Would you believe that the first outstanding deaf teacher in America was a Frenchman? His name was Laurent Clerc. He became a friend of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and together they founded America's first school for the deaf.

    Laurent Clerc was born in a small village near Lyons, France, on December 26, 1785. When he was one year old, he fell into a fire, losing both his hearing and his sense of smell.

    At 12, Laurent entered the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris where he did well in his studies. After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher.

    Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was studying to be a minister. He was very concerned about the lack of educational opportunities for the deaf. Therefore, in 1815, Gallaudet sailed to London, England to seek ideas on how to teach deaf people. While he was there, he met a French educator of the deaf who invited him to go to Paris to spend three months learning at the Royal Institution for the Deaf, the school where Laurent Clerc was teaching. Gallaudet accepted the offer. The two worked and studied well together. When the time came for Gallaudet to return, he asked Clerc to come with him. Clerc accepted on one condition: that he would stay in America only a short time.

    The two men set sail on June 18, 1816. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took 52 days; however, Clerc and Gallaudet put the time to good use. Clerc studied English, and Gallaudet studied sign language. They discussed the school for the deaf which they planned to open. On the long trip, they had many conversations about education and deafness. The year after they arrived, they founded a school for the deaf in Harford, Connecticut.

At the school, Clerc led a busy life. He taught signs to Principal Gallaudet; he taught the pupils; and he taught hearing men who came to the school to study deaf education.

    In 1819, Clerc married Eliza Crocker Boardman, one of his pupils. They had six children. He retired from teaching in 1858. Although he had intended to return to France, he never did. He died on July 18, 1869 in the United States.

    Tom was a fat boy when he was ten. He liked watching TV very much. He watched TV at least 5 hours every day. Wherever(无论哪里) he went, he would be late.

    One day, he found a pair of special glasses in his post-box(邮箱). He also found a message saying, “With these you can see time.”

    The boy decided to have a try. He put the glasses on, looked at his brother, a tall and thin boy, and saw a big box of flowers on top of his head. And it wasn't just his brother. When he looked at his parents, he also saw the flowers. The three boxes were very large and the flowers were very beautiful. Then, he looked at himself from the mirror. He saw the flowers, too. But his flowers went to the mouth of the television. Its mouth was big. His flowers became fewer and fewer.

    At last, he learned that watching TV was a waste of time. He could learn nothing from it. He decided he would never again let the television eat his time.

    It is May, 2050. Frank and Mary wake up in their comfortable house in the morning. They turn on the bedroom computer to read the latest news. They keep on reading The Times for many years. The only difference is that they changed from paper newspapers to electronic newspapers. There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet.

    After breakfast, as they watch the screen, Mary orders the cooking robot to make coffee for them. Frank is a computer engineer, working for several companies. He is going to take part in a video conference with his partners all around the world.

    Mary is a medical researcher. She usually works at home. Now she is looking at the shopping channels while her secretary robot is helping her check a new type of medicine.

    Their daughter, Louise, has her own study room at home. She goes to school only one day a week, to play with other students. Louise is studying Chinese in the present. Chinese has become an important language in the world.

    According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130 years old. Her wish is to work for a few decades (十年) and then spend her time on music and painting.

    Maria lived near a forest. She often played with the animals in the forest. They were all her friends.

    One day, Maria walked into the forest to play with her animal friends. But to her surprise, the forest was very quiet and the animals weren't there! Maria hurried back to tell her parents. Her parents returned to the forest with Maria. The forest was still very quiet. But Maria's father noticed a little monkey behind a big tree.  The monkey was dying! They tried to save it. But the monkey was too weak. Before it died, the monkey told them the truth(真相)：a ghost(魔鬼)wanted to get the forest, so he asked all the animals to go away.

    Maria and her parents were very angry. They decided to drive the ghost away. They asked their friends and neighbors to help them. The ghost was strong but the people were stronger. At last, the ghost left and the animals returned to the forest happily.

    A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apple tees he grew.

    One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to plant it. The farmer was glad of the gift, but he did not know where to plant it.

    He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers(陌生人) would take the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and take some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit. Finally he planted the tree in the deep forest. But without sunlight and good soil(土壤), the tree soon died.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place. "What' the difference?" the farmer said angrily and then told what he had thought.

    "Yes," said the friend, "but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now not only no one could enjoy the fruit, but also you have destroyed (毁掉) a good apple tree!"

 Alice is a 6- year- old girl. She likes drawing(画画) very much.

 One day, after the rain(雨), she goes out with her father and her dog Coco.

" Wow, what's that?" She asks.

" It's a rainbow. How many colors can you see, my dear?" asks her father.

" Er... one, two, three... seven. Seven colors. It looks so nice."

 Then they go home."I want to draw a rainbow, Dad, but I don't have orange , green or purple," Alice says to her father.

" That's easy. We have the three colors. Let me help you. Red and yellow can make orange. Put(放) yellow into blue, and we can get green. Blue and red can make purple."

" Wow, that's interesting! I have seven colors now. I can draw a rainbow. Thanks, Dad!"

 With the help of her father, Alice draws a great rainbow. She is so happy!