There are 24 solar terms (节气) in China, and the Grain Rain(谷雨) is one of them. It falls on April 19 this year.

    This solar term is called the Grain Rain because it is known for “rain” that helps the grain grow. From its name, we can guess it means a time of more rain. So if you go out in the next two weeks, you may need to bring an umbrella with you.

    But this is a great time for planting crops. If you miss the time for planting during the Grain Rain, you will feel sorry later. So maybe you can try to plant some flowers or vegetables in your garden. When the spring rain falls, farmers begin to grow crops (庄稼). Farmers often say, “Spring rain is as precious (珍贵的) as oil.” It brings farmers hope for a good year ahead.

    There are also many interesting customs during the Grain Rain. In the northern part of China, people like to eat Chinese toon (椿芽) mixed with eggs. The food made during the Grain Rain tastes wonderful and is good for your stomach. In the southern part of China, the tea leaves are picked during the time. They are called Grain Rain tea, which is famous for its freshness and sweet smell.

    Exercising is a good way to keep fit. However, many people do not know how to exercise well. Here are some tips.

    First, you should warm up. It is important to warm up before you exercise. You need to stretch your legs, arms, back and neck before you do any difficult activities like running.

    Second, you should find good places to exercise. You do not need to spend a lot of money. You can run or do sports in a park or in your school gym. You don't need to buy exercise equipment for your home. Just get your body moving. 

    Third, don't work too hard. Choose a sport that you enjoy and then your exercise will be fun instead of work. Also, you only need to exercise a few times each week. If you exercise 30 minutes each time, you will stay healthy.

    Fourth, drink enough water. It is important to drink water when you exercise. Your body needs the water for energy and for keeping cool.

    Finally, you must be careful! If you hurt yourself while you are exercising, rest until you feel better. Exercising when you are hurt is bad for your health.

    Albert Einstein (1879～1955)

    Early Life

    Albert Einstein was born on 14th March, 1879 in Germany. He has been an extraordinary (非凡的)person since he was born. Einstein wasn't able to speak a word until three. He was curious(好奇的)and imaginative. He loved watching things carefully and asked a lot of questions about them. His questions were often hard to answer for teachers.

    Schooling

    Einstein started school in 1885. Though he did well in maths and science, he failed in many subjects like history, geography and languages. He was not the teachers' favourite. He didn't enjoy going to school. Einstein finished high school in Switzerland and entered a university in Zurich. He graduated(大学毕业)as a teacher of maths and physics in 1900.

    Scientific Work

    After graduation, Einstein worked at the Patent Office. He spent much time studying physics. By 1909, Einstein had become a top scientist. Though he became successful in the field of science, he still put great effort in scientific research. Finally, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

    Jack London was born in San Francisco in 1876. Life was hard when Jack was growing up and he started working when he was 10. He did lots of different jobs. In his free time he went to the library and he spent many hours there, reading. In 1894 he went back to school, and published his first short story Typhoon, off the Coast of Japan. Then in 1896 he went to the University of California at Berkeley, but he had to leave because of money problems.

    In 1897 he left for the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. However, he became ill and came home and started working as a full-time writer. He wrote short stories and soon he was well-known. In 1903 he wrote his most famous story: The Call of the Wild.  His next novel was The Sea-Wolf (1904) which is perhaps his best literary novel.  With the earnings he bought a large farm in Califonua, where he died in 1916, aged only 40 years old.

    London was a prolific writer in his short life.  Between 1905 and 1916 he published 18 novels and six collections of stories, as well as a play, various works of non-fiction and a biography.  He is best-known for his descriptions of nature and the animal world.

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    About the year 1900, Charlie Chaplin (卓别林) was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theaters. He looked neither tall nor short. He was hoping to get work in show business. Luckily, he soon got a chance to act and it was also his first performance on the stage.

    But twenty years later, this same Chaplin became the greatest, best-known comedian (喜剧演员) in the world. Any regular visitor to the cinema must have seen some of Charlie Chaplin's films. People everywhere have laughed at them until tears have run down their faces. Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's films because they mostly have no sound. It isn't what he says that makes us laugh. It is based on little actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world.

    Chaplin lived most of his life in America and died in Switzerland on Christmas Day in 1977, at the age of eighty-eight. There was sadness all over the world at the news of his death.

    Last weekend, I took a trip to the popular National Air and Space Museum. I found that lots of children all over the place were happy. If ever in my life I felt like a child again, this was surely the place.

    As I went into the cockpit(驾驶舱)of an airplane, I felt that my dream of becoming a pilot came true. Everywhere I walked, I was close to airplanes. Very big spaceships and rockets were in different houses. There were kinds of cool things on show. You could join in many experiments to explore(探索)interesting things on science. The National Air and Space Museum is an excellent place to visit.

    Oh, make sure you eat something before you come into the museum because the only place you can eat something here is a Boston Market fast food restaurant. The price of the food in it is very high. I had a Big Mac meal for almost $9!