Fans of basketball all know who LeBron James is. His fans like to call him King James. The 33-year-old basketball star was again the best player in the last season of the NBA. The most popular American sports magazine Sports Illustrated also named him the best player for the fourth season in a row (连续).

    King James was born on December 30 in Ohio, the USA. He is 203cm tall and weighs 113kg. He is the perfect combination (结合)of strength, size and speed. Some people see him as the best physical specimen (体格范本)in sport.

    James beat Golden State Warriors' player Stephen Curry, 29, to the number one place, even though Curry had a great season. Last season (2015-2016), the two top players led their teams to the highest rank of the NBA. So people had different ideas about who might be the best player. James finally won the award because he helped his team Cleveland Cavaliers beat Curry's team in the NBA Finals.

    To his fans all over the world, James is the king. He is also a hero to many sports fans in the United Sates, especially in his hometown Cleveland. At a celebration in the city after he won the NBA Finals, James made a short speech and thanked everybody in his team. He said that he could not have won the award without them. He even bought each of them a gold headphone as a gift!

    James also started The LeBron James Family Foundation. It raises money and helps people in need. By now, the foundation has spent $41 million sending poor children to universities in his hometown. Maybe that is another reason why his fans love him so much.

In a small room, Jenny was lying in bed waiting for an operation (手术), nervous and worried. To her surprise, a new patient was sent into the room. After a kind greeting (打招呼), they began to talk. The 80-year-old newcomer was named Susan. She had two children. Her son was boss of a big company and her daughter worked in a TV station. As her children were too busy to take care of Susan, she lived in an old people's home. Susan was proud of her children who had wonderful jobs and made a lot of money. Jenny really envied (羡慕)Susan. Compared with Susan, Jenny was nothing but an ordinary (普通的) woman from the countryside. Her children were just ordinary workers.

Soon, it was supper time, Jenny's daughter cooked several dishes which were her favorite. Jenny invited Susan to share her supper, but she did not accept the invitation. Susan was expecting her daughter when she received a call. Unfortunately (不幸), her children couldn't come to visit her. Worse still, Susan had missed the mealtime in the hospital. She lay in bed, disappointed and silent. Jenny's daughter offered to buy her some food but she had no appetite (食欲) at all.

The next day, Jenny and Susan would go through a series of regular medical checks (一连串的常规检查) before the operation. Jenny's daughter took care of her carefully while Susan was still alone. Out of sympathy (出于同情), Jenny's daughter helped to queue up (排队), fill in different forms and register (挂号) for Susan. For several days in hospital, even during her operation, Susan's children didn't come. Susan really envied Jenny as her daughter looked after her all the time until she recovered and moved out of hospital.

Care from the loved ones can really make one happy and encouraged, especially for old parents. So don't forget to look after your parents even while you are busy working.

Alex set his lunch tray on the table near his friend Leo. "Trade you some fries for some pretzels" Alex said. 

"Deal," said Leo, taking his bag of pretzels out of bis lunchbox. 

Alex noticed a folded piece of paper at the bottom of Leo's lunchbox. 

"What's that?" asked Daniel, another boy in their class. 

Before Leo could answer, Daniel grabbed the paper. He unfolded it and read in a loud voice: "Dear Leo, I hope you have a great day. Love. Mom."

Daniel snorted. "Your mom puts notes in your lunchbox?"

"Yes," Leo said. 

Daniel read the note again, to himself. It almost looked as if he wanted to keep it.

"Give it back to Leo," said Alex. 

"Well, who wants a note anyway?" Daniel said. 

"I do," said Leo. 

Alex liked getting notes too. 

Daniel tossed the note and it fell to the floor. 

Alex picked it up. He handed it back to Leo, who put it into his pocket. 

On the bus that afternoon, Alex thought about what had happened. 

Alex's older brother, Mateo, arrived home just after Alex did. "How was your day, little dude?" Mateo asked. 

"A boy in my class was mean to Leo," Alex said. He explained the way Daniel had acted. 

Mateo shook his head. "How would Daniel like it if people picked on him for getting a note?"

"Daniel never gets notes," Alex said. Suddenly, he had an idea. "That's it! I know how to help Leo and Daniel."

Alex explained his idea to Mateo. Mateo agreed to help, and they worked on the plan all afternoon. 

At lunchtime the next day, Alex hurried to the cafeteria. He set out 23 folded pieces of paper on a table by the entrance. Each piece of paper had the name of a classmate on it. 

"What are these?" asked Mira. 

"We all have notes," said Sabrina. 

Alex watched as Daniel picked up the note with his name on it. Alex knew that the note said Daniel,  ▲  Have a great day.

Alex saw Daniel smile as he put the note into his pocket. 

"Great idea, Alex," said Leo. 

"Now everyone knows how it feels to get a lunch note," Alex said.

Getting through the darkest days

A "dark moment" refers to the most difficult time in your life. Have you experienced any dark moments before? How did you get through it?

Liu Yifei, 14, Shaanxi 
    When I got to Grade Seven, I was sad to know that all of my classmates had studied everything before the class started. During class, everyone knew the answers {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to our teacher's questions but I did not. 

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}I studied hard, I couldn't get good grades. I came last in the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (one) test. To catch up with my classmates, I looked for ways of learning online. For example, for history, drawing the timeline(时间线) on paper helped me a lot. What's more, for English, I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (try) keeping English diaries. My grades then got a lot better. I'm very happy for {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (I). 

Lai Yijiang, 14, Sichuan 
    When I was in the sixth grade, I moved to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} new city. At that time, I felt bad every day and I began to {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (like)going to school. My classmates all knew each other and had their small groups. I had no friends and lost interest in everything. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (slow), I wasn't serious about my study. My grades also became the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bad)in the class. Those were my darkest days. Later, I made a friend. A{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (say) goes that a true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart. He made me open up, and I started to talk to more people. Also, I came to get used to the weather in this city. Step by step, I got better and better. 

Liu Qingyao is a pipa player. She is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} at playing the pipa. She started to play the pipa at the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of five. She likes it very much. And her parents also want {#blank#}3{#/blank#} to learn it. She is very great so she joins in many matches in other {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . People from abroad(在国外) really like to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} to her music. 

Liu Qingyao had a show in the UK. She {#blank#}6{#/blank#} a piece of music. It told a love story. It was {#blank#}7{#/blank#} Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. An old woman listened to her show and she cried. Later， Liu asked if she read the story. The woman said， "No， I {#blank#}8{#/blank#} feel that the music touches me. " Liu said，"This is the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} time that I feel that foreign(外国的) people like Chinese music. "

 Liu started to post videos of herself playing the pipa in 2016. More and more people see her videos {#blank#}10{#/blank#} like her works. Prince Lanling in Battle is one of her best works.