Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would say: Confucius(孔子). September 28is his birthday. He was born over 2, 000 years ago, but people still remember him on this day. Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, part of today's Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. His childhood was sad. His father died when he was only 3 and he had to work to help his mother. But young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

    Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from rich families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3, 000 students in his lifetime.

    Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that everyone has something worthy to be learned. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I select their good qualities and follow them. I take their bad qualities and change them in myself. "He also taught us, "All study but no thinking makes people puzzled(困惑的). All thinking but no study makes people lazy."

    Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. "A kind person should care for others. Be strict with yourself, but he kind to others," he said.

    My dad works from Monday to Friday in a bank. He uses the computer to count money. His job is very important in the bank. Dad is also busy at home. At weekends he cooks dinner. Usually he cooks Italian food. On Sundays he makes five pieces of pizza. Sometimes he cooks chicken and makes Chinese food. My mum watches and helps him. I help my dad, too. I wash the dishes.  Many people think it is strange for a man to cook. But my dad enjoys his hobby. Cooking relaxes him. He is a weekend cook.

    Nearly all students want to have a good memory so that they can study well. Yan Jiashuo, a young girl, is quite lucky. She has received the honor of "International Master of Memory". About 300 people have been honoured as masters. Yan Jiashuo is the youngest among them.

    Yan Jiashuo always has a good memory. And the good memory comes from good training. When she was 4 years old, her parents asked her to recite ancient poems and books. She has practised a lot. So when she is at school, it is easy and quick for her to recite texts in class. What's more, she loves reading. When she was in the third grade, she could read one book a day.

    Yan Jiashuo is good at not only Chinese, but also maths. For her, numbers are not boring at all. She can make up stories with these numbers. She compares remembering a lot of numbers to watching a movie. Every group of two numbers is imagined to be a picture of the story. And these pictures are made up into a movie in her mind. She said everyone could have a good memory by training and there were plenty of ways to train your memory.