A qualified doctor who rarely practicedbut instead devoted his life to writing．He once said: “Medicine is my lawfulwife, and literature is my lover．” Russian writer Anton PavlovichChekhov, was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern shortstory．

When Chekhov entered the MoscowUniversity Medical School in 1879, he started to publish hundreds of comicshort stories to support his family．After he graduated, he wrote regularlyfor a local daily newspaper．

As a writer he was extremely fast, oftenproducing a short story in an hour or less．Chekhov's medical and science experiencecan be seen through the indifference (冷漠) many of his characters show to tragicevents．In1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorablestories．

Chekhov often wrote about the sufferingsof life in small town Russia．Tragic events control his characters whoare filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair．

It is often said that nothing happens inChekhov's stories and plays．He made up for this with his excitingtechnique for developing drama within his characters．Chekhov'swork combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity(敏感) of anartist．

Some of Chekhov's works were translatedinto Chinese as early as the 1940s．One of his famous stories, The Man in aShell, about a school teacher's extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as atext for Chinese senior students．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

     The idea of inventing an international language is not a new one. Over the past 180 years, linguists (语言学家) have created over ten different languages that are based on German, Spanish, and English. One of these was Basic English.

     By 1923 the First World War had been over for five years, but Europe was still recovering from its effects. Charles Kay Ogden, a linguist and writer, was running several bookshops in Cambridge. He published The Meaning of Meaning (1923), a book describing how we use language. The book received high praise, which drove Ogden to design an international language — something that was much simpler than English. In 1930 Ogden's book Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar was published.

     Perhaps it takes about seven years for one to become a good English speaker. Ogden believed that Basic English could be learned in seven weeks. There were only 850 words and the grammar was very simple.

     The language attracted the attention of educators all over the world, but its development was stopped by the Second World War. After the war, both the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt looked for ideas that might bring world peace. They both gave speeches that encouraged the use of Ogden's international language. In the past 60 years, the language has had some success. In some parts of East Asia, teachers are still using Ogden's word lists.

     However, in the main, the language has disappeared. Because there are many more non-native than native speakers of English, recently some linguists have asked whether we should give careful consideration to Ogden's ideas again. And the Wikipedia website (www.wikipedia.org) has started a version (版本) written in Basic English for non-native learners of the language. Search for it on the Internet now!  

    The trouble with school is that you can't choose the people you get to see every day. If you're unlucky enough to be stuck with classmates who don't really “get” you, you've just got to try to make the best of it.

    But that doesn't mean you need to “fit in”, or at least in the way that people think. If you try to transform yourself into a clone of everyone else, it won't help you make friends. It'll just make you feel like a fake.

    You also shouldn't shut down or refuse to be friends with everyone who doesn't like you. If you do that, you'll just make yourself miserable. Instead, you've got to work on being comfortable and confident with whom you are while ignoring（忽略）all the haters. Keep on speaking up, asking questions and getting to know people better. If you send out positive energy, then people will generally send some back to you. A couple of them will stay the same, and you're allowed to forget about them.

    If you feel like you've doing all that but still not getting anywhere, then don't give up. Just expand your circle. Get a part-time job at a cool-looking place, join an after-school art class or youth group—do whatever it takes to find a couple of like-minded people to connect with. Even if you don't find anyone right away, you'll still be getting some more social experiences under your belt, and that's always a good thing.

    A fun book called Uncool, by Erin Elisabeth Conley, has some tips for folks like you who want to stay positive at school while being true to your personality:

    Throw caution to the wind.

    Don't tolerate others' mistakes.

    Have patience with people who are different from you.

    Don't change just because someone else thinks you should.

    Know that even though you may be a misfit, there's always some place where you will be welcomed in the world.

    Almost none of us have the time to read everything we'd like to read. Yet we lose countless hours to daily activities that bring us little joy like taking buses and waiting in line. What if we could turn these little blocks of unoccupied time into precious and rewarding moments for learning and thinking?

    Established in 2012, iReader, a micro-learning app on mobile phones, brings the biggest ideas from best-selling books through 15-minute audio (音频) and text. So far, more than 3,000 books have been included, ranging from psychology and parenting to management and economics, with new titles added every day.

    iReader is pioneering a new method of reading, with over 9 million users enjoying the benefits already. According to the Pew Research Center (PRC), the British read just 4 paper books a year and over 25% haven't read a single paper book this year, but reading isn't dying. There are now more ways for the British to read than ever before, due to the widespread use of e-books and audio books.

    The books in iReader are rewritten to ensure it is easy to remember the main content. The way the content is edited has been specifically designed to ensure it is useful in practice. Besides, the content is rewritten with related examples in real life, which means users are more likely to remember and apply what is helpful to them.

    Holger Seim, German co-founder of this app, declares, "iReader gives you the biggest ideas in the shortest possible time. It transforms great ideas into little packs you can listen to or read in just 15 minutes."

    When a terrible earthquake hit, many people were killed and many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

    One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than ourselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan. "We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing. We'll share what we have with them."

    I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. "Oh, dear," I said. "You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan said, "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make another little girl happy, too."

    I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It's easy to give something that we don't want any more, but harder to give what we cherish (珍爱), isn't it?

    People generally tend to pick out the best-looking fruits and vegetables when shopping for produce, but Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws is attracting customers with badly-shaped and faulty produce at the price of 30% lower than normal-looking ones.

    A trial run of the ugly food line, named "Naturally Imperfect", began with only apples and tomatoes to choose from. Consumer demand has been so huge that Loblaws is going to introduce more unsightly vegetables and fruit options like onions and mushrooms. The line is available at other stores, including Real Canadian Superstore and Your Independent Grocer.

    All the produce that will be sold through Naturally Imperfect would otherwise have been used in juices, sauces, or soups, or have not been harvested at all. The director Dan Branson explained that this program benefited both food producers who would otherwise have to let abnormal harvest go to waste, and consumers who could buy fresh produce at low prices. And he was right, given how popular the line has become.

    "It really went well beyond our expectation," Branson said. "I think it really spoke to the fact that Canadians are out there really looking for some options."

    Of course, Canadians know that beauty is more than skin deep, but they also recognize that they can get the same flavor and nutritional benefits in spite of appearances. The positive response to the initial offering of apples and potatoes showed the opportunity to expand the line and offer more options at a greater price to Canadian families.

    "If you grow produce in your backyard, there will be a lot of produce that won't look as pretty as what you will see in a grocery store," said Branson. "And nature doesn't grow everything perfectly. I'd like to think if somebody were to take a No Name Naturally Imperfect apple, put right beside a No.1 apple, close their eyes and eat them, there would be no difference."