Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. His father was a painter and art teacher who gave his son the first lesson in drawing. He won a prize— Science and Charity”for his first important painting when he was only fifteen. He studied in several cities in Spain. But there was no one to teach him all that he wanted to know. When he was nineteen, he visited Paris.

    Paris was then the center of the world for artists. Everything that was new and exciting in the world of paintings seemed to happen there. When he was twenty-three, Picasso moved there to live and lived in France for the rest of his life.

 When he was over ninety, this great painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still looking for new ideas and new ways to use his artistic materials.

    When he died in 1973, he was ninety-one years old.

   It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he walked by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind. “I'll send Mum some roses (玫瑰).”
   While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?” he asked. The shop assistant told him that roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨). She told him they were a lot cheaper than roses.
   “No, I have to have red roses," he said, "My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, as the rose is her favorite.”
   After hearing this, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the shop assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you two." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air. He thanked John, and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the shop assistant to send them to his mother.
   As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses, "Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”
   Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked back to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

    Martin is a fifteen-year-old boy. He used to be a "problem child", but a recent 1 with his mother changed his life. He didn't use to give his mother many problems. 2 , after his father's death a few years ago, Martin's life became 3 more difficult. His mother couldn't afford to pay for her child's education. To do this, she 4 work, and so she was often not at home. His mother looked after him as 5 as she could. Unfortunately, Martin still caused problems. He was not 6 in studying and he often got into trouble. Luckily, his mother was very 7 and didn't give up trying to help him. In the end, she 8 a difficult decision: to send him to a boys' boarding school. Martin hated it and used to cause a lot of trouble. One day, he told his teacher he wanted to leave the school. The teacher said it was necessary for Martin to 9 with his mother. Martin called his mother, but to his 10 , this phone call changed his life. "It was exactly 11 I needed," he said. "My mother helped me to understand how much she had given me. She also told me that even though my father was no longer with us, he was 12 me and would always take pride in everything good I do. That's when I decided to change. I realize that 13 my father died, I have been afraid of being alone, and have tried to make my mother pay more attention to me." Now Martin has 14 changed. He has been working hard and is now one of the best students in his class. How was he able to change? His mother's 15 helped him to feel good about himself.

    Tony Wheeler was born to travel. His father worked for an airline. For the first 16 years of his life, Wheeler and his family lived in many different countries.

    In the early 1970s,Tony met a young woman named Maureen. They soon married. Before getting jobs, Tony and Maureen wanted to travel. They took a year long trip from England, through Asia, to Australia. On the trip,they visited places like Iran(伊朗),India, and so on.

    When Tony and Maureen arrived in Australia, people asked many

questions about their trip. To answer these questions, Wheeler wrote a book called Across Asia on the Cheap. The book told people about different countries' weather, customs (风俗), and places to see. But unlike other travel books then,Tony Wheeler's book also talked about places most tourists did not go. He also wrote about unusual things to see and do. The book was very popular.

    Tony and Maureen started a company called Lonely Planet. They

continued travelling. They wrote books for each place they visited. Today,800 people work {or Lonely Planet. The company has over 650 books. Tony Wheeler,the great traveller, still writes about travels to many places and will bring us more surprises.

    When a man was walking along the street, he saw a woman carrying a large box. It was half in and half out of her car. So the man went up and said, "The box looks very heavy. Let me give you a hand. "

    "That's very kind of you, "the woman said, "I'm having a lot of trouble with it. Maybe it sticks（卡住）in the car door. "

    ""Together we'll soon move it," the man said. "I'll get in and take the other end." And he got in the car.

    "Right," the man said. "I'm ready," and he began to push the box hard.

    For several minutes, the man and the woman tried to move the box. Soon they felt very tired.

    They rested for a moment. Then the woman said, "Let's try again. One, two, three!" They went on moving the box At last, when they were exhausted, the man said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any way to get it out of your car. "

    "Get it out?" the woman cried. "I'm trying to get it in! You know?"

    "It looks so good on you," said my friend. I was trying on a bathing suit. Then the topic of conversation turned to going on a diet(节食).

    I wanted to become pretty and thin. So I decided to stick to the diet. I didn't eat my lunch. Some people asked me where my lunch was. I lied to them and made up excuses.

    I did the same with breakfast. I tricked(欺骗) my dad into thinking that I ate my bread, but I fed it to the cat. My weight dropped fast, but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I still thought I was not thin enough.

    Finally, dark circles formed under my eyes. I wore thick clothing in hot weather, but I was still cold. That didn't matter. I still needed to be thinner.

    About a month after I bought the bathing suit, I tried it on again, and it fell right off me. My mother told me to look in the mirror. I could see my eye sockets(眼窝). That was the day I realized how skinny I was.

    I went to see a doctor. My total weight loss was about twenty-five pounds in one month. It took one year for my body to start working normally again.

    Sometimes I want to go back to being thin, but I will never do what I did again. It's not worth it. Please don't go on a diet when you're young. You will regret it. Don't judge and compare yourself with others. Try to love yourself for who you are, not for what you look like.