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    Brian was a funny student. He loved watching comedies（喜剧） best and hoped to become a comedy actor one day.

When he heard about the talent show to be held at this school, Brian decided to take part in. He had never acted on stage（舞台） before, and he was very excited. But some students laughed at him. “You are not funny but silly,” Ken, one of his classmates, said to his face. “No one will like what you do,” another boy also said to him, loudly.

Brian couldn't understand why they were so unkind to him. For a moment, he thought about giving up the show. But he remembered how much his friends liked his jokes, and also his teachers said he was very funny. So he decided to prepare for the show.

    Brian did a great job at the talent show. Everyone loved his performance, and he won the first prize! His teachers and friends were proud of him. Even so, Ken told Brian that he was not funny, and that he would never be successful. Brian didn't understand why Ken said so, but he realized that it had nothing to do with him. He confidently continued to work towards his goal.

   As the years went on, Brian met more people like Ken. “you'll do a terrible job,” they said to him. Luckily, most people encouraged him and some helped him to become even funnier. He got a lot of opportunities to perform in movies. He was even invited to appear on television. His fans thanked him because his comedies made them feel good when they were unhappy.

    Now Brian is a big comedy star! He is doing what he loves best. He never feels stressed like those unkind people, and he laughs all day long!

    Walter Dean Myers，born on August 12，1937，was an American writer of children's books．He was known for young adult literature （文学） He wrote more than 100 books，including picture books and non﹣fiction．"I care about writing for young people because I remember how much I needed help and guidance at that time in my life，"Myers said in his book．

    Myers loved writing．He got up at five o'clock every morning．He worked at home in a small office that used to be his son's bedroom．

    Myers would first write an outline for every book．He called this prewriting．He imagined what the story would be and wrote down ideas in a notebook．To make sure there's enough action and dialogue for a good story，he thought of 30scenes．He wrote a short description of each scene in his notebook．

    He also cut out pictures of real people and put them on his office walls．He looked at those pictures and came up with ideas．Once he knew what the story would be and who the characters were，he began to write the book．He wrote five pages a day on his computer．

    Myers usually worked on three books at a time．When he was not prewriting or writing a book，he might be rewriting something he had already completed．Then he would send the story to his agent （经纪人）．He or she made suggestions for the story．After these final changes were made，the book was published and made its way to bookstores and libraries．By that time，Myers would begin to write his next book．"I want to do the best that I can with my writing．"said Myers．

    Simon lived in a big house with his family in the southeast of Australia. Their house was 20 kilometers from the town, at a beautiful beach. There were five people in his family. They're his parents, his two younger sisters and him. The house had four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. In front of the house, there were many trees and flowers. They had a very big farm around the house, and thousands of sheep were there. In the morning, Simon took a school bus to his school in the town. And after school, he helped his parents do some farm work. At weekends his school friends often came to visit. They usually travelled there by bus. On the farm they played games, went swimming and had a picnic together. They thought it was a nice place to live in. It was so relaxing, and never dull.

    Ben lives in a big house in the country with his family. His house is not near a town. It is twenty miles away from the nearest town. There are a lot of people in his family. They are Ben, his two sisters, his brother and his parents. His house has two floors. There are four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. He'd like to have his own bedroom but he shares a bedroom with his younger brother, Simon. His two sisters, Gina and Annie have their own bedrooms. Their house has a big yard with lots of flowers. He likes playing in the yard with his brother and sisters. At weekends his school friends often come to visit. They play in the yard, or in his room if it rains. Their house is a nice place to live in. He has a lot of fun with his family and friends in his house.

    Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant(仆人). He and the servant 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 what 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(惩罚), so he drank the poison to kill himself.

    Mr. King lives in a city. He has some shops and makes a lot of money. His son, Mike, studies at a middle school. The boy likes everything but he doesn't like studying. He doesn't listen to his teachers in class and he never finishes his homework on time. He always plays football when he has any free time. He can never pass(通过) the exams.

    Mr. King is busy with his trade that he has little time to stay at home. He never cares about his son's studies, so he doesn't know how he is doing.

    One day Miss Read, Mike's teacher, calls Mr. King. On the telephone she tells him all about the boy's studies. She wants him to try to help his son at home. When the man hears this, he doesn't feel very happy.

    In the afternoon, when his son comes back from school, Mr. King gives him a good telling-off(责罚), but soon feels sorry for it when he sees Mike crying in the bedroom. The next morning, Before Mike goes to school, he says to him, "Study hard and I'll buy you a car when you pass the exam next year."

    Another term is over. Mike doesn't pass the exam once more. Mr. King looks at the grades on the school report for a few minutes. Then he asks his son," You don't pass the exam again, Mike. What did you do at school this term?" "I learned how to drive a car, dad" answers the boy.