Beethoven, a famous musician in the world, was born in Germany in 1770.

In his childhood Beethoven didn't have a happy life. His father was a singer. When he was only four, his father began to make him practise hour after hour on different musical instruments (乐器). If he did not put his heart into it, his father would beat him or make it hard on him.

Beethoven loved music and he learned so fast that he was able to go around to give concerts, when he was only a boy of eleven. At the age of seventeen, lie won high praise from Mozart, the greatest musician at that time.

    Beethoven was often poor and in during his life. After one illness, lie suddenly found he couldn't hear at that time, he was only thirty-one. It was a great blow (打击) to him.

    But he still went on working and writing music pieces. To people's surprise, he wrote some of his best pieces after he lost his hearing.

In 1827, the great musician died. He leer more than 300 pieces. But people still remember his name today.

    Tom arrived at the New York airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didn't have any other luggage. Tom needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.

    “Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily,” Tony said, ”You don't have any luggage, right?”

    “Only this backpack,” Tom answered. ”You said I could bring one carry-on bag.”

    “That's right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip.”

    “Thanks.”

    Is Tom a criminal (罪犯)? Not at all. He is an air-courier(空中信使). And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.

    Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isn't for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible(灵活的) about your travel plans, and don't mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation!

C

    TF boys, a boy band that has three middle school students, many people like them very much. The band name TFBOYS means The Fighting Boys(拼搏少年).

    Wang Junkai, 14, from Chongqing. Wang is a student at TF-Entertainment when he is 8. He still goes to school like other kids on weekdays. But his weekends are busy with training(训练) classes. He learns how to sing and dance. Many boys can't do it, but Wang can.

    Wang Yuan, 13, from Chongqing. Fans like to call Wang “Er Yuan” because he is a funny boy. Because he likes telling jokes(笑话). The boy's life is easy. His phone is only 300 yuan.

    Yiyang Qianxi, 13, from Hunan. Yiyang is short. He is a good student. He is a great dancer. He joins in TV shows. He plays different roles in many movies. He is good at calligraphy(书法). When other children show their new clothes on Weibo, Yiyang shows his calligraphy work. How can he be good at so many things? “I am practicing dancing when others are playing.” he says.

    In the dining room stood a large grandfather clock. Meals in that dining room were a time for four generations to become one. Always that clock stood like an old family friend, watching over the laughter and gentle joking.

    As a child, I was amazed at how at different times of the day, that clock would chime(鸣响). I found the clock comforting. Year after year, the clock chimed, a part of my memories, a part of my heart.

    Even more wonderful to me was that my grandfather wound(上发条)that clock with a special key each day, which kept the clock chiming. I remember watching as my grandfather put into the key and wound not too much, never overwind, nor too little. He never let that clock wind down and stop. When we grandkids got a little older, he showed us how to open the door. After my beloved grandfather died, it was several days after the funeral(葬礼)before I remembered the clock！

    Tears flowed freely when I walked into the dining room. The clock stood lonely quiet. Without my grandfather's special touch, I couldn't stand to look at it.

    Years later, my grandmother gave me the clock and the key. The old house was quiet. No laughter and gentle joking over the dinner table, no chiming of the clock-all was still(寂静的). I took the key in my shaking hand and opened the clock door. All of a sudden, I was a child again, watching my grandfather looking at me, at the secret of the clock's magic, at the key that held so much power. Slowly, I put into the key and wound the clock. The dining room and my heart were filled with life and chimes. In the movement of the hands of the clock, my grandfather lived again.

    Once upon a time, there lived an old man. He had three sons. One day, he called them together and said, "Sons, I will die soon. To my eldest son give half my camels, to my second, one third(三分之ー), and to my youngest, one ninth(九分之一)." Soon after that he died.

    The old man had seventeen camels, and the three brothers didn't know how to do as their father said. They thought for a long time about the problem, and it seemed that they must either kill some of the camels and cut them into pieces, or disobey their father. At last, they went to their father's old friend and asked for his advice. As soon as he heard their story, he said. "I will help you. I was a good friend of your fathers. I am old. I have only one camel, but take it. It is yours."

    The three sons thanked the old man and took his camel. Now they found it was easy to do as their father wished. The eldest took half—that was nine camels; the second took one third—that was six; and the youngest took one ninth—that was two.

    After each had got his camels, they found that there was still a camel there. To show their thanks to their father's friend, they gave the camel back to him.

    One day a young man was standing in a crowded place, shouting that he had the most beautiful heart in the world. Most of the people who saw his heart were amazed at the beauty of his heart. It had no little flaw (瑕疵).

    Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, "Oh, my son, your heart is not as beautiful as mine."

    The old man showed his heart to the young man. It was beating strongly, but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in. But they didn't fit quite right, and there were gaps and rough(崎岖不平的) edges. Some places have never been filled in.

    The young man laughed, "My dear old man,   ▲   Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is full of scars."

    The old man said, "Dear boy, my heart is just as beautiful as your heart. You see, each scar shows where I have given my love. Sometimes people give me a piece of their heart back, and it fills the space as best it can. Other times, I give my love and get nothing in return. Those are the empty spaces. They hurt, but they show me that I can love and love again. "

    The young man stood still. His eyes were filled with tears. He walked up to the old man, tore a piece of his heart and gave the piece to the old man.

    The old man placed it in his heart, and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever.