Michael Jackson was one of the world's best singers. He was born in the middle west of the city of Gary， Indiana， in 1958. He began singing with his four brothers. They called the group， “The Jackson Five”. The group became very popular after appearing on a television program. In 1970 the group made their  first record with the name of I Want You Back. It was very popular. One of their hit records was Never Say Goodbye.

    Michael was good at dancing as well as singing， for example， his dance moves and moon walking. He was asked to act in a film in 1978 for the first time， and in the same year he made a record on his own， which was sold eight million copies all over the world.

    Michael nearly didn't go out because he was too famous. Once his fans went off in a faint(晕倒）when they saw him at the concert. No one can do it by now. He lived in a large house and kept lots of animals. He never ate meat. He often raised money for charity. This made him win the Guinness world Records（吉尼斯世界纪录）in 2006. He died on June 25th， 2009， but he would live in our hearts forever.

    Jane Austen(1775--1817), an English' novelist, started writing young and completed six novels in her life. Today Austen's books are more popular than ever. In the last 10 years, five of her six novels have been made into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be best-sellers.

    Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University, says that her novels are about marriage, friendships and the family, which are still with us today. "The stories are timeless," Jenkyns said.

    Pride and Prejudice(《傲慢与偏见》) (1813) is Austen's most famous work. It is a love story about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. At first, these two dislike each other. Elizabeth is pretty, smart and lively. She is proud because Darcy doesn't know about her family. Mr. Darcy is handsome, rich and has a better family background. So, he is proud as well. At the same time, Darcy holds a prejudice against the Bennet family. He has no understanding of why the family, especially its mother and daughters should try so hard to find wealthy and powerful husbands. He thinks they are vulgar. Anyway, Elizabeth and Darcy finally fall in love and become a romantic couple(夫妻) but their families' "don t want them to.

    In Pride and Prejudice, some of the main things that Jane Austen wants to teach people are as follows. Opposites can attract (吸引 ) each other. Lovers should not only make each other feel relaxed or comfortable, but also educate and improve each other.

    Austen is often called the greatest romantic writer, so it is surprising she remained unmarried. "Maybe she was too romantic, waiting for the perfect man," Jenkyns says.

    Long ago in Germany, there was a little boy named George Frederick Handel and he loved music very much. He wanted to learn how to play the piano. But his father wanted him to become a lawyer (律师) and would not let him take music lessons.

    There was a little and old piano up in the attic (阁楼). At night, when everybody was asleep, the little boy climbed up the stairs and played softly.

    When he was about 7, he went to visit a rich duke (公爵) with his father. There was a wonderful organ (风琴) in his house.

    Little Handel walked up to the organ and began to play. His little hands moved over the keys and the sweetest music came out.

    When he finished, he saw his father and the duke looking at him. The duke asked him where he had learned to play, and the boy ________.

    Then the duke persuaded (说服) Handel's father to let him study music. A few years later, young Handel became a famous composer.

    One day when some government officials were rebuilding a house, they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to make the mice inside the hole come out. A while later they saw mice running out, one after another, but they saw two mice didn't run away immediately. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.

    Everyone was puzzled, so they came nearer to take a look. They realized that one of the two mice was blind, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite his tail in order to pull the blind one with him to run away.

    During the meal time, they started to talk about the two mice. One serious American said, "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard."

    A smart Frenchman said, "I think the relationship between them was that of husband and wife."

    A Japanese said, "I think the relationship between them was that of mother and son."

    At that moment, one Chinese asked, "Why did those two mice have a certain relationship?"

    Suddenly, they looked back at the Chinese. The American, the Frenchman and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shame, and didn't answer.

    In fact, the great love is not built on friendship or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.

    Mr. Gao lives in a town. When he was twenty-five, his son was born. He calls him Gao Ling. The little boy is clever and his parents love him very much.

    It's September 1^st today. A new school year begins. Gao Ling is happy and wears his most beautiful clothes. He's going to school with his new bag.

    "Let me take you to school, dear," said Mrs. Gao.

    "Thank you, Mummy," said the boy, "The school is not far from here. I can go there myself."

    At school a teacher met the little boy and asked," What's your name, my little friend?" "Gao Ling, sir", answered the boy. "How old are you?" "Six, sir."

    "What's your father's name?" "Gao Dalin, sir". "How old is he?" "He's six too, sir." "Oh," the teacher said in surprise. "Is he as old as you?"

    "Yes, sir." said the boy. "He became a father only at that time when I was born."