He is quiet and shy. He likes to hide his eyes behind his hair. He doesn't smile very often. However, if you talk to him about music, he'll have a lot to say.

This is Jay Chou, the 24-year-old Taiwanese pop king(天王). His fans are so excited because he will sing songs in Beijing on September 12. Those songs are from his new album(唱片), "Ye Huimei", and the album was released(发行) in July and was named after his mother.

    Chou grew up just with his mother. He did not talk much and did badly in many school subjects.

His mother noticed the boy's special interest in music and sent him to learn piano when he was only three years old. He loved it and kept on practicing.

Chou is not very handsome. He does not speak clearly when he sings or talks. But the singer has huge crowds of fans. "He is really good at music. It makes him attractive(有魅力的) to me," said Liu Jiajun, a Junior 2 student in NO.101 Middle School in Beijing.

    "He is true to himself. He never follows others," said Zhang Yujie, a Junior l girl at Huaibei Middle School in Sihon9, Jiangsu Province.

Characters: Evan, Mrs. Bordoni, Mr. Cortez, Rita. Marco. Tom

Setting: An elementary school

Mrs. Bordoni: (Stands at the school gate) Good morning! You need to go straight to your classrooms, children. (A shy boy walks up, with a red face.) What is your name?

Evan: (Looking at the ground) My name is Evan.

Mrs. Bordoni: Welcome to Northside. I'm the principal(校长), Mrs. Bordoni.

Evan: (Looks surprised) Oh! Good morning.

Mrs. Bordoni: I know you are new to our school, but you will like it here. I will take you to your classroom.

Evan: I didn't want to move… and leave my friends.

Mrs. Bordoni: You will have friends here. You'll see.

Mrs. Bordoni: Here's your room, 106.

Mr. Cortez: Welcome to our class! I'm Mr. Cortez.

Evan: (The class looks at him. He speaks softly.) Hello.

Mr. Cortez: We are talking about a story we just read. Who can tell Evan what it was about?

Rita: This family moves to a new state. Their story is both funny and sad.

Evan: (Cheering up) Did they like the new place?

Marco: Not at first. But they made lots of new friends.

Mr. Cortez: What happened to make them change their minds?

Tom: The girl from next door said she needed help. When they got to her house, a sign said, “Welcome”.

Marco: It was a surprise party for them. The whole family was laughing.

Mr. Cortez: The neighbors made the family feel welcome.

Mrs. Bordoni: (Stands in the doorway) Evan, it's time for lunch. (They enter the lunchroom. A sign says, “Welcome Evan”.) It is hard to change schools and leave old friends. Now, we are your friends.

Evan: (Smiles) I can't believe you did this for me.

    It takes a lot of skills and hard work to set a world record in pumpkin-carving(雕刻南瓜). Steve Clarke, a sixth-grade teacher from Pennsylvania, is a famous carver(雕刻师). Clarke has set many world records for carving pumpkins quickly. When he competes, he must cut our two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears as fast as possible. But Clarke knows something else about pumpkin-carving. It's easier to get a record than to keep it.

    He took the title in 2000 when he carved a pumpkin face in 74.8 seconds. That time was 19 seconds faster than what Jerry had set. From then on, Clarke broke his own records five times. In 2006, he set his best time in Florida. His winning time was 24.03 seconds!

    The only problem is that someone finally beat that mark. On October 7, 2010, David set the new record with 20.1 seconds. Clarke was not able to break that record this year, but he has planned to break the record. After Halloween, he will go to local pumpkin farms to practise designs and new skills.

    Clarke is popular because of his super pumpkin-carving skills. In 1999, he carved more than 30 pumpkins at the Halloween party for then vice-president Al Gore.

    The back door of the ambulance(救护车) was suddenly shut and the driver ran to the front, jumped into his seat, and started the engine. Inside were the1 parents, Mr. and Mrs. Green, the mother holding their baby daughter Ally. The little girl had 2 food stuck in her throat and could hardly breathe.

    The driver, Mr. White, 3 his siren (报警器) and flashing light, and started speeding towards the nearest hospital, fighting against4. The cars ahead of him pulled out of the way as he drove through the 5from the back of the 6 the parents were shouting at him to    7 , since Ally had almost stopped breathing. In front of him he saw some traffic lights, with the red "STOP" light shining. Mr. White knew that he had no time to 8 , so he drove straight past the traffic lights, looking to his left and right as he did so.

    Coming towards him from his right was a taxi. The driver had the windows 9, since the car was air-conditioned, and he was playing his radio. He did not10the ambulance. The lights were green, so he drove straight on into the path of the ambulance.

    Mr. White tried to stop his ambulance but it was too late. It hit the taxi. Everybody was shaken but no one was hurt. Mr. White looked to see how little Ally was. He was astonished to see relief instead of 11on the faces of the parents.

    "Look!" cried Mrs. Green. "She is 12again."

    "It must have been the crash." said her husband. "It 13 the food out of her throat." The baby's color was turning to14 , and she was crying in a loud but healthy 15.

    They were all joyful, and quite forgot about the accident, the taxi, and the lines of cars all around them.

    Mr. Smith has a son. His name is Peter Smith. The young boy works in a bank in a city. He asks his father to visit the city. The old man is very happy and takes a train to the city. But he doesn't know where the bank is. He begins to look for but he can't find it.

    At a bus stop he asks an old woman "Excuse me, how can I get to the bank?" "We have ten banks in the city, which one do you want?" says the old woman.

    The old man shows the son's letter to her and the old woman says， "Walk along this road and turn left at the third crossing, then you can see the bank, It's across from a hospital."

    Mr. Smith thanks her and soon finds his son. After three days, the old man goes to the park. But he can't find the bank again. At the same bus stop he meets the same old woman and asks the same questions（问题）. "Oh, dear!" the old woman call out. "Are you still looking for your son?"

    What comes to your mind when you hear the word "twins"? Born on the same day? Looking almost the same? Or having the same hobbies? Well, I have a twin brother who was born on a different day from me. We do not look very much alike and we are always interested in different things.

Twelve years ago, my brother, Wayne, was born at eleven fifty-eight on the night of May 28. Five minutes later, I was born一on May 29. Since we were born, I have always been heavier and stronger than Wayne, so people usually think I am the older brother.

    But Wayne is always smarter than L He loves reading and learns many things quickly. He knows a lot about animals, although he does not spend much time with our dogs and birds. He knows e lot about bicycles, but never likes to ride bikes as much as I do.

    Though we are very different, I love my brother very much. I hope both of us can have a happy life in the future.