Dear Alice,
    I just received your letter. And I was very surprised to know that you decided to drop out of school and wanted to be a model（模特）.
Being a model for a living is not easy. In fact, a famous person like me has a lot of problems that you couldn't see. I can't eat what I like, even though I'm very hungry. Keeping thin makes me look more beautiful on the stage because no one would like to see a heavy model.
Besides, I have to wear a heavy coat in the hot sun, in a swimming suit in the cold air. And practicing walking nicely every day is tiring for me.
You might say I made much money from modeling. But my dear niece （侄女）, you have to know that money is nothing, knowledge is everything. School is important and everyone should go to school for a certain period of time. The longer they stay at school, the better they will be. Very often, I hope I can give up my job and continue my studies at school. But it is very difficult for me to go back to school again. I am too old to go back to school now.
    You are a pretty young girl with a bright future. You only have one year to finish your studies in high school. A year is really short. Please do consider my words carefully before you decide. Of course, there is only one thing I care about, and that is your happiness.
Love,
Emma

    Stephen Chow was born in Hong Kong in 1962 and grew up in Shanghai, along with three sisters. He is best known for his comic（滑稽的）film roles.

    He showed an early interest in martial arts（武术）star Bruce Lee. It is the special hobby that made him to be more and more successful all around China. After studying from high school in 1982, with the help of his friend, Chow could take night courses in an acting school in Hong Kong. The school was run（经营）by TVB, a local television station. He graduated in 1983 and was hired（被雇用）as a host of a children's television program called 430 Space Shuttle. He was not very much fond of children.

    Later, he had a chance to play in the film Final Justice. In 1988, Stephen Chow won Best Supporting Actor for it at the 25th Annual（年度的）Taiwanese Film Awards.

    This led to a series of mostly comic film and television roles. In 1992, he won Best Actor of Asia Pacific Film Festival for the film Justice My Foot. He is famous for his comic and humorous actions and words in film and they always make people laugh.

    A Chinese Odyssey, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu are the best among his films.

    Jerry, 30 years old, owned a pizza restaurant. He lived in a flat about one mile north of the restaurant. He walked to and from work. When it was raining, he took the bus.

    Jerry loved gangster（匪徒）movies. When a new on came out, he would go to the theater and watch the new movie three or four times. Then, when it went to video, Jerry would buy the video at Tom's Video Store. Jerry had a home collection of over 1, 000 gangster videos. Old ones, new ones; coloured, black and white; English, Spanish, Japanese-he loved them all. He could tell you the name of the movie, the director, the stars, and the story.

    Jerry finally decided that he would like to own a gun, just like the gangsters. So he saved his money and one day he went to a gun store and bought one for $300. On Saturday morning, he went to the gun club to practise shooting 射击）. He was in the club for only 10 minutes when he accidentally（偶然）dropped his gun. The gun went off, and the bullet（子弹）went into Jerry's right knee（膝盖）.

    Jerry now walks with a walking stick, just like some gangsters.

    It was nearly seven o'clock, when a man walked into a bar, ordered a drink and turned to watch the television.

    The seven o'clock news was on and it was showing a man standing on top of a tall building. He was looking down at the crowd of people below.

    On the ground, a police officer with a megaphone(扩音器)was trying to tell him not to jump.

    "Let's talk about your problem," the police officer was saying. "Perhaps we can help you."

    The man turned to the bartender(酒吧侍者)and said, "I bet you a hundred dollars he doesn't jump.

    The bartender looked at him. "You're offering me a hundred dollars if he jumps? Is that right?"

    "Yes. I don't think he'll jump."

    The bartender smiled. "OK. You've got a bet."

    The man turned back to the TV and watched it carefully. The bartender, however, did not seem to be very interested. He continued washing glasses and serving the other customers.

    Then, after about five minutes, the man on the building threw himself off the building and fell to the ground.

    The man in the bar turned to the bartender.

    "He jumped," he said. "You win."

    He held out a hundred dollar bill to the bartender, but the bartender would not take it.

    "I can't take your money," he said. "I knew I couldn't lose. That story was on the six o'clock news. I saw him jump."

    "Well, yes, so did I," the man said, "but I didn't think he'd do such a stupid thing twice."

    The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809.As a boy, Charles liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He enjoyed watching nature, and comparing what he saw with everything he had read in science books. He also liked collecting very much. He collected many things, such as birds, eggs, stones and leaves.

    At sixteen Darwin was sent to the University of Edinburgh to become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature.

    Then he was sent to study in the University of Cambridge. There he studied until 1831.

    Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and wanted a scientist. His teacher advised him to go. So when the Beagle left England in December, 1831, Darwin was on it.

    The trip lasted almost five years. Darwin saw many new plants and animals. He collected all kinds of plants.

    In 1842 Darwin went to live in Kent, and there he continued his studies of change in nature. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change.

    By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book The Origin of Species. It made a great hit in the world of science. He was opposed(反对)by the church and even by some scientists. But later, more and more scientists agreed with him.

    In1871 Darwin wrote another important book. Darwin continued his studies in science until he died in 1882.