Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.

 Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

 Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

 He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled (困惑的). All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

 Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.

    Billy Dengler, a 14-year-old boy, is in the eighth grade. When he was born a month later, Billy's mother, Terri, noticed that his eyes weren't quite as big as a normal baby's. She took Billy to the hospital, and the doctor said Billy would never be able to see.

    Although Billy can't see, he has never let that hold him back or make him different. Billy began teaching himself computer programming by using a screen reader when he was just seven years old. He is a certified Google developer (谷歌认证开发者) now. Google even tried to offer him a job last year when he discovered a problem in one of its systems, but Billy wasn't old enough.

    Billy's dream school would be Stanford University or MIT, where he could get a very good education in computer science. After he leaves school, whether he will go to work at a company like Google or design a software company of his own is still to be decided. However, he says he will definitely (绝对地) do something great.

    "It's a sighted world," Billy said. "You can't let anything get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that, you can't move forward and make your dreams come true."

A woman works in a factory and1her pay at the end of2week. One Saturday she got her pay and counted the3. Suddenly she found that it was wrong: there were five pounds4than she should get. She5the money in her pocket and said nothing6others. A week went by and it was pay day7. But this time there were five pounds less instead. She was so angry8she went to see the boss. The boss said to her. "Didn't you9there was a mistake last week?" But she explained: "For one mistake, I can 10my eyes, but for two mistakes, no, I cannot."

Dale is a middle school student. His father has 1 black car, so his father usually 2 him to school. Dale's best friend Ben goes to school by bike, 3 he thinks it is good for 4 health. Ben wants Dale to ride a bike with 5 . And Dale thinks Ben is right.

After he gets home, Dale says to his mother, "Mom, I would like 6 a bike. Would you please buy one 7 me?"

His mother smiles and asks, "8 do you want to ride a bike to school?"

"First, it's good for my health. Second, there 9 a lot of cars and buses on the road, so it is faster(更快) to ride a bike to school." Dale says.

"OK. Let's 10 to the supermarket and choose(挑选) one. But you must be careful to ride a bike on the way to school." says Dale's mother.

Molly ran back home from school and dropped her schoolbag on the sofa. Then on the table she saw "Mum's Wish Book". "Mum," she said excitedly to herself, "this year уоu'll get the gloves you want！" Molly saved her 1 all уear to buy Mum the gloves.

She opened "Mum's Wish Book" and hoped that she could find these 2 in it. Mum wouldn't buy them for herself, because the family had a 3 time on the farm.Molly ran out by the back door and went straight to the post office. "I need to buy a stamp to 4 the form," she said to Mr. Smith, the only worker in the post office. 

And she told him that was a Christmas gift for her mother, and wanted him to help her to 
keep the 5 .When she was back home, she told Dad this secret. "You've got to check thе mailbox every day," said Molly 6 to Dad. Hе nodded, with a big smile.

Coming home from school every day, Mollу peeked at （偷看） Dad when Mum wasn't 7 , but every time he shook his head. On Christmas Eve, Dad came back from the mailbox, still empty handed. Molly felt 8 .

Before Christmas dinner, as Mum took the apple pies out of the oven, Molly began 9 the table. Suddenly, they saw Mr. Smith making his way to the door, with a box in his hand. Mr. Smith 10 Mum the box, "I believe this is yours." Mum looked from Dad to Molly and opened the box. Her eyes lit up when she saw the gloves. "Oh, who bought these for me?" she asked.

"Santa did," said Molly smilingly.