Edward Estlin Cummings (E. E. Cummings) was a poet famous for writing his poems with capital (大写的) letters in the words. He also used "i" instead of "I" to refer to himself in the poems.

    Edward was born on 14 October, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Young Edward's mother Rebecca loved to spend time with her children. She taught young Edward how to write poems. Edward's father was also named Edward. He was a great scholar (学者) and taught his son to learn by using his hands as well as his mind.

    Edward was a very smart boy. He was only 12 when he became a freshman in high school. He graduated (毕业) from Harvard in 1915. During World War Ⅰ, he joined the army and was sent to France. Edward and his friend from Harvard were caught because people thought they were sent by the German army. They were kept in one room. Their life was boring and full of fear. Edward therefore wrote his first book The Enormous Room and published it in 1922.

    Edward was a poet that made his own rules in poetry. He was one of the most popular poets of the 20th century.

    On April 19th, a pottery (陶器) exhibition was held at Wuhan Optical Experimental Valley School. Many pieces of pottery in different sizes were shown at the school. Some were a bit broken, but all of them were beautiful works of art created by the students.

    At the end of last year, the school started a project that called on teachers to collect disused or broken pieces of pottery from the countryside. So far, they have collected about 3,000 pieces.

    "Pottery used to play an important role in the daily lives of Chinese people." school head Ma Guoxin told the reporter. "By pottery painting, the students can improve themselves in many ways. They can better understand the history of the pottery, put their creativity into the pottery and show the love for life and beauty. "

    Students turned the pottery into different works of art .They were all encouraged to paint pictures on the pottery, even though some students didn't know how to paint. Wang Zixuan, a student from Grade Eight, with little knowledge of painting, painted a beautiful night scenery on a piece of pottery. It was so nice that many students loved it.

    Almost every classroom has coloured pieces of pottery. They are either used as flowerpots or pen containers(笔筒). The school has also set up several art corners to show the pottery. For example, the students have put up some pottery on bookcases outside of a lecture hall(报告厅) It has become an enjoyable place for students to rest and read.

    Science fiction is a popular kind of writing, and many people think of Jules Verne(儒勒·凡尔纳) as the father of science fiction. He was born in France in 1828. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but from his early 20s Verne decided to become a writer. At first he wrote plays for the theater. Then, in 1863, he wrote a story called Five Weeks in a Balloon. The success of this book encouraged him to write more stories such as A Journey to the Center of the Earth(1864) and From the Earth to the Moon(1865).

    In the 19th century, many people were interested in science and inventions. Jules Verne wrote about scientific subjects in his stories and, as a result, they were very popular. Verne's writing included many predictions(预言) for the 20th century and many of them came true. He described space flight, movies, and air conditioning, a long time before they appeared. These books were very successful and they made Verne rich.

    Jules Verne's books have been the subjects for many movies. 20, 000 Leagues under the Sea was a successful movie for Walt Disney. It was the first time that Disney movie had used real actors instead of cartoon drawings. Around the World in Eighty Days is another famous movie based on one of Verne's books. The main character is an Englishman called Phileas Fogg. For him, the most important thing is to be always on time!

    I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was hurt in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.

    After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very thankful and decided to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was surprised. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible(负责的) for my injury(受伤), I'd have to have a good lawyer(律师). And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair(公平的) that I should pay him. But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report only has ten lines, and it cost me $215.

    My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he didn't want to see me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.

    Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Because of my inexperience, I told the insurance(保险) company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.

    When someone shouts at you or says something that can hurt you, how will you feel and what will you do? Last week, I learned an important life lesson from a taxi driver.

    Last Tuesday, I called a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane(车道)when suddenly a black car jumped out. My driver quickly stopped his car and almost hit the other car! The driver of the other car turned his head around and started shouting at us! My driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, in a really friendly way.

    So I asked, "Why did you just do that? That driver almost hit your car and sent us to the hospital!" However, he said, "Many people are like garbage trucks（垃圾车）. They run around full of garbage一all kinds of bad feelings. As their garbage adds up, they need a place to dump （倾倒）it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people."

    His words touched me a lot. Since then, I have started to see "garbage trucks" everywhere. I see the load(负载)they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.