It's March, 2050. Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and turn on the bedroom computer to get the latest news. They get used to reading The Times over the years. The only difference is that they changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.

    After breakfast, as they watch the screen, Mary orders the household robot to make coffee for them. Frank is a computer engineer, working for several companies. He goes into the study to take part in a video conference with his partners around the world.

    Mary takes a quick look at the shopping channels at home before beginning the video call to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical researches.

    Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own work station at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Louise is studying Chinese at present. Chinese has become an important language in the world.

    According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130 years old. Her wish is to work for a few decades(十年)and then spend her time on music and painting.

Here are some students' New Year's resolutions of 2016.

Hi, my name is Selina. I'm going to do my best at school. I'm going to finish my homework on time. If I need some help with a subject, I'm going to ask my teacher for help.

My name is Dave. I'm going to eat fruit and vegetables every day. I'm going to drink more water and milk. I'm also going to brush my teeth after meals every day.

My name is Tina. I'm going to meet more people and make more friends this year. I'm also going to be friendly to other kids in my class. I'm going to be friendly to kids who need friends—like someone who is shy or new.

I'm Tony. I'll never give out personal information such as my name, home address, school name and telephone number on the Internet. Also, I'll never send a picture of myself to someone or talk with someone online(在网上).

    Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835, in the state of Missouri. When he was four, his family moved to the town of Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal was a port on the Missippi River, and Clemens loved to watch the big steamboats going up and down the river. He said that all the boys in his school had one ambition in life: to work on a steamboat!

    His father died when he was just 12 years old, and Clemens then went to work for a printer to help support his family. He travelled around, and worked in many different cities. But when he was 22, he achieved his ambition—he got a job working on a steamboat. He sailed up and down the wide Missippi River until the American Civil War began.

    He then moved around America, and tried several jobs. He was a soldier, and a silver miner. Then he started working as a writer for a newspaper. It was at that time that he decided to use a pen name for his stories, and he chose the name "Mark Twain".

    The name is interesting. It comes from his days on the steamboats. He used to throw a piece of rope into the river. There was a heavy weight on the end of the rope, and the rope had some marks on it. He used the rope to find how deep the river was. Then he shouted out, "Mark One" or "Mark Twain", meaning "Mark Two". Each mark was about two metres, so when he shouted "Mark Twain", it meant that the river was deep enough for the big boat.

    In 1865 Clemens wrote a story about a jumping frog. The story and the writer became famous. In 1867 he toured Europe. He married when he returned, and lived for most of the rest of his in Harfort, Connecticut. He wrote many books, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which he wrote in 1876. He also gave many lectures, and became a very famous and popular man.

    Once two of his friends decided to write to him, but they had lost his address. So on the envelope they just wrote "Mark Twain, God knows where". Several weeks later, they received a replay from the writer. It just said, "He does!"

    Samuel Clemens died in 1910. He is considered to be one of America's most important writers.

    This was a very interesting story. I 1 thousands of classes since I started school nine years ago. But one class was 2 of all.

    It happened last term just after I had got a bad result in 3 exam. I was sad and had lost my confidence. I decided 4 to a class 5 can tell me how to be successful. The speaker walked into the room. 6 he did not start talking like a teacher. Instead, he held up a twenty yuan note!

    "Who wants this?" he asked. Unsurprisingly, 7 of us in the class held up our hands. The speaker smiled. Then he put up the note on the blackboard and asked the same question. Again, we put up our hands. The speaker kept 8, but said 9 . Suddenly, he threw the note onto the floor! Then he asked the same question for  10time.

    I didn't understand the speaker. Why was he asking the same question again and again? I didn't know 11 to do. I wanted the note, so I put my hand up again. "You have all just told me how to become successful." He said to us 12 the note in his hand. "The note is worth twenty yuan. It is always worth twenty yuan, even though I throw it on the floor. You are like the note. No matter what happens to you, you still have your worth."

    Hearing those words, I 13 deeply. Suddenly, I realized I was worth a lot. I may have failed, but it doesn't mean I 14 do well in the future. If I believe in15I will be successful!

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war. he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.

Leonardo was a strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times. He never published(发表) discoveries about science. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side。

Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.

Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.

David was a truck driver. Recently he was thought to be a great man.

Last Monday, he was driving along the road with his son and his friend. Suddenly he saw a car hit another truck (卡车) and catch fire. The accident was just in front of his truck. Without thinking, he stopped his truck, found a fire extinguish er (灭火器) and ran towards the broken car. But other car drivers still sat in their cars. David began to fight the fire. His action encouraged his friend. He also came and gave David a hand. Later, David's son and four other men came to help. Another five men pulled the car driver and her granddaughter, a three-year-old girl, out of the car successfully. They were all safe except that the driver's leg was hurt.

When people talked about David's brave action, David said, " I didn't think too much then. I just did what other people would do in that situation. When I first got out of the truck,I wished they wouldn't be dead. When I saw they were alive, it was really great!"