Jane Austen ever popular

    This summer, the UK will honor its favorite writers, Jane Austen (1775-1817), by making her the face of the new £10 note. In the 200 years since her death, Austen has been getting more and more popular all over the world.

    And yet Austen's works are so English that it's rather strange she should be so popular all over the world. Her novels are so of their time that it's strange that she's still enjoyed in this very different age. Her most famous works including Pride and Prejudice, the one which she is most known for are about the world of the English gentry(贵族阶层)in the late 18^th century.

    Most of her works is about young women of that time. Women of the gentry could not work so their chances of happiness or even basic living depended upon finding a husband. This is a very serious subject matter, of course, but the joy of Austen's stories is her ability to make wonderful, but also touching, comedy out of something so serious.

    Take Pride and Prejudice as an example. Elizabeth Bennet is one of six daughters in a family that struggles with money problems. Her mother wants to marry off as many of them as possible.  Mrs Bennet is one of the great comic characters of English literature.

    The novel is developed by the love-hate relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. The pleasure of the novel is reading how these obstacles(障碍) are overcome and how the comical and unexpected ending is achieved.

    If we think about this story, it's clear why Jane Austen is still popular 200 years after her death, and why readers can still identify with characters from the long dead world of the 18^th century English gentry. Although there have been many changes since that time, it's still the greatest challenge in life for men and women to find the partner of their dreams.

    Australia as a nation is less than 250 years old if the year 1770 when James Cook discovered the land is regarded as a starting point for its modern history. The short history has not produced a big wealth of cultural heritages. For this reason, Australia spare no efforts to protect its culture. The cottage of James Cook is a perfect example of the government and people's effort.

    Built in 1755, Cooks' Cottage is the oldest building in Australia, with a fascinating past. It's a must when exploring Melbourne. Originally located in Yorkshire, England, the cottage was brought to the Fitzroy Gardens by Sir Russell Grimwade in 1934. In 1901 Australia came into being with its capital in Melbourne. To celebrate the birth of the nation, a statue of Captain Cook was built in Sydney where Cook had sailed in and set his steps onto the land. Stamps were printed in honor of the English explorer. However, Australian people would have to travel all the way to Britain to admire the life of the discoverer, so Sir Russell Grimwade, an Australian businessman, offered to buy the old house of James Cook in Yorkshire and relocate it to Melbourne when Melbourne celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1934. Amazingly, each piece was carefully numbered, packed into boxes and then shipped to Australia, along with cuttings of the original coverings. It took nearly a month to reach Melbourne.

    In fact, explorer Captain James Cook never lived in the cottage-he'd been away from home for almost ten years when his father built it-but this connection to the Cook family was enough to prompt Grimwade to transport the cottage to the other side of the world.

Hi! My name is Grace.  I'm a student in Sunshine Middle School.  My school is beautiful.  There are 2,000 students and teachers in my school. 

I'm in Class Five Grade Seven.  My classroom is on the second floor of the classroom building.  There are forty desks and forty chairs in our classroom.  You can also see a big desk.  The big desk is for our teachers. 

There is a small office next to my classroom.  There are three desks and three chairs.  They are for Mr.  Wang, Mr.  Zhang and Mr.  Li.  Mr.  Wang is our Chinese teacher.  Mr.  Zhang is our English teacher and Mr.  Li is our math teacher. 

Two brothers planned a two- day trip in a forest and soon they were lost. They were far from home. But they knew how to camp. The older brother went to look for firewood (木柴). The younger brother went to look for food and water, but he could not find anything. He was very tired, so he sat down to have a rest. 

He noticed a bird in the tree next to him. Then he heard a voice, "I know where your parents are! I know where your parents are!"

Wondering who was talking, the boy looked around. He got so confused (迷惑的) when he saw nobody. Then he heard the words again. Suddenly, he came to know that the bird was talking to him!

The young boy looked at the bird. He said, "Can you really help us get home?"

She said, "Yes, I can. I know the village you live in. I can take you back there. I only ask for three insects (昆虫) to eat. That will give me the strength (力气) to guide you home."

The young boy quickly agreed to feed the bird and ran back to his camp as fast as he could to tell his older brother about it. His older brother did not believe him at first. Slowly he agreed to go with him and met the talking bird. 

They found three insects for the bird. The bird swallowed (吞下) them quickly. "We will leave in the morning," she said. 

The next morning, the boys followed the bird home. It took them many days. When the boys got home, they and their parents were very happy to see each other again. The parents had been sad since the boys left. The family decided that they would always feed hungry birds.