Bell was a British teacher to deaf people. He was born in Scotland in 1847 and went to school in London. Bell was interested in helping deaf people to learn to speak. He taught people how to use their mouths to make the sounds needed for talking.

    Bell's family moved to Canada in 1870 and to the USA in 1871. For several years he taught the people who could not speak in Boston. But at the same time he was developing a way to use electricity to send the sounds of talking along a wire, and he made the first telephone in June, 1875.

    The telephone developed quickly in the USA over the next few years. The Bell Telephone Company started in 1877, and in 1878 the first telephone centre was built in New York. More than 150,000 people had telephones in their homes ten years later. Bell was a kind man and spent much of his money and time during the rest of his life helping deaf people. In 1922 he died in Canada.

    There was a time when no one knew the name Harry Potter. Now the adventures of this extraordinary student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are read in over 45 languages, including Russian, Thai, and even ancient Greek. No one can explain the Harry Potter phenomenon (现象) – not even J.K. Rowling, his creator.

    J.K. Rowling was born in England in 1965. From a young age, she knew she wanted to be a writer. When she was 6, she wrote her first story—about a rabbit that gets sick. At school, she used to make up stories to tell her friends.

    After graduation from college, she worked as a secretary. But she didn't give up her dream.She spent her lunch hour writing stories, mainly for adults. Then in 1990, on a train trip to London,she got the idea from the boy wizard. She says he just appeared in her head. She soon created many other characters to help Harry fight the forces of darkness.

    She kept working on the story while she was teaching English in Portugal, where she married, had her first child, and divorced (与……离婚) a year later. When she returned to England, she brought back a box of Harry Potter stories.

    After returning home, she was broke and living in a small house. She continued writing, and in 1995, finished the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was published (出版) in 1997 and became an unexpected bestseller.

    Rowling's life has changed a lot. She has become internationally famous and now earns around $40 million a year. She remarried, had a second child and lives in Scotland now.

    I'm a Chinese student studying in Canada. I have been a boarder(寄宿生) with the Carsons for more than a year and a half.

    The Carsons live in their own house, which has four bedrooms including the one in the basement(底层) which I live in. Judy does all the work in the house and Andrew is responsible for the work in the garden. When they go out in the evening, they often ask me to look after their children.

    Judy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, lived in another city. Judy was their only child and naturally they doted on(溺爱) Judy's children. They often sent the children presents.

    Last April Mr. Morris died. Now that Mrs. Morris was quite alone, I expected that Judy would want her to come and live with them. One day, Margaret told me grandma was coming to live with them and her daddy and mummy would want my room back. The news didn't surprise me and the next day I went to Judy and asked her about it. I said I couldn't think of living in their basement room any longer if it was needed for Mrs. Morris. Judy seemed surprised at first. Then she told me there was no deed for me to move, for they hadn't yet come to any decision about her mother coming to live with them. "Naturally I'm worried about my mother. She has been in poor health." She smiled sadly and added. "To be honest, Andrew and my mother have never got on well. We'll wait a bit and see what happens. Perhaps Moter will be all right living herself, of perhaps they will both change their minds."

    That was six months ago. During this time I've heard that Mrs. Morris has had two illnesses and that her health has got worse. A nursing home was mentioned once but Mrs. Morris refused to go there. So up to now she's still living alone and I'm still living in the basement room.

    One day, Jack's parents told him that his grandpa would retire (退休) after working for forty years. Jack said1, "I'm only seven, so it means my grandpa has been…er…a really long time!"

    His parents said, "Yes. There is a (n)2place in his heart that we don't know how to fill. That's why we are going to have a surprise party for him."

    Jack loved his grandpa and wanted to do something3for him. He remembered the business card his grandpa had given him two years before. He knew that his grandpa would no longer hold the position on that card, so he decided to build a new one for his grandpa.

    When the big night came, Jack was4. He put his gift in a small box. But he didn't want to put his gift together with others'. He carried it around with him the whole5.

    When all the other people6, he took his grandpa's hand and brought him over to a chair and gave him the gift.

    His grandpa smiled, "Well, it must be a beautiful7. May I open it now?" "Sure!" Jack said excitedly.

    As Jack's grandpa opened the gift, tears came into his eyes. He was touched by Jack's gift. Jack gave him the greatest gift he had8got! It was a business card with his new position FULL-TIME GRANDPA! Jack said, "Now your9job is my grandpa."

    "Well10do l get paid?" his grandpa asked, smiling. "As many hugs (拥抱) as you want!" With these words, Jack gave his grandpa a hug. "Well, I guess that means I'm the richest man in the world!" said the grandpa.