In 1883, an engineer named John Roebling got an idea to build a bridge between New York and Long Island. However, bridge-building experts around the world thought that it was impossible. It had never been done before.

    After much discussion, he made his son Washington, a great engineer, believe that the bridge could be built.

    The project started well, but a few months later, an accident took the life of John Roebling. Washington was badly hurt and he was not able to walk or talk. However, Washington never lost his heart. He still wanted to complete the bridge. But all he could do was to move one finger. So he decided to make the best use of it. By moving his finger, he slowly developed a way of communicating with his wife.

    He touched his wife's arm with his finger, “telling” her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same way to tell the engineers what to do. The project carried on again.

    For 13 years, Washington tapped out (敲出) his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the Brooklyn Bridge stands as a monument(纪念碑) to one man's unbeatable spirit.

    It is also a monument to engineers and their teamwork, and to their faith in a man who was considered crazy by half the world.

    My name is Alex. I had an interesting and scary experience last Saturday. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was walking down the Main Street. I stopped in front of a jewelry store to look at some rings in the window. I really liked one of the rings. While I was standing there, two men came out of the store. They ran across the street, got into a car, and drove away quickly. Then I saw something on the ground. It was a black bag. I thought maybe they dropped the bag while they were driving away in the car.

    I went to pick up the bag and opened it. There was a diamond watch in the bag. I took the bag with the watch into the jewelry store and showed it to the store manager. The manager looked scared by what had happened but he was very happy to see the watch. He said the two men were thieves, and that the police were looking for them. He also said the watch was very expensive. To thank me, he gave me fifty dollars. I was happy that I helped him. However, the thieves stole many pieces of jewelry. They took ten rings, three watches, four necklaces, and ten pairs of earrings. I hoped the police would catch them soon.

On the stage of America's Got Talent, 11-year-old Tyler Butler Figueroa played the violin well Also, he touched many people's hearts {#blank#}1{#/blank#} his story Tyler comes from North Carolina {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the age of four, he had a health problem and started to lose hair He felt sad The feeling got even {#blank#}3{#/blank#}when his classmates laughed at his look And they stayed away from him. One day, Tyler saw a flyer(小传单) for free after-school violin lessons at school He knew he was not {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in music, but he decided to learn to play the violin "I practiced {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in my room every day," he said " If I play the violin every day, I {#blank#}6{#/blank#}forget the bad things " Tyler's mother said the violin made him {#blank#}7{#/blank#} again and she felt like she had her son back Tyler stood strong, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} he had to face those bad things He {#blank#}9{#/blank#}a book He wanted to share his story with other kids like  {#blank#}10{#/blank#}and told them to be strong 

Being home to the largest second-hand bookstore in the world, Hay-on-Wye is more than just a small town in Wales — it's a book heaven on the earth.

The history of Hay-on-Wye as the"town of books" began on the April Fool's Day of 1977.A man called Richard Booth jokingly called himself King of Hay and said the town was now a country! Since then, he has succeeded in building a healthy tourism industry about books. Today thousands of visitors come to Hay-on-Wye every year to look for whatever books they need.

Before Booth's great idea, Hay-on-Wye was a slowly dying town having less than 2, 000businesses. The king of Hay-on-Wye opened his first bookstore in 1961, and later encouraged his friends in the trade to come to Hay. After a few. years, he filled almost every building with books. Hay-on-Wye now has over thirty bookshops, many selling second-hand books, which has made the town pleasant for book collectors.

Hay-on-Wye has its special honour with over one million books sold here every year. Unlike other book dealers(交易商), Richard Booth doesn't centre on any one topic. He buys any type of books believing that every book is valuable and someone in the world wants it. Book lovers from all over the world come to Hay-on-Wye because a large number of books here are at low prices.

Since 1988, Hay-on-Wye has also been the place for a famous literary(文学) festival, now supported by The Guardian, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.

Once a dying small town, Hay-on-Wye is now a pleasant tourist town, with ten percent of its population working in the book business, and local businesses benefiting(得益于) from the waves of

tourists coming here in search of books.

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Grain Rain（谷雨）, at the last term in spring, generally starts on April 20th and ends on May 4th.

Grain Rain comes from an old saying, "Rain brings up the growth of hundreds of grain", which shows that this period of rainfall is very important for the growth of crops. Here's something that you may not know about the Grain Rain.

Seasonal characteristics

When the Grain Rain ends, the summer starts And the temperature rises much higher than it does in March, With dry soil and heavy winds, sandstorms may happen more often.

Customs in southern China

There is an old custom in southern China that people drink tea on the day of Grain Rain. Spring tea during Grain Rain is good for the eyes.

Traditions in northern China

People in northern China have the tradition to cat the vegetable toona sinensis（香椿） during Grain Rain. An old Chinese saying goes "toona sinensis before the rain is just like silk". The vegetable is good for the stomach and skin.

Grain Rain Festival

The Grain Rain Festival is celebrated by fishing villagers in northern China. Grain Rain marks the start of the fisherman's first voyage（航行） of the year. The custom dates back to（追溯到） more than 2000 years ago.

Do you know the grass in the picture ? It is a kind of grass for cats. It is good for your cat. Are you a cat lover? Do you want your cat to be healthy? Then you can plant this kind of grass at home. Please find the following steps.

What you need: A small planter(花盆) Potting soil (盆栽土) Water

Seeds (种子) (You can buy them at any plant store. )

▲:

Fill the planter with the soil. Water the soil until it is a little wet. Throw seeds across the top layer (层) of the soil, and then press (按)them into the soil. Water the soil again. Keep the soil wet until the seeds begin to sprout (发芽)-about one or two weeks. Then water is needed. When your seeds grow tall enough, you can invite your cat to taste it.