Considered one of the greatest English writers，Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30，1865，in Bombay, India．Young Kipling was especially close to his mother．For Kipling，India was a wonderful place．He learned the language and connected with the country and its culture．

    However, at the age of six，Kipling's life changed when his mother, wanting her son to receive a good education in British schools，sent him to Southsea，England，where he attended school and lived with a family named the Holloways．

  These were hard years for Kipling．Mrs．Holloway was a strict woman．She beat and laughed at the young man，who also tried to be good at school．

Kipling's solace(安慰)came in books and stories．With few friends，he made himself busy in reading，but Mrs. Holloway always took away his books．

    Kipling's mother finally knew about her son's hard life．She rushed back to England and placed him in a new school in Devon．There，Kipling discovered his interest in writing，later becoming editor(编辑)of the school newspaper．

    In 1882，Kipling returned to India and worked for a magazine，writing poetry and stories in his spare time．In 1892，he married Caroline Balestier．Then，the couple lived in America．Kipling seemed to love his new life，which soon saw the Kiplings welcome their first and second children．As a writer,too，Kipling wrote The Jungle Book(1894)，The Naulahka：A Story of West and East(1892)and The Second Jungle Book(1895)．Kipling was delighted to be around children．His books enchanted(使着魔)girls and boys all over the English—speaking world．In 1907，he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature(文学)and became the first English author in the Nobel history．

  Kipling's The Jungle Book was adapted(改编)to a Disney film in 1967．A new live—action version(改编本)of the movie came out early this year ,which has proved to be a success．

    If anyone can be called a scientific giant after Albert Einstein, that person must be Stephen Hawking. He was born in Oxford, England on Jan. 8th, 1942. What a pity On March 14th, 2018, the world-famous British scientist1in Cambridge, UK.

    After leaving high school Hawking went first to Oxford University 2he studied physics and then went to Cambridge University where he studied cosmology(宇宙学). As he himself admitted, he didn't work hard. And he did 3work. However, he always enjoyed thinking everything around him, especially the universe. Today, he is called the King of the Universe.

    It was at the age of 21 that Hawking first4something was wrong with him. He started to bump into some things. When he visited his family at Christmas time, his mother was so worried that she 5 him see a doctor. Hawking was sent to hospital for tests. Finally, the result came back. He6to have motor neuron disease(运动神经元病), an incurable illness which would make him unable to speak, breathe or move 7the help of a machine. Doctors said they had no ways to help him. He might die before 23.

    8, Hawking became very depressed. After a while, though, he began to see his life in a different way. As he later wrote, “After my illness was diagnosed(诊断), I was very9with life. There had not seemed to be anything worth doing. But shortly after I came out of hospital, I suddenly realized that there were a lot of worthwhile(值得做的) things I could do."Then Hawking got married and found a job at Cambridge University as a professor. We strongly believe that his story shows that 10, how had their situation is, should lose hope. “Life is not fair.” He once said, “You just have to do the best you can in your own situation.”

    Alice was a student in a secondary school. The school was on the other side of the street from my house. Every day. I watched her play basketball after school from my house. She played very well, much better than any other of her classmates. And she never stopped. She practised over and over again, sometimes until it was very dark.

    One day, I asked her, "why do you practise so hard? You are playing very well."

    "That's because I want to play in the city basketball team," she looked at me and said proudly. "But I'm still not good enough. I must work hard." I was moved by her great courage.

    Another day, I saw her crying on the grass, instead of playing basketball. I walked across the street and sat down by her side.

    "Why are you crying, girl?" I asked.

    "The coach of the city basketball team told me that I couldn't go on playing basketball because I was too short."

    But some days later, I saw her playing basketball again, practising even harder than before. I was curious(好奇的) and asked her the reason. "My father told me if my dream is big enough, nothing can stop me." I was moved again.

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mum came in and asked, "Why not invite John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he had already got better grades in math than anyone else in class. I wrinkled(皱起) my nose," Mum, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mum said nothing. The next day, Mum gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mum said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, kids arrived, dressed differently. John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice," Now it's time for the great prize game. It's the following riddle..."It was a math game. None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went on well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    When we help others, we need to find a proper way, or we may hurt them in another way.

    From Feb. 8 to Mar. l is our winter holiday. I think everybody did a lot in the holiday. But it seems that I did nothing and it was my most unlucky holiday.

    I spent a lot of time on my homework. Every morning my mother woke me up early and I had breakfast in a hurry. Then I had to do my homework almost the whole day! I'm not a very slow person but the homework was too heavy!

    I was also unlucky when playing. During the Spring Festival, I played fireworks but my finger was hurt because I was careless to light the fireworks. I began to fear playing with fireworks from then.

    I was still unlucky on my friend's party. On my friend's birthday, unusually I woke up at 10:50 because my parents went to visit my grandmother early in the morning. The party would start in 10 minutes! So I hurried to my friend's home without breakfast. I returned very late that day and when I got home, my parents were very angry with me.

    Another worrying thing was Toy weight. Last term, I was 46 kg but now I am 51 kg! I have to consider losing weight!