Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.

 Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

 Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

 He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled (困惑的). All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

 Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.

    My family took a trip to Qingdao last summer vacation. We had great fun there.

    We went to Qingdao by fast train. It was about 11:00 am when we got to the train station. First, we took a taxi to the hotel. After a short rest, we had lunch in the restaurant near the hotel. We ate some fish dumplings there. They were really delicious and they weren't expensive. We enjoyed the meal very much. In the afternoon, it was sunny and hot. So we went to the beach(沙滩). There were quite a lot of people there. My father and I swam in the sea. It was really cool. My mother lay(躺) on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. She said it was relaxing. Well, the best thing was that I made two new friends on the beach. They were from Canada. That made me feel happy. They said they would write e-mails to me later.

    Qingdao is really a good place to relax. I want to visit it again next year.

    We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf. It stood outside a furniture（家具） shop. "Buy it," she said at once. "We'll carry it home on the roof-rack（车顶架）. I've always wanted one like that." What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.  As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea. After a time my wife said, "There's a long line of cars behind. Why don't they overtake（超车）?" Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers（警官） inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church（教堂）. One of the officers came to me. "Right, sir," he said. "Do you need any more help now?" I didn't quite understand. "Thanks, officer," I said. "You've been very kind. I live just down the road." He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. "Well, well," he said and laughed. "It's a bookshelf you've got there! We thought it was--er, something else." My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. "Yes, it's a bookshelf, but thanks again." I drove home as fast as I could.

    This is a photo of Mr Black's family. The man with glasses（眼镜）is Mr Black, the father. The woman is the mother. They have a son and a daughter. The son is behind（在……后面）Mr Black. His name is Jack. He's 14. Kate is Jack's sister. She is 12. Jack and Kate are in the same school, but they are in different（不同的）grades. Jack is in Grade Three and Kate's in Grade One. They are good students.

    You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Jane Addams. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

    Jane Addams (1860-193)

    Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the pot and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by supporting education and services for people in need in 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Rachel Carson (1907-1960)

    If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects on humans and co the world's lakes and oceans.

    Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

    On December 1,1955,in Montgomery, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger .Her simple act brought a great change to the life of the black community in the US." The only tired I was, was tired of giving in, "said Parks.

    Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-now)

    Wan Sandra Day O' Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find weak at a law company because she was a woman. In 1981, she became the first woman to join the US .Supreme Court O'Connor gave the deciding choice in many important cases during her 24 years in bar field.