Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kms during the years of his travels.Zheng He led a fleet with 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He' s travels. The Columbus of the east, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new king, had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

    On 15 January, 2018, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal (顾拜旦奖章) to Lv Junjie, a Chinese master of Zisha, in Lausanne. Lv became the first Zisha artist to take the award. The medal was introduced in 1964 and named in honour of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the IOC.

    Zisha is a type of clay. It has been used in Chinese pottery (陶器) since the Ming dynasty. The finished stoneware (粗陶器) is used for teaware (茶具) and other small items, and is not usually having a shiny coat. It is red or brown in colour. Lv got the prize from the IOC because of his work using Zisha to spread me Olympic spirit.

    "It's my first time stepping into the IOC headquarters," Lv said. "It has nothing to do with me. It is this traditional art of Zisha that receives such recognition from the IOC. It is because of the uniqueness (独特性) and lasting spirit of Chinese culture," he added.

    In 1966, Lv Junjie was born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, China. His father Lv Yaochen is a famous artist in Chinese Zisha industry. Lv Junjie was influenced by his father from an early age. However, his family didn't support him to work for it at first. His mother worked as a worker in the Zisha factory all her life and knew it was hard work. At the age of 16, Lv Junjie decided to be an artist like his father. He told his father that he loved Zisha. Later he studied at a university in Singapore. After he finished school he made Zisha his career.

    This is' a story of a man who worked in a big factory. I got to know him many years ago, but I never paid any attention to him. He always wore an old red hat and carried a rubbish bag. He usually spent his break time and lunchtime walking around in that old big factory to collect the unused tins.

    Today, I was fixing one machine in the factory when this "tin man" came with his bag. As usual, he picked up the tins. My manager was standing there to watch me. He asked the "tin man" what he was going to do with those tins. I never thought about this question, because I always thought that he'd sell those tins for money.

    The "tin man" answered, "I will give these tins to my neighbour. He is ill and he cannot work." I was so surprised to hear that, so I asked him, "You collect all those tins just to help your neighbour? I know this does not help much," he said. "But I will try my best to help him."

    At that time, I found myself standing in front of a great man. This "tin man" only wore a T shirt and an old red hat and carried a rubbish bag, but he was a great man.

    We shouldn't judge a man by his appearance(外表). We should look at his heart.

    There is a pilot (飞行员) and four people in a small plane. Suddenly there is something wrong with the machine while it is flying in the air. The plane begins to fall down. The pilot tells the people there are only four parachutes (降落伞). They all become worried and start to make excuses.

    "I must go," says the pilot, taking one of the parachutes and jumps out. The first person stands up, "I'm a doctor," he says. "I help people live longer and I save lives." He takes a parachute and jumps out.

    The next person says, "I must have a parachute. I am a very clever person. I have to attend an important match. I know I will win the game because I'll be the cleverest person there." He picks up a pack and jumps out.

Two men are left—an old businessman and a young mountain climber. At this time the plane is going down fast. The businessman says, "Young man, I am old but you are still young. You take the last parachute." The young mountain climber smiles. "Don't worry," He says. "We can both jump out because there are still two parachutes. Just now the clever man jumped out with my backpack."

    Two months ago, I went to Australia for a meeting with my workmate, John. We decided to drive across the country to Brisbane after the meeting ended. The drive was going to take four days and most of it was across the desert.

    The first day was a lot of fun as we were excited and laughing at each other's jokes. On the third day, we began to get bored.

    We had been quiet for a few hours when John saw some kangaroos. We were both excited and decided to catch up with the kangaroos. We got closer and closer- too close when we heard a loud BANG!

    John stopped the car and we got out. Behind the car was a large kangaroo lying on the ground. He didn't move. John went over the kangaroo and put his baseball hat on its head.

    He took off his jacket and put it on the kangaroo. I took out my camera. While I was focusing the camera, I saw the kangaroo move. It woke up, and ran away before we could do anything.

    I started laughing but John looked very serious. He said his wallet was in the jacket. I laughed even harder. I stopped laughing, however, when he said that our car keys were also in the jacket.

Jenny is excited to go to school these days. The 13-year-old girl from South Gate Middle School in Los Angeles, US, is taking care of three green abalones(鲍鱼) at school.

The students of Violeta Llamas' science class, including Jenny, have cared for the sea animals since January. The science class has eight teams. Each team takes turns to care for the abalones. Team Five—Jenny, Alexis, Jennifer and Ricardo—have now got their turn.

The abalones are kept in a box of seawater. Every day, Alexis checks if the water has too much salt. Too much salt is bad for the health of the abalones. Jenny makes fresh seawater. Then the four students work together to clean up the waste in the box and give some food to the abalones.

    "Sea life is like a baby. You have to clean them and care for them. " Jennifer said.

Nancy Cruso, a scientist, leads the project. She said the number of green abalones is going down because people have caught too many of them. She said protecting the sea lives now depends on the young students.

"The students love taking care of the abalones. " said Llamas.

"Taking care of the abalones could open the door for those who want to be a sea life scientist or an environment protector," she said.

The students' time with the abalones will end this school year. Cruso and a team of volunteers will record the abalones and then let them return to the sea.