Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

In 1954, life magazine published(刊登) a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.
In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.
In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents.
He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people.

Ten-year-old Barack Obama was one of the only three black students at his school in Hawaii, US. He felt very different from most other students. White girls wanted to touch his hair. ①A white boy asked him whether his father ate people.“I lied (说谎) to them that my father was a Kenyan prince. But I kept asking myself who I am," said Obama. However, 37 years later, the boy made history—Obama became the first black president in the history of the US.

    Obama was born in 1961, to an African father and a white American woman in a small town in the US. He grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii. ②This unusual background made him want to know who he was. He once drank much wine to help forget this question.

    With the help of his friends, Obama finally went to college. His hard work made him a star at Harvard. Later, he became the third black senator (参议员) in the history of the US. During his race to the highest post in the US. Obama talked about his background. He called for a United America, rather than a white America or a black America.

    Obama's success has made Martin Luther King's dream come true. That is: A man should not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

D.

    There is a little girl. Her name is May. She is eight years old. May always asks her mother, "Why is my name May?" Her mother says, "Because your birthday is in May." The little girl is very happy and she likes her name. She thinks her name is very interesting. Every year, on May's birthday, all her friends come to her house and say happy birthday to her. They watch TV, play games and eat the birthday cake together. And she can get a lot of presents(礼物).

    May has a little brother. He is five years younger than his sister. She likes him very much. He was born(出生) in April. Can you guess his name? Haha, his name is April. Oh, April will have a sister next month, the second month of a year. Can you guess what her name is?

    I am Tom. My mom told me my first and second words were "Mommy" and "Daddy". The next one was "No". I didn't want to eat vegetables. I didn't want to go to bed early. I didn't want to study in the school. Being the "baby" of the family (I have two sisters)，I said a lot of "No".

    When I became a middle school student, my father had a talk with me. He asked me to say "Yes" more than "No". "You can have a different life when you do that," he said.

    Then I began to say "Yes" more. When mom asked me to give her a cup of tea, I said "Yes". I saw a big smile on her face. When Dad asked me to buy some food for him，I said "Yes". When he said "thanks" to me, I felt excited and happy. When I met problems in study, I said "Yes, I can do it!" I began to study hard and got good grades.

    Saying "Yes" can bring good luck to me and make me happy. Let's say "Yes" to life. Say "Yes" when others ask for help. Say "Yes" to make this world be a good place.

    Rachel Carson(1907-1964) was a pioneer of the world's environmental movement through her writing about the protection of the natural world. Her 1962 book Silent Spring made her well known by many people. It describes the harmful changes in the environment of using toxic chemicals (有毒化学物质) on farmland.

    Carson first worked as a biologist in the US Bureau of Fisheries. In 1951, her first book The Sea Around Us came out. It became a bestseller. It made her rich enough to leave her job and spend all her life in writing. She was a talented writer. Her next two books were also about the oceans and both on the top of the book sales lists.

    Carson's book Silent Spring completely changed the way Americans thought about nature. It painted a bleak(荒凉的) future for the whole natural world. It led to a nationwide ban(禁止) on the use of a deadly chemical called DDT, and other toxic pesticides(农药) that farmers used for their crops. Many people say the book led to the creation of America's Environmental Protection Agency.

    Since her death, Carson's name has continued to be connected with protecting the environment. There is now a yearly Rachel Carson Book Prize. Norway gives the Rachel Carson Prize to women who have done a lot on environmental protection. In 1980, 16 years after her death, she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in America.