Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma who lives downstairs is pleased with him.

    One day, on his way home, he met his friend Mary. They were both happy. He asked the girl to his house, and she agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future. They talked for a long time.

    “Have a look at your watch, please,” said the girl. “What time is it now?”

    “Sorry, something is wrong with my watch,” said Jack. .” Where's yours?”

    “I left it at home.”

     Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor, “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

    The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, “It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?”

    Tim Berners­Lee is not the most famous inventor in the world. However, his invention has changed our lives. He was born in London, England in 1955.When he was a small boy, Tim was interested in playing with electrical things. He studied science at Oxford University. He made his first computer from an old television at the age of 21.Tim started working on early computers. At that time, they were much bigger than now. He worked in England then Switzerland. Tim was really interested in two things, computers and how the brain works. How could the brain connect so many facts so quickly? He had to work with people all over the world. They shared information about computers. It was hard to manage all the information. He answered the same questions again and again. It took a lot of time. It was even difficult for computers in the same office in Switzerland to share information. Tim also forgot things easily. Could a computer work like a brain? Could it “talk” to other computers?

    There was an Internet already but it was difficult to use. In 1989, Tim Berners­Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) all by himself. This had a special language that helped computers talk to each other on the Internet. When people wanted to share information with others, they used the World Wide Web. The Internet grew quickly after that.

    Tim Berners­Lee doesn't think he did anything special. He says that all of the ideas about the Internet were already there. All he did was to put them together. He says that many other people worked together to make the Internet what it is today. Most inventors want to become rich. But Tim gave away the World Wide Web for nothing. He now works in America. He helps people share technology and wants the Internet to be free for everyone to use. Maybe he is the most important but least famous inventor in the world today!

    Johnnie Martin was born in a worker's family. His parents lived a simple life, saving money for the day when they could send him to a good university. They had dreamed that their son could get a good job and live a better life. However, to Johnnie, school lessons seemed like a wall that was impossible to go through. They were not so easy for him.

    One day when he was in Grade 11, Johnnie went to the school psychologist's (心理学家的) office to ask for help. "I've been trying hard, but…" Johnnie was about to cry.

    The psychologist put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "People have different kinds of talents, Johnnie. There are painters, who were never able to learn math, and some day you will find what you are good at. When you do, you will make all of us very proud of you."

    Johnnie didn't go to university. He found a job in the garden in the town. Soon something amazing happened. People began to notice that Johnnie had what they called a "green thumb". The plants grew well and the roses were in bloom (花). People started to accept his advice for gardening (园艺).

    One day while he was walking, he found an unusual dirty land. He volunteered to make it into a garden. That afternoon he started the work, but he couldn't afford all the tools or the plants. People gave him young trees, rose-bushes, benches and many other things. Before long, it had become a beautiful little park.

    Today Johnnie is the head of the business in gardening. Wherever he and his men go, they spread beauty before the eyes of people.

    Kate and Ann are new students. Kate is twelve. She is from America. Ann is eleven. She is from England. They arc in Class 5 Grade 7. They can speak English very well and Kate can speak a little Chinese, but Ann can't. They live m Shanghai with their parents. Ann's mother is a teacher. Kate's father is a teacher too. Kate and Ann are studying in the same school. On Sundays, they often play table tennis with their Chinese friends. They love China and their Chinese friends.

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer and pianist. Many people think he was one of the best composers of music of all time.

    Mozart was born in Austria in 1756. He was educated by his father, a very good violinist. His father started to give him piano lessons when he was 4 years old. When he was 6, he went on his first musical tour of Europe. Mozart also wrote music. When he was only about 5 years old, he started to compose music. At the age of 8, he composed his first real song. He grew up to write some of his most beautiful music ever heard. However, he died when he was only 35 years old.