Hans Christian Andersen, a great Danish (丹麦的) writer, is very famous for his fairy tales(童话). He wrote a lot of best-known stories such as The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling. His fairy tales have brought happiness to children across the world. The tales have versions (版本) of over a hundred languages.

    Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805. When he was still a young boy, he was already very clever and imaginative (富于想象力的). He created a small toy theatre and made clothes for his puppets (木偶). He also loved reading.

    In 1816, his father died and he learned to be a tailor (裁缝). Later he worked in a factory. At the age of fourteen, Andersen moved to the capital of Denmark to become an actor and gave performances (演出) in the Royal Danish Theatre. However, his voice changed when he grew older, so the job had to stop. Then he began to write poems and fairy tales.

    In the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of bed and didn't get well again. He lived until 1875 and died peacefully at the home of his close friends.

    Whenever there's a terrible storm, there are plenty of sad stories. Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets. But sometimes these stories have happy endings too.

    A family in New Jersey, US, had a cat named Vivien. She is very smart. She could even draw with her wet paws on the floor. They all love her very much. When hurricane (飓风) Sandy hit America in October, they moved to a safer place-13km away from home. Sadly Vivien went missing. The whole family were worried about her. They put up posters on the Internet to look for her. All the nine family members searched wherever they thought she could stay, but they didn't find it. The family thought Vivien was gone forever.

    But six months later, Vivien showed up at their house, according to Yahoo News. They considered her return as a wonder. No one can be sure where Vivien was for all that time.

    Many animals are good at finding their way home. People usually say that dogs and cats find their way home through using their sense of smell.

    But that doesn't explain how Vivien found her way back. Hurricane Sandy blew away the normal smells of home.

    "I wish she could talk," said her owner.

    April 13^th, 1539

    Outside Mexico City

Dear Mariana,

    Today we arrived safe. It was a long and dangerous trip over the ocean. The winter storms were strong. We were always a little sick from high waves.

    The journey from the shore to Mexico City is also long and dangerous. There are robbers in the countryside. We will travel together with the other ship passengers, thinking we will be safer as a group. Tomorrow we will travel into the city to find our uncle.

    Father says it will take a year for this letter to reach you. The trip from New Spain to Spain is very long.

Your loving brother,

Tomas

    April 20^th, 1539

    Mexico City

Dear Mariana,

    Father and I finally arrived at Mexico City. Here, old buildings are being pulled down; new ones are being built. Just around the corner from Uncle's city house, Aztec workers are pulling down a small, beautiful pyramid. Father says it is one of the last Aztec temples.

    In the center of the city, I met an Aztec boy named Carlos. He speaks a little Spanish. Carlos learns Spanish at his new school. He told me that the Spanish set up new schools for the Aztecs. There he got his new name, Carlos. He says he likes his new school but misses his old city. I wonder what this city used to be like before Cortes came.

    Tomorrow we will go to Uncle's farmland. He and father are talking about the Aztec workers that father will oversee.

Your brother,

Tomas

found v. 建立        battle n. 战役        conquer v. 征服

    Mr. Black comes into Class Three. The bell is ringing. He wants to teach an English lesson. Mr. White comes in and asks him to go to the office. He must go and have a meeting. Mr. Black says to his students, "You study by yourselves, please. I'll be back soon. "

    After a while, Mr. Black comes back. He sees Mike talking to his deskmate Jack. Mr. Black is very angry.

    "Stand up, Mike！" says the teacher. "What are you doing？"

    "I'm reading English now, " says Mike.

    "What's in your hand? Please look at it carefully, " says the teacher.

    Mike looks at it. Oh, it's a history book. He looks at Jack's hand. There is an English book in his hand. He has a good idea right away.

    "I'm sorry, Mr. Black. Jack is holding an English book and I am holding a history book. We are studying the history of English. "

    On a Friday night, a poor young violinist was playing his violin at the entrance(入口) of the subway station. He played such great music that people slowed down to listen and put some money into his hat.

    The next day, the violinist came to the entrance again. He put down his hat as usual. Beside the hat was a piece of paper with some words on it. It said, "A George Black has put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Welcome to claim(认领）it." Soon the people were all interested in the words and wondered what it could be. After a while, a man rushed into the crowd, took the violinist's shoulders and said, "I knew you would certainly come." The violinist asked, "Did you lose anything?" "Lottery(彩票)." The violinist took out a lottery ticket with Black's name on it.

    Black took it and danced happily.

    Black was an office worker. He bought the lottery and won a prize of $500000.But when he gave $50 to the violinist for his wonderful music, the lottery ticket was thrown in, too. The violinist was a college student.  That morning he was going to fly to Vienna for high education. However, when he found the ticket, he put off the flight and went back to the entrance.

    Later someone asked the violinist why he didn't take the lottery ticket to pay for his high education. He said, "Although I don't have much money, I live a happy life. If I lose honesty, I won't be happy forever."