The Aborigines (澳洲土著) have lived in Australia for about 60,000 years. They painted pictures inside caves, and these are the rock paintings that have given us so much information about Aboriginal life. For example, some of the paintings that are about 10,000 years old show men with boomerangs. From this we know that the Aborigines started using boomerangs for hunting at that time. Other pictures show kangaroos, so we know that there were kangaroos at that time.

    The Aborigines believed that spirits made people, animals and plants, and that these spirits still live in the earth. For Aborigines, no one can own the earth—the earth belongs to the spirits.
    In 1700, there were many Aboriginal groups with a population of 750,000 all over Australia, and there were probably more than 240 different Aboriginal languages. The groups did not have a leader. Instead, things were decided by the older men in a group. People from different groups often travelled hundreds of miles to meet each other.
    Aboriginal life changed when an English boat arrived in Australia in 1770. Many Aborigines were killed in the wars that they had with the English. More Europeans came, and they started taking land from the Aborigines. The Europeans also brought new illnesses that killed the Aborigines. The result is that today there are only about 300,000 Aborigines in Australia.

    For many years, we couldn't talk with the deaf. These deaf people couldn't use a spoken language.

    But beginning in the 1700s, the deaf were taught a special language. Using this language, they could share thought sand ideas with others. The language they used was a language without sound. It was a sign language.

    How did this sign language work? The deaf learnt to make certain movements with their hands, faces and bodies. These movements stood for things and ideas. People might move their forefingers accross their lips. This meant "you are not telling the truth". They might tap their chin with three fingers. This meant "my uncle".

    The deaf learned to see a finger alphabet. They used their fingers to make the letters of the alphabet. In this way, they spelled out words. Some deaf people could spell out words at a speed of 130 words per minute.

    The deaf don't use the sign language andfinger spelling as much as they once were. Today, the deaf learn to understand others by watching their lips. They also learn how to speak.

    Autumn is a beautiful season. For many Chinese, the season is also a time for rebuilding(恢复).

    Chinese herbal medicine(中药)science says that people get tired and weak(虚弱的)during the hot summer. So when it comes to autumn, we need to rebuild. There is a tradition called tieqiubiao(贴秋膘). It means to eat some meat in autumn. This can help people get ready for the coming winter.

    Autumn is also a great season for outdoor activities; Chinese people think that fresh air in autumn is good for our health. The Double Ninth Festival is an important Chinese festival in autumn. On that day, families get together and climb hills for luck in the hope that old people will live much longer. Other good outdoor activities are hiking, biking and having picnics.

    Australia as a nation is less than 250 years old if the year 1770 when James Cook discovered the land is regarded as a starting point for its modern history. The short history has not produced a big wealth of cultural heritages. For this reason, Australia spare no efforts to protect its culture. The cottage of James Cook is a perfect example of the government and people's effort.

    Built in 1755, Cooks' Cottage is the oldest building in Australia, with a fascinating past. It's a must when exploring Melbourne. Originally located in Yorkshire, England, the cottage was brought to the Fitzroy Gardens by Sir Russell Grimwade in 1934. In 1901 Australia came into being with its capital in Melbourne. To celebrate the birth of the nation, a statue of Captain Cook was built in Sydney where Cook had sailed in and set his steps onto the land. Stamps were printed in honor of the English explorer. However, Australian people would have to travel all the way to Britain to admire the life of the discoverer, so Sir Russell Grimwade, an Australian businessman, offered to buy the old house of James Cook in Yorkshire and relocate it to Melbourne when Melbourne celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1934. Amazingly, each piece was carefully numbered, packed into boxes and then shipped to Australia, along with cuttings of the original coverings. It took nearly a month to reach Melbourne.

    In fact, explorer Captain James Cook never lived in the cottage-he'd been away from home for almost ten years when his father built it-but this connection to the Cook family was enough to prompt Grimwade to transport the cottage to the other side of the world.

My Favorite Sweater

——by Taylor Brown

My favorite sweater grew too small.

I love that sweater best of all.

My grandma made it when(当) I was three.

She made that sweater just for me.

I picked the yam(纱线), a special blue.

The color of bluebells, wet with dew(露珠).

When I was three, I was very small.

But now I'm five and much too tall.

I have a new jacket now that's green.

So I gave my sweater to our cat Queen.

Queen just had kittens out in the shed(小屋).

My favorite sweater is now their bed.

    Comics use drawings and words to tell stories that can be funny or serious, or a little of both. Comic books grew out of comic strips in newspapers.

    One of the most successful early comic characters in America was Mickey Dugan, better-known as "the Yellow Kid". He wore a yellow coat that was too big for him. He was a character in a comic strip which provided opinions on the problems of cities. The Yellow Kid first appeared in 1895. The character became so popular that it was also used to sell products and to create plays.

    Adventure stories in comic books were very popular during the 1930s- the time known as the Golden Age of Comics. Famous characters created during that time include the science fiction hero Flash Gordon and the detective Dick Tracy.

    The 1930s also gave us a superhero who came to Earth from another planet. Superman was a newspaper reporter for Daily Planet in the big city when he lived on the Earth. Superman became a hero of comic fans as he used his ability to fly to fight for "truth and jus tice(正义)". Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were seventeen when they created Superman in 1933. They sold the rights(版权) of the character to the DC Comics Company for one hundred and thirty dollars. That might be a lot of money to them at the time. But it was nothing compared to all the money made since then from Superman comics, radio and TV shows, movies and toys. Finally, in 1975, they wanted to get more for their creation. DC Comics agreed to pay each of them twenty thousand dollars a year for life. And it agreed to put their names as the creators of Superman in all future printed materials and films.