Avril(艾薇儿) Lavigne is an excellent teenage(十几岁的)singer. She made a great success because of her musical talent(天才，天赋).

      She wrote her songs by herself, played the guitar and had a wide range of voice(音域). When she was only 17 years old, she began to sing her own rock-and-roll(摇滚乐) music. She is a talent in the musical world. People in many different countries like her songs very much.

Avril Lavigne isn't a quiet girl. She is a true wild, active and crazy girl. She started showing her voice and character at around age 2. “I'm just coming out and I'm going to be myself. I write what I feel. I never worry about what others think,” Avril said.

      Her music can reach girls' and boys' hearts and even some adults, too. “I can't wait to be out there; I want to rock the world! I want people to know what music is real and honest(坦率的)—it comes from my heart. I am just being true to myself.”

    Joe was an old man. The 75-year-old lived very happily in a village and had a beautiful family. Joe had four grandchildren, and they visited him during their holidays.

During one vacation, Joe was preparing his home for the kids: cleaning and buying their favorite foods. After he finished working, he realized he lost his favorite watch. The watch was a gift from his wife when their first child was born. Joe loved the watch very much, especially after his wife's death. He was very upset about losing it.

    Once his grandchildren came, they promised him they would find the watch.

    One granddaughter asked: "Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last before it went missing?"

    "I guess when I was cleaning the barn(谷仓)!" Joe replied.

    The children looked for more than two hours with Joe, but they could not find it. The kids were now also sad, but they tried to comfort(安慰) their grandfather.

    One grandson went back to the barn to search again. Joe asked why he was going there a second time. But the little boy just asked the others not to follow him and to remain silent.

    He was there for about fifteen minutes and then rushed to his grandfather. He found the watch and happily gave it to Joe.

    Joe was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied: "I sat there without making a noise, and the barn was so silent. After a few minutes, I heard the ‘tick, tick' sound and found the watch."

    Joe hugged and thanked the little boy.

From Nobody to Somebody

    Brian was a funny student. He loved watching comedies（喜剧） best and hoped to become a comedy actor one day.

    When he heard about the talent show to be held at this school, Brian decided to take part in. He had never acted on stage（舞台） before, and he was very excited. But some students laughed at him. “You are not funny but silly,” Ken, one of his classmates, said to his face. “No one will like what you do,” another boy also said to him, loudly.

    Brian couldn't understand why they were so unkind to him. For a moment, he thought about giving up the show. But he remembered how much his friends liked his jokes, and also his teachers said he was very funny. So he decided to prepare for the show.

    Brian did a great job at the talent show. Everyone loved his performance, and he won the first prize! His teachers and friends were proud of him. Even so, Ken told Brian that he was not funny, and that he would never be successful. Brian didn't understand why Ken said so, but he realized that it had nothing to do with him. He confidently continued to work towards his goal.

    As the years went on, Brian met more people like Ken. “you'll do a terrible job,” they said to him. Luckily, most people encouraged him and some helped him to become even funnier. He got a lot of opportunities to perform in movies. He was even invited to appear on television. His fans thanked him because his comedies made them feel good when they were unhappy.

    Now Brian is a big comedy star! He is doing what he loves best. He never feels stressed like those unkind people, and he laughs all day long!

    When Justin Tong was a child, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him doing lots of housework such as carrying out the rubbish and sending newspapers. But when he grew up, he was better off than his childhood friends and lived a happier and healthier life.

This is the finding of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 children in London. It showed that the children who had worked hard in childhood had a richer and a happier future. "Children who worked in the home or community gained competence(能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society," said Daniel Brown, the psychologist(心理学家) who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."

Brown's study followed these children in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Brown, the researchers compared the children's mental-health scores with their childhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

    Working at any age is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this.

    Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, "One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work."

    Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel lately? Can you imagine the flying feeling as you are pulled up to the top and then moved down to the bottom quickly again?

    Today a Ferris wheel is usually 40 to 60 feet tall. That seems very high when you are on the top looking down. But the first Ferris wheel was 264 feet high- taller than a twenty-story building! Can you imagine the view from the top of that?

    The first Ferris wheel was built for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. The people who planned the fair were looking for an attraction that would bring people to Chicago. George Ferris handed a drawing of a giant wheel that people could ride on. At first everyone laughed at his strange idea. But Mr Ferris did not give up, and finally the idea was accepted. The ride opened in June of 1893.

    Today's Ferris wheels have 12 to 16 seats, which each carry 2 or 3 people. But that first one had 36 enclosed cars, each holding 60 passengers. When filled, it carried 2,160 people. During that summer in Chicago, about 1.5 million people rode the Ferris wheel.

After the fair, the ride was moved to a nearby amusement park built especially to show off the wheel. In 1904, it was moved again一to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. After the fair there, the wheel stood unused. In 1906, it was finally sold to a company for scrap metal(废金属).

    Luckily a Chicago bridge builder, W.E. Sullivan, figured out how to make a smaller Ferris wheel that could easily be taken apart and put together. In 1906, he started the company that still makes many of the Ferris wheels used today.

    But, whenever you ride one, remember that it all began with George Ferris's strange idea!

This story took place during the Warring States (战国) period. At that time, kings would often 1 each other's sons as hostages (人质) to protect their kingdoms (王国).

Now it was the prince of Wei's turn. He was going to Handan, the capital of Zhao, as a hostage. Pang Cong, an official, was going with him. Before they 2 , Pang Cong said to the king of Wei, "If someone comes to report that he has 3 a tiger in the market will Your Majesty (陛下) believe it?"

"Of course not," the king answered.

"If another man comes to say the same thing, will Your Majesty believe it?"

"I'll start to 4 about it."

"Then, what if a third man comes with the same report, Your Majesty?"

"Maybe I will think it is 5 ."

"Well, we all know that no tiger dares to go to the market. But since three men have said the same thing, everyone now 6 that there is a tiger there. Handan is much 7 from our capital than the market is from the court (王宫), and more than three people will talk against me behind my 8 . When I'm away, Your Majesty will not fail to judge (判断) what you hear, will you?"

"I know 9 to judge," the king said impatiently.

Then Pang Cong said 10 to the king and left Daliang, the capital of Wei, with the prince. But as soon as he had left, the king's ears were 11 with words against him.

After a few years, when Pang Cong 12 to Wei with the prince, the king would not see him again. He was no longer 13 .

So, "three liars (说谎的人) make a 14 " is used to say that if a lie is 15 often enough, people may start to believe it, even though it is not a fact.