from the 20 dollars. The young man also told her that he would be watching every second so that she would be completely safe.

    Then there was a wonderful exchange between the waitress and the old man. I only wished I could take a photo of the smiles on both of their faces.

    As I was considering this event later, I wondered why the young man didn't perform this act of kindness himself. Maybe he was hoping that this act of kindness might inspire(激励) others to do something for this old man as well.

A

    When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the fridge. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did when the door was shut.

    My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see every one again at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else at home could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself. 

    Whenever it rained, he got into the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription(处方) filled. He set mousetraps. He cut back the roses so the thorns(刺) wouldn't hurt you when you came to the front door. He oiled my roller skates, and they went faster. When I got my bike, he ran alongside me for at least a thousand miles until I got the hang of it. He signed all my report and cards. He took a lot of pictures, but was never in them. He tightened up Mother's sagging(松垂的) clothesline every week or so.

    I was afraid of everyone else's father, but not my own. 

    Whenever I played house(玩过家家), the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, “I'm going off to work now,” and threw him under the bed.

    When I was nine years old, my father didn't get up one morning and go to work, he went to the hospital and died the next day. 

    There were a lot of people in the house who brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before.   

    He never did anything; I didn't know his leaving would hurt so much.

C

    A long time ago, there was an emperor. He had a beautiful garden. In the garden, there was a little nightingale(夜莺) singing very beautifully.

    One day, the emperor heard about this little bird's beautiful voice. He asked his guards to bring her to him. As soon as the emperor heard the nightingale's voice, he said, "Put her in a golden cage, so she can stay and sing for me whenever I want to hear her sing."

    The little bird was so unhappy about being kept in the cage that she stopped singing one day. The emperor was very angry. He ordered the scientists in his palace to make a robot bird for him. The bird could sing very beautifully, too. The emperor was pleased.

    Soon the robot bird became old. It no longer sang beautiful songs. Just at that time, the emperor became very weak. One morning, while lying in bed, the emperor wanted it to sing once again. But the robot bird couldn't sing any more.Suddenly the nightingale landed on the window. She began to sing her most beautiful song. The emperor was very happy! He became better and better each day.

    After the emperor was well, he changed a lot and became kind to his people. From then on, all his people cherished(爱戴) him for his love and kindness.

The Angel of the North

    The Angel of the North is a modern sculpture (雕塑) in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, designed by Antony Gormley. Completed in 1998, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, 20 metres tall, with wings measuring 54 metres across. The angel, like much of Gormley's other work, is based on the shape of his own body.

    According to the artist himself, the Angel of the North symbolises (象征着) the change from the industrial to the information age and stands proudly as a beacon (灯塔) of hope for the future of the region.

    It cost £800, 000 to make, with the money coming from the British government. It took four years to make the sculpture. It was made in three parts, the body, which weighed 100 tons, and two wings, which weighed 50 tons each. Angels are usually thought of being white, as they represent light, but Gormley's Angel of the North is a reddish brown colour. This is because the steel has a special paint to protect it from strong wind.

    The parts of the angel were moved from Hartlepool to Gateshead at night in big trucks. It took 5 hours to move everything, even though the journey is very short. The Angel of the North was put on the hill in Birtley on the 15th of February, 1998.

    The sculpture was made in memory of the coal miners who worked hard in the dark earth below the hill to bring wealth to the North East in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a sign for Gateshead.

    The sculpture has since become one of the most famous landmarks in England as can be seen in television and film. It is the largest sculpture in Britain. Over 150,000 people come to Gateshead to see the sculpture every year.

    One day, Thomas Edison came home from school and gave a letter to his mother. He {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tell) her, "My teacher gave this letter to me and asked me to give it to my mother only." His {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (mother) eyes were full of tears as she read {#blank#}3{#/blank#} letter out loud to her child, "Your son is a genius (天才). This school is too small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} him and doesn't have enough good teachers to train him. Please teach him {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (you)."

    Many years after Edison's mother had died, Edison became one of the {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (great) inventors of the century. One day, he was going through the old closet (壁柜) and he found a folded letter which {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (give) to him by his teacher for his mother. He opened it. The message {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (write) on the letter was, "Your son is mentally (精神上) ill. We cannot let him attend our school any more, he has to leave the school."

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} surprised and excited Edison was after reading it! And then he wrote in his diary, "Thomas Alva Edison was a mentally ill child, but his mother turned him into the genius of the century {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(success)."