Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Wales, Britain. His father was rich but he died when Roald was very young. Roald and his mother lived a hard life. He had to leave school and went to Africa where he worked for an oil company.

    In 1939 Roald became a pilot, but he had a bad accident. It made him limp(瘸的) for the rest of his life. After this, Roald went to America where he wrote a story about his experience as a pilot. It was so good that it was put in a magazine.

Roald married an American film star. They bought a house in England and had five children. From 1960 to 1965,    ▲   : Theo, one of his children, was hit by a taxi and was seriously hurt. Olivia, one of Roald's daughters, died of a strange illness. Soon after this, his wife also had a serious illness. It took her years to get completely better.

 Gradually Roald became more and more successful. He always did his writing in an old shed(棚) at the back of his house. He always sat in the same old armchair with a wooden board on his lap.

 “One of the nice things about being a writer,” he once said, “is that all you need is what you've got in your head and a pencil and a bit of paper.”

       In 1983 Roald wona big prize for his book The BFG. During his life, Roald wrote many famous books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox

       After he died in 1990, Roald left money to help people with serious illnesses and those with problems with reading and writing.           

Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kms during the years of his travels.Zheng He led a fleet with 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He' s travels. The Columbus of the east, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new king, had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

    I'm an office worker and work in a downtown(闹市区) office. I live on a small island(岛), so take a boat from the island to the city center on weekdays. The boat leaves at 6:20 and① it takes about 35 minutes to get to the city. Then I have a short walk to my office. Sometimes when the weather is bad, I can't get to my office on time by boat.(Tina Brown)

    I'm a teacher. ②I take the train to work every day. The train is quick and cheap and there are hardly any delays(耽误). The trains run every half an hour. The train station is near my home. It takes only 35 minutes from my home to the school.(Ms Jackson)

    I'm a college ( 大学)  student. I live in a college. The college is very big, so I usually walk a lot. Sometimes ③it takes 15 minutes to get from one building to another. When I want to shop with my friends outside the college, we take a bus. The buses stop running after 10：00 pm. So if we get back after that time, we take the bus to our school. (Maria Black).

    Jenny looked at the store window. There was nothing that she wanted more than a Happy Hannah doll. It was $29.95. Unluckily, Jenny didn't even have the 95 cents.

    As she crossed the street, she thought about doing her brother's housework, cleaning the floor, washing the dishes all month, but even then she would have only eleven dollars. Suddenly, something small and pink in the snow caught her eyes.

    Jenny walked over and picked it up from the snow. It was a beautiful wallet. She opened the wallet and found many dollars and a woman's driver's license in it. Jenny put the wallet into her bag quickly. She turned around and walked back.

    Jenny's heart beat(跳动) fast as she went into the store. She had long dreamed about this moment, but something didn't feel right. As she got to the Happy Hannah dolls, she pushed away her feelings. She grabbed(抓起) one and walked toward the checkout.

    As Jenny was waiting to pay, her mobile phone rang. It was her grandma. Jenny's heart was suddenly filled with love and warmth when she thought of her. She put the doll down and answered the phone.

    “Hi, Grandma? I'm going to be a little bit late tonight...Alright...I love you, too.” Jenny left the store and walked all the way to 301 West Street. The woman who answered the door looked sad.

    “Here, I found this in the snow,” Jenny said.

    “Oh, good God! This is the money for the orphanage(孤儿院)! Thank you!”

    After doing her brother's housework for three months, Jenny finally got a Happy Hannah doll. She was so happy because she could play with her doll and look her grandma in the eye.

    He was a single（单一的）father, only living with a 5-year-old son. He was often worried about his son growing up without a mother to look after him.

    One day he went away to work, leaving the child at home. He was worried about the child all the way, not knowing if he was hungry. But his child always told him not to worry. He went home quickly after finishing his work.

    When he got home, the child was already deep asleep. When he took off his hat and was about to sleep himself, he was surprised to find a bowl of noodles under the quilt. He spanked（打屁股） his sleeping son heavily. "Why are you so naughty（淘气的）, making the quilt dirty? Who will wash it?" It was the first time that he hit his boy after his wife died.

    "I don't," the child replied with tears in his eyes. "This is your supper, Daddy." In order to let his father eat dinner as soon as he got home, the child cooked two bowls of noodles: One for himself, the other one for his father. He was afraid his father's noodles would get cold, so he put them under the quilt to keep them hot. Hearing this, the father hugged his boy without saying a word.

    Charlotte's Web (《夏洛特的网》) is a classic children's novel written by an American author, E.B. White. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a spider (蜘蛛) named Charlotte.

    Wilbur is the 11th baby of his mother. Since his mother can only feed ten babies at one time, the farmer plans to kill Wilbur. Kind-hearted little Fern saves him and scents him to a nearby farm. Animals on the farm refuse to befriend Wilbur, so Wilbur feels lonely. However, Charlotte welcomes this new member and is glad to make friends with him.

    Knowing what is going to happen to Wilbur (as the farm owner plans to kill him for sale), Charlotte promises to make a plan to save his life. She writes a lot of good things about Wilbur on her web and makes him famous. Charlotte succeeds in saving Wilbur's life, but she dies as she is too old. Luckily, she leaves three baby spiders. More and more generations of spiders continue to be with Wilbur.