Do you know Ma Yun?He is Founder and Chairman of Alibaba(阿里巴巴)Group.Ma was born in Hangzhou.At an early age,Mawanted to learn English so he rode his bike each morning in order to go to a nearby hotel and talked with foreigners.He would guide them around the city for free in order to practice and improve his English.

Ma is never afraid of failure in his youth.Although he failed the university entrance exam three times,Ma entered Hangzhou Normal Univrsity(师范大学).He majored in English and graduated in1988.While at school,Ma was elected student chairman.He later became a lecturer(讲师) in English and International Trade at the Hangzhou Dianzi University.

In the early of 1995,he went to the United States,and with the help of his friend he got introduced to the Internet.In April 1995,Ma,his wife and a friend collected twenty thousand dollars and started an Internet company.He named their company“China Yellow Pages”.Within three years,his company had made 5,000,000 Chinese Yuan.In 1999,he decided to give up his job in the US,and went back to Hangzhou with his team in order to found Alibaba.Alibabais a China-based business-to-business marketplace site on the Internet,which serves more than 79 million members from more than 240 countries and areas.In September 2014 Alibaba became one of the most valuable companies in the world.Ma Yun becomes one of the most successful businessmen in China.

    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.

    Ray Charles，a black singer and pianist of the USA．He had won 12 Grammy Awards （格莱美奖） and performed at 10，000 concerts around the world．Many musicians called him simply"the Genius"（天才）．

    Ray Charles was born into a poor family，without a father．When he was 5 years old，his younger brother died. And around the same time，Charles started to lose his sight．By the age of 7 he was completely blind．He had already been learning the piano for a year. And when he went blind，his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future．All his life，Charles remembered her saying："Do it right，or don't do it at all．"

    Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children．There the teachers also encouraged him to study music．Sadly，while he was still at school，his mother died．He left school and in the early 1950s Charles organized a group of players．He sang，played the piano and wrote music．

    He made many classical CDs with famous artists such as Elton John and the Beatles．

    In 2003 a film of his life Ray was made．The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx．The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles．After they had been playing together for two hours，Charles，then aged 73，jumped up and said："He's the one…he can do it．"A year later Charles died aged 74．The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles' music will live on．

    Several days ago, I was walking home from school and saw some writing on the fence of a house I was passing by. It said, “Happiness is a direction, not a destination (终点).” I had been having a bad day and just reading this brightened my day a little. I also took out a pen and wrote one of my favorite quotes (格言) down.

    When I came back to the fence, I saw another quote under mine in the handwriting as the first one. I added another, and we kept at this pattern for quite a while. One day, I was writing another quote on the fence and the old man, one of my neighbors, who owned the fence, saw me. He came out and I was afraid he would be mad at me for writing on his fence; he was not known to be very friendly. He gave me a sharp glance and then read the quotes on the fence. Without saying a word, he said something to himself and then went back inside. I was a bit terrified for a while, afraid to go back to the fence, but when I did, I noticed not more quotes but two words in entirely different handwriting had been added, “Thank you.”

    Later, I saw the old man in his front yard. He beckoned (召唤) me over and told me how my quotes had been inspiring him, how he thanked me and how he was glad to see young people still have “values”. We are now good friend and I talk to him a lot. This experience has changed my life. I still don't know who wrote that very first quote, but if he is out there, I'd like to say “thanks” to that unknown friend.

Wanting: I want nothing but music

    Wanting Qu, born and raised in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, has become one of the most popular singers in China this year. During the past few months, her name and songs have spread quickly on the Internet, over the radio, and in almost every corner of China. You would be considered totally “out” if you have never heard of her song “Stay in My Song”.

    She is a girl full of courage. At only 16, Wanting left home and entered a Canadian school to study business, starting her life in a foreign country alone. Soon，she found that her true passion was music. She went on to get her degree(学位), but also tried her hand at songwriting. She did part-time jobs to keep on her study like many Chinese students who study in foreign countries, but never gave up her dream of being a musician. When the chance came, she bravely introduced herself to the CEO of Nettwerk and became the first Chinese singer-songwriter the company signed in 26 years.

    Wanting's music career started to take off in 2009 when she worked in Nettwerk. In 2011, after hearing the songs she wrote and recorded, the famous Chinese composer Zhang Yadong called her and would like to work with her.

    With all the successes she has achieved in China, Wanting is recording her first English album. She is ready to conquer(征服) the world.