I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world. Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she would say again, “it's for Elizabeth.” I never saw her be angry, and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me—she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”. As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. Now the present of her desk told, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

    Mr Guo is a teacher from Xi'an．He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code （二维码）．"We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate （使产生） the codes，and in the end everything gets easier，"said Guo．"When students finish the homework，they keep it on WeChat （微信）．Then，each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me．So I can check their work everywhere using my computer or telephone．"

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr Guo by email，QQ and WeChat．When Guo scans （扫描） his students'QR codes，their homework appears on his phone．He finds that their homework becomes more creative （创新的），with many pictures，music and even videos．

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting．"We are living in the information age．Many students like to work with computers，which makes learning more fun．"said Tingting，a student of Guo's．

    "The paper is not easy to keep，but the code is easy to keep and share．"Guo said．" It is worth trying to use new technology in education．Education itself is a kind of creation．I don't want my students to fall behind the times．"

    However，some parents are worried．They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers．But in fact，it's unnecessary．Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework．They only use the code when they hand in their work，which doesn't take them too much time．Also for teachers，it allows them to check the students'work at any time．And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students．

    Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant (仆人). He and the servant(仆人) loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home, the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that.

    One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison (毒药) and some nice food in the house. You must take care of them.” With these words, he went out.

    But the servant knew that the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell to the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn't find his food and his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said a cat had eaten up everything. He was afraid to be punished, so he drank the poison to kill himself.

    Lao She wrote Teahouse in 1957. The play shows the audience life in China between 1898 and 1945. It takes place in a teahouse in old Beijing and it tells us the story of Wang Lifa and his customers(顾客). It describes the changes in Chinese society over fifty years.

    The story starts in 1898 during the Qing Dynasty(朝代). It continues in 1916, and finally, it brings the audience to the end of the Anti-Japanese War（抗日战争）in 1945. After the war, Wang loses the teahouse and he dies.

    Lao She was born in Beijing in 1899. He wrote many plays, novels and short stories. He was named a “People's Artist” and a “Great Master of Language”. He was one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century.

    In Lao She Teahouse today, waiters bring tea to the customers and sell them delicious Chinese food. If you like the Beijing Opera, folk music, acrobatic (杂技的) or magic shows, you can enjoy them at the teahouse. Lao She Teahouse gives a wonderful welcome to everyone around the world.

    Garrison had been treasuring his last piece. All he had left now was a sheet of the beautiful brown paper Pa had brought back from his last sailing trip.

    "You've been quiet," Pa said, "Could I see your picture?"

    Garrison handed over his sketch. Pa studied it, then looked at his son. "You're ten now, eh?" Garrison nodded, hoping Pa wouldn't say that he was too old to be fooling around with pencils and paper.

    "When I was ten, I wanted to work on my father's ship," Pa said, "When Thomas was ten, he asked me to let him plant the corn."

    Garrison's throat (嗓子) tightened. "I know I'm not like either of you." Pa looked at the drawing again.

    "No, you are like both of us. You work hard, like Thomas. And you're like me, too. I have wandering feet, but you have a wandering mind. We need to see things differently.

    Garrison frowned. "I'd rather love the land, like Thomas, or the sea…"

    Pa patted his hand. "Thomas cares about our family very much-that's why he's worked so hard to bring us food. And my love for the sea makes good money. But there's more in life than food and money. There's happiness, for one. Does it make you happy to draw?"

    Garrison nodded.

    "And it makes me happy to look at your drawings. Not many folks can catch happiness on a piece of paper. Some might say drawing's a waste of time, but they don't understand how things are. Why, asking you to stop drawing like asking Thomas to stop farming, or me to stop going to sea. It would be like asking us to stop breathing, wouldn't it?"

    Garrison considered this, then replied, "No, sir. Not quite like breathing. If I couldn't draw any more, it would be… like someone took away my voice." He hung his head. In his mind he could hear Thomas laughing, "It's not like you ever speak up, anyway."

    But Pa patted his shoulder and said, "That would be a pure shame. Your voice is important, Garrison, whether it's out loud or on paper. And speaking of paper…" Pa smiled. "Take a look in my bag."

    Garrison reached into the bag and found a sketchbook. For a moment he was speechless happiness seemed to fill his body and stick in his throat. Then he managed to find his voice. "Oh, Pa-thank you."