Look at the Sky from the Bottom of a Well

    There is a frog(青蛙). He lives in a well(水井) and he never goes out of the well. He thinks the sky is as big as the mouth of the well.

    One day a crow(乌鸦)comes to the well. He sees the frog .

    The frog asks, “Where are you from?”

    “I fly from the sky.” the crow says.

    The frog feels surprised and says, “The sky is only as big as the mouth of the well. How do you fly from the sky?”

    The crow says, “The sky is very big. You always stay in the well, so you don't know the world is big.”

    The frog says, “I don't believe it .”

    But the crow says, “You can come out and have a look by yourself.”

    So the frog comes out from the well. He is very surprised. How big the world is!

    Imagine this. Somebody hides free books in the subway for you to find and read. Sound exciting? Well, British actress Emma Watson, 26, is doing it! She is known for acting as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies.

    Watson hid 100 copies of a book called Mom & Me & Mom (2013) in London's subway. The book is an autobiography（自传）from US writer Maya Angelou. It tells about the writer's relationship with her mother. These books were put in different places in the subway. People saw Watson doing the same thing in the New York Subway this month.

    With each book, there is a handwritten note by Watson. She asked people to "take special care" of the books if they find them. She also wrote that "when you are finished, please leave it on the subway again for someone else to find".

    Watson's work is part of a movement called Books on the Underground. It calls on people to leave their books on the subway so other people can enjoy them too.

    Hollie Belton, a woman in London, started the movement in 2012. She loves reading on the subway. She noticed that a lot of people shared her habit, so she got the idea. Over the years, Belton has left over 2,000 books of her own. The movement has attracted more and more people.

    Watson is a book lover as well. That's why she tried it. Earlier this year, Watson set up her own online book club Our Shared Shelf. She reads a book every month with others. Mom & Me & Mom is the club's book for November.

    Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night, I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived at the place, I saw a small woman in her eighties standing before me. I took the woman's suitcase to the car and then returned to help her. She took my arm and we talked slowly toward the car.

    She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

    "Oh, you're such a good man," she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked." Could you drive me throughout the downtown?"

    "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

    "Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said," I'm on my way to the hospice(收容所). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time." I quickly shut off the meter(计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, and the neighbourhood where she had lived. Sometimes she asked me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

    As the day broke, she suddenly said," I'm tired. Let's go now."

    We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

    "How much shall I give you?" she asked.

    "Nothing," I said.

    "You have to make a living, "she answered," Oh, it doesn't matter! I have other passengers to pick up." I answered.

    Almost without thinking, I bent sown and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly and said," You gave an old woman a little moment of happiness."

    They say that "travel is the best teacher" and there is no better example of this idea than the Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer Xu Xiake (1587-1641). His book The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, not only encouraged a love of travelling among Chinese people but provided important scientific information about the country's land and geography.

    Born into a wealthy Jiangyin family, Xu became interested in books about different places at anearly age and wanted to travel. When he was 18, however. Xu's father died and so, it seemed, did his travelling dreams. He now was responsible for the family farm and taking care of his 60-year-old mother as tradition required.

    But his mother had different ideas. Understanding her son, slove of travel and valuing the knowledge he could get from such experiences, this modern-thinking woman refused to keep her son at home. She agreed that Xu could travel for three months every year, when there was less farm work.

    So at the age of twenty and with his mother's support, Xu set off for the first time, leaving behind not only his mother but his new wife as well. He would repeat this goodbye each year for most of the next 30 years. During this time, he travelled throughout the Ming kingdom, carefully studying the lands he passed through and recording his experiences and many discoveries in a diary. This diary, which once had over 500,000 words, would eventually become The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

    Although rich, Xu avoided comfortable travel, preferring to go almost everywhere on foot. This way he could research the environment in detail and get a true picture of the natural world. Many of his trips were to hard-to-reach mountain areas, and through wild forests where few people lived. His willingness to face hardships came at a cost however. Progress was slow and tiring and he was frequently sick, robbed and beaten during his journeys

    Sadly Xu became seriously ill during his last and longest journey, a 4-year trip through the Southwest of China. He died in 1641, soon after returning to his hometown for the last time. When his diary was finally printed years after his death, much of it had been destroyed or lost. Although incomplete, it still made Xu a travelling legend around the world.

    Do you enjoy singing or listening to songs? What is the most popular singing competition in China these days? Do you know The Voice of China and the winner Liang Bo? Let's learn something about them.

    The Voice of China is probably the most popular music talent show in China now. It has been shown on Zhejiang TV every night since July 13th, 2012. The show is very popular among Chinese people. Everybody is talking about it. The singers, such as Li Daimo, Jin Zhiwen, Wu Mochou and Liang Bo, are becoming new national idols.

    The singers in the show are very good at singing. One of the best singers is Liang Bo. He sang a song named I Love You, China as his final performance and he won the show at last. Let's get to know him. He is from Changchun, Jilin Province. He is tall and handsome. He likes playing the guitar and singing. Many people think he is really good at singing. So they love him and his songs very much. They regard him as a superstar. He wants to be a singer and write his own songs in the future. We are looking forward to his new songs.