A man in Pakistan is now working to help children get an education. When he was a child, he did not go to school because he was too poor.

    It is reported that Pakistan has 25 million children who do not go to school. That is the second­highest number in the world. Only Nigeria has more. Many Pakistani children must work to support their families.

    Mohammad Ayub was once one of those children. He is now a firefighter. He also manages a small school. VOA recently visited the school in the capital Islamabad.

    Ayub started with just one student in 1982. He saw a boy cleaning cars for days. He asked him, "Why don't you go to school?" The boy answered that his parents were dead and he had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters.

    Ayub was also an orphan and he, too, had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters. He said, "When my father died, everyone who came to the funeral said they were sorry, but no one helped." He sold newspapers and did other work to earn enough money to pay school fees for his brothers and sisters.

    Ayub wanted to help the young boy who washed cars, but he did not have enough money to pay the boy's school fees.

    Today, Ayub teaches many children at his school in a public park. Some of the children attend other schools in the morning, but come to Ayub in the afternoon to get help with their homework.

    Ayub has helped a large number of poor children since he began teaching. Many of them come from very poor areas near the park.

    Ayub said," I used to argue with kids who worked ' Why are you washing someone's dishes or their clothes? Why don't you study? ' "

    One of the children he advised to attend classes was Farhat Abbas. Ayub found him working with his friends about 12 years ago. "He followed us back home. He told our parents he wanted to teach us and asked them to send us to his school, "Abbas said.

    Today, Abbas is taking classes at a college and is helping Ayub.

    Many children are out of school, and those who do attend classes often get a poor education. Information gathered by an organization shows half of all Pakistani children in the 5th grade do not understand basic mathematics and cannot read a story in their language.

    A group in Islamabad reports Pakistan spends less on education than any other country in South Asia.

    There were many famous explorers during 1400--1600. What were the names of the most famous explorers? What were the major achievements of the famous explorers? This website provides what you want to know.

    Famous Canadian Explorers   The discovery of the New World opened up new colonies(殖民地) in Canada. One of the most famous Canadian explorers was Louis Joliet who explored the Great Lakes area and discovered the Mississippi River.

Famous Spanish Explorers Famous Spanish explorers explored the Caribbean and South America. Just a few famous Spanish explorers conquered (征服) millions of local people who made up the nations of the Incas and the Aztecs. Famous Spanish explorers included Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Hernando De Soto, Vasco Nunez de Balboa and Juan Ponce de Leon.

Famous English Explorers The most famous English explorers started their voyages of discoveries during the Elizabethan reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The most famous English explorers included Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Martin Frobisher and Sir John Hawkins.

    Famous Portuguese (葡萄牙的) Explorers   The famous Portuguese explorers led the way when it came to exploration. The most famous Portuguese explorers included Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Bartholomeu Dias and Miguel Corte-Real.

    One day, a rich boy bought a magic mirror(魔镜). When he got home, he looked in the mirror. His face looked sad. He tried to smile and make funny faces. His face looked still sad. Then he did many happy things, but his face always looked sad.

    "Oh, what a terrible mirror! It doesn't work！"he said angrily.

    The next day, on his way to buying some chocolate, he saw a little girl crying sadly. The rich boy went up to her and asked what had happened. The little girl said she couldn't find her parents. "Don't worry. I'll help you，"the rich boy said. So they went to look for them together. Finally, they found her parents. They were so thankful for his help. After the rich boy arrived home, he looked in the mirror as usual. To his surprise, his face looked very happy. The boy understood the magic of the mirror. The mirror could show the true feelings of its owner.

    This was true—the rich boy had helped that little girl so he felt really happy.

    Mrs. Brown lives in a small village. Her husband is dead. She has a son but no daughters. His name is John and he is twenty-five. After John finishes college (大学), he gets work in a big city, New York, and he lives there. It's quite a long way from his mother's home, and she is not happy about it. But John says, "There is no good work for me in this small village, Mother, and I can get a lot of money in New York. Then I can give much to you. "

    One day Mrs. Brown is very angry. She takes a train to her son's house in New York. Then she says to him. "John, why do you never call me?"

    "But mother," John laughs (笑) and says, "You don't have a telephone."

    "No," she says, "I haven't, but you have one."

We all need good friends and want to get on well with them.  But what do you do when you and your best friend have 1 ideas? At first, I didn't know what to do when this happened to my best friend Karina and me. 

When we first met at a summer camp, we got along so 2 that we shared stories, laughed a lot, and quickly became inseparable (形影不离的) friends.  But then something happened at a picnic.  "Did you hear the news about the shopping center?" asked one of our friends Levar.  "Some people plan to3 many trees to make room for a shopping center. "

"That's terrible! It will be bad for our environment (环境).  We have to 4 that," I said. 

"I don't think so," said Karina.  "The shopping center will give people new jobs. "

"But animals will 5 their homes!" I said.  "I want people to have 6 , but it doesn't have to do such a terrible thing. "

I wanted Karina to join me in 7 trees, but she didn't want to.  I was so angry that I didn't 8 her for days.  Later, my mother knew it and said to me seriously (严肃地), "No two people are the same.  You should 9 each other.  Don't let the 10 make you lose a good friend. " After listening to my mom's words, I said sorry to Karina.  Now we're still good friends.