Doctor Seuss was born 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 enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

In 1954, life magazine published(刊登) 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. 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. The book 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 man and his little son spent their summer vacation walking through the mountains far from their city. One day, the little boy slipped (滑) 20-30 meters down the side of the mountain. Finally he was able to catch onto a tree branch (枝干) and hold on.

    “Help me!” he cried out.

    “Help me!” a voice shouted back.

    The boy was very surprised. “Who are you?” he shouted.

    “Who are you?” the voice shouted back.

    “You are a fool!” he said.

    “You are a fool!” the voice came back.

    At that moment, his father got to him. “Someone is talking to me but I can't see who he is,” the boy said to his father.

    “Son, that is called an echo (回音),” his father said. “But really, it's called life.”

    “You are a winner!” the father cried.

    “You are a winner!” the voice answered.

    “You are talented!” the father shouted.

    “You are talented!” it came back.

    “Son, that's how life is. Whatever you do, it always comes back to you,” the father said. “The question is: what are you sending out? Please start sending out: ‘I am strong, I am talented, and I am the best.' What you send out is going to come back to you.”

    If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. Life will give you back everything you have given to it.

    When he was nine years old, American boy Milo Cress had a question: How many plastic straws(吸管) do Americans use every day?

    He quickly learned there wasn't a simple answer. The boy tried to work it out himself. Through lots of research, Cress found out that Americans use about 500 million straws every day. In hopes of reducing plastic waste, he founded the Be Straw Free project in 2011.

    Cress started the project in his hometown – Burlington, Vermont. He asked a local restaurant to stop offering straws with every drink order. It was a simple change. However, it would save money. And by doing that, the restaurant would cut down on its straw use by 50 percent.

    For the years that followed, Cress tried to spread his project across the United States. More and more restaurants agreed to join. They stop providing the customer with a straw unless he or she asks for one. Last April, Seattle became the first American city to completely ban (禁止) plastic straws.

    Plastic pollution has been one of the most serious problems today. According to scientists, more than eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. Plastic straws are especially terrible. They make it easy for people to get comfortable with single-use plastics.

    After his project became popular, Cress took his findings on the road. He has since spoken to tens of thousands of students around the world. He wants to encourage more people to say no to plastic straws.

    "Focusing(聚焦) on straws is one simple step we all could take," Cress says. "And it makes me feel that I, as a kid, could make a difference, too."

    Susan had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. So did most of the other1in her school class, which troubled her a lot. "I look like everyone else! I'm not special! I'm boring!" Susan2to her mother.

    She decided to try to make herself look3. She painted big pink spots on her neck and when she didn't get attention, she stuck a long plastic nose on top of her real nose. Nobody noticed that4. She took ink and poured it all over her5. She wore clown (小丑) clothes to school and stuck leaves in her ears.6no matter what she did, she still didn't get any7and nobody thought she was special.

    One morning her8went to wake her up and told her to get ready for school. She made Susan9the ink out of her hair and clean her neck. "I'm not going to school10! I'm boring!" She buried (埋藏) her head11the quilt and cried.

    "Susan," her mother said, "you are different. You are unique (独一无二的) and special.12in the world looks just like you. Some people have blonde hair like you and some have blue eyes like you, but none of them has your smile or the twinkle in your eyes or your pink face. Nobody laughs like you either. Now13and get ready for school."

Susan went to school that day and looked at all the other kids in her class. "Mum was14. Nobody looks just like me," Susan smiled. "I am special. I am unique and I am not15."

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