The Kennedy Elementary school band(乐队)is special. That's because Tony Boland, a member of it, is a 79-year-old flute(长笛)player. His story tells us that you're never too old to toot the flute.

    After working at the school for more than ten years, Tony joined the fifth graders in the band. His grandchildren were at the school. He help with reading.

    He started tooting the flute many years ago, when his wire tried to throw away(扔掉)their daughter s flute.

    "You will play better if you play with others," he told a reporter.

    Brian Enabnit thought Tony would make a difference to the band. "He's great. He's helping the students around him, "Enabnit said.

    Tony practises with the students once a week and performs with them. They played at the Dubuque Community School District's Band Festival earlier this month.

    Fifth-grade student Courtney Less thought her older classmate was successful. "He's an excellent player," Courtney said. "All of us are afraid when giving a performance, but he isn't."

    Dr Seuss was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They combine(结合) funny words, pictures, and social opinion. Children enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

    Dr Seuss wrote his first book for children in 1937. It is called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. A number of publishers refused to publish(刊登) it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published it. Soon other successful books followed. Over the years, he wrote more than forty children's books. They were fun to read. Yet his books sometimes dealt with serious subjects.

    In 1954, life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.

    In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. The story is about a cat who tries to entertain(娱乐) two children on a rainy day while their mother is away from home. The cat is not like normal cats. It talks. The book was an immediate success. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words, which is called Green Eggs and Ham.

    In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents.

    He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people.

A Discussion

Host: Hello! I'm Gavin from All Talk 970 FM. Welcome to our program. Today our topic is part-time jobs. Are they good for school children or not?

Headmaster: Certainly not. Children have got two full-time jobs already: growing-up and going to school. Part-time jobs make them so tired that they fall asleep in classes.

Mrs. Black: I agree. I know school hours are short, and there's a lot of homework to do, too. Children need enough sleep. 

Mr. Black: Young children perhaps, except some boys, stay at school until they're eighteen or nineteen. A part-time job can't harm them. In fact , it's good for them. They can earn pocket-money by themselves. And they can see something of the world outside school.

Businessman: You're quite right. Boys learn a lot from a part-time job. And we shouldn't forget that some families need the extra money. If the students don't take part-time jobs, they can't stay at school.

Host: Well, we have got two for , and two against. What do our listeners think of it?

Once there was a baby eagle( 鹰 )living in a nest(巢)on a mountain. The baby eagle loved his nest. It was warm and1 . And even 2 , he had all the food and love that his mother could give. When the baby eagle was hungry, his mother would always come just in time with the delicious food he liked. 

He was growing happily day after day.3 , suddenly his world changed(改变). His mother stopped coming to the nest. He was full of sadness(悲伤)and fear(恐惧). He thought he would4 soon. He cried, but nobody heard him. 

Two days later his mother 5 with some nice food. The baby eagle was very happy. But his mother put the food at the 6 of the mountain and then looked down at her baby. The baby eagle cried out. "Mum, why did you do this to me? I'm 7 . Don't you know I will die if I have 8 to eat? "

"Here is the last meal I give you. Come and get it by 9 "His mother said. Then she flew down and pushed(推)the baby eagle out of the nest. 

The baby eagle fell down, faster and faster. He looked up at his mum, "Why do you leave me? "He looked down at the earth. The ground was much10 , Then something strange happened. The air caught behind his arms and he began to fly! He wasn't moving to the ground any more. 

"You are flying! You can make it! "His mother smiled(微笑). 

Li Ming used to be a kid who is not brave enough to express his true thoughts. He always agreed with everything his friends said. 

One day, he and his friends were discussing whether middle school students should1 their phones to school. His friends all thought they should but Li Ming didn't agree. However, 2 he didn't dare to share his opinion, he chose to agree with them. But always going against his own will to agree with others made him very uncomfortable. So he got up the 3 to tell his mom about this. 

"I just can't tell people what I really think or want. It's too4 for me. "

"You can't or you don't want to?" Mom asked 5 . 

"You are right. I guess I don't want to. I'm afraid to be different, " answered Li Ming. 

His mom smiled and handed him a6 book—The Analects of Confucius (《论语》). Li Ming didn't know what his mom7 ，but he started reading the book every night before bed. One day, he read a phrase, "Gentlemen have8 but disagree; flunkies (小人) agree but have no peace. He didn't9 it, so he asked his mom. 

"It means gentlemen achieve harmony (和谐), but they don't just blindly10 others. They have their own ideas and they can tell the11 bravely. Flunkies agree easily, but they don't really work together, " his mom explained. 

Suddenly, Li Ming realized that having different12 is not a bad thing at all. He is very13 to the book. He decided to14 his own thoughts. He did as he said. From then on, he was no longer15 To speak his mind. To his surprise, he found that the friendship with his friends became even stronger!

 On my 35th birthday, I gave myself my first skateboard. Most of my friends and family thought I was crazy, but only I knew why.

 Two years ago, I accidentally foll down a 12-meter waterfall and broke my pelvis(盆骨). I went from using a wheelchair to using crutches(拐杖), then to trying to walk a block, and finally walking miles. Physical activity became even more important in my life. So why not make it enjoyable? I' ve wanted to learn to skateboard since I was a kid, but most of my time and energy went into dancing. In my opinion, skating was actually very similar to dancing.

 For a long time, I tried to learn skating on my own. I had no idea what I was doing and always felt awkward when many strangers saw me skating or simply trying to keep my balance. That fear of being judged often stopped me from just getting out there for practice.

 One day, my friend Monica and I met some of the members of GRLSWIRL,a skateboarding club. They were so friendly that we wanted to be part of it. This club was amazing. Even though everyone there was better than me, they were happy to help and excited to see me overcome challenges. There, I gradually became more confident.

 For me, a big part of skating was overcoming my PTSD(创伤后应激障碍). Falling is a huge part of skating, but because of that accident, it was really hard for me to overcome it. However, the more I learned from every little fall-allowing my body to understand that it was OK, and that I could drop and get up again-the less my PTSD took over. The more I skated, the better my body and mind felt. Although I started skating for therapy(治疗), I never imagined it would open up a new world of excitement and possibilities for me.