Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. His father was a painter and art teacher who gave his son the first lesson in drawing. He won a prize — “Science and Charity” for his first important painting when he was only fifteen. He studied in several cities in Spain. But there was no one to teach him all that he wanted to know. When he was nineteen, he visited Paris.

Paris was then the center of the world for artists. Everything that was new and exciting in the world of paintings seemed to happen there. When he was twenty-three, Picasso moved there to live and lived in France for the rest of his life.

    When he was over ninety, this great painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still looking for new ideas and new ways to use his artistic materials.

    When he died in 1973, he was ninety-one years old.

    A soap opera called "Tiger Mother and Cat Father" is popular in China now. The tiger mother is pretty strict with her daughter and the little girl is not allowed to watch TV or play computer games. On the other hand, she makes all efforts to buy the expensive house near the key school, in order to let her daughter have a better education. However, the cat father has an opposite view of how to raise their child. He gives her daughter more independence and doesn't make many rules for her. Which one is better, "Tiger Mother" or "Cat Father"?

    In China, it seems that in each family, there is tiger mother and a cat father, even worse, some families have two tigers. Children can't decide anything for themselves. What's worse, Chinese mothers believe key school will bring a better future to their children. This soap opera fully shows us a common problem in China. And maybe it is the real reason why such kind of TV shows can get popular.

    Whether the tiger mother or the cat father, respecting(尊重)children and growing together are the keys to family education. Confidence, kindness, honesty and independence are the most important qualities to develop a child, not the grades. Just like a poem said, "Educating children is like walking with a snail(蜗牛), and the steps are gentle and slow."

    Mary is an American girl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. Mary doesn't know much Chinese, but she is studying it. She often speaks Chinese with her Chinese friends. Sometimes they can't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese very well.

    It's Saturday morning. She goes out. She is walking in the street. She wants to go to the zoo to see the elephants and monkeys, but she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy the way. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and a piece of paper. She draws an elephant on it, and shows the picture to the boy. The boy understands, and shows her the way to the zoo.

    One day King Henry was hunting in a forest. Towards evening he told his men to ride home by the main(主要的) road while he went home by another.

    As he came out of the forest, he saw a little boy. "Well, my boy," said the king. "Are you looking for your father?" "No, Sir," answered the boy. "I am looking for the king. They say he is hunting in the forest." Oh, if that is your wish, "said King Henry, "I'll take you to the place where you will see him."

    The boy got up and sat behind the king. On the horse, the king and the boy began to talk. "They say that King Henry always has many men with him," said the boy. "How can I know which he is?" "Oh, it's easy. All the other men will take off their hats, but the king will keep his on." "Do you mean that the one with his hat on will be the king?" "Of course." Soon they came into the main road. The king's men greeted the king by taking off their hats. "Well, my boy," said King Henry, "Which do you think is the king now?" "I don't know," answered the boy," it must be either you or I, because we both have our hats on"

    After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.

    During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy(肌肉营养不良). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

    I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, "Why me? "He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn't mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, "You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you. "

    Last summer I received a letter from Matthew's parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before: Dear Dick,

    My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don't have tong to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can. I told you someday I was going to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will newer get to do that. But I know I'm a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show, it to you. Thank you for loving me.

Your friend,

Matthew