Dr Seuss was born in Springfield, Massachusetts 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 combine(结合) funny words, pictures, and social opinion. Children enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

    Dr Seuss wrote his first book for children in 1937. It is called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. A number of publishers refused to publish(刊登) it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published it. Soon other successful books followed. Over the years, he wrote more than forty children's books. They were fun to read. Yet his books sometimes dealt with serious subjects.

    In 1954, life magazine published 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. The story is about a cat who tries to entertain(娱乐) two children on a rainy day while their mother is away from home. The cat is not like normal cats. It talks. The book was an immediate success. 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, which 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.

It was half past five in the evening when Sarah came home from work. She walked into the living room and looked after three children. The children were fourteen, thirteen and 'nine years old. They were watching TV. The room was dirty and untidy. There were empty glasses and dirty clothes on the floor. There were cakes on the sofa. Toys were everywhere. 

Sarah got angry. "How dirty and untidy this place is!" she said to her children. "I can't work all day and then do housework all evening. I'm not doing the housework!" And so, Sarah didn't do the housework. She didn't clean. She didn't do 'the dishes. She didn't wash the clothes. Every evening she sat in the sofa and watched TV. 

Two weeks later, every dish in the house was dirty. All the children's clothes were dirty, too. Every trash can,（垃圾桶）was full. The whole house was dirty and untidy. 

Then one day Sarah got very surprised when she came home from work. The kitchen was clean. The children cleaned the kitchen! The next day, the living room was clean, and the children were washing their clothes. Sarah told the children. "OK, III do housework again. But you must help me."

Now Sarah and the three children do the housework together. Then they all sit in the sofa and watch TV. 

Tom is a good boy. He is seven years old and he is going to school soon. But Tom has a shortcoming (缺点). He can't get up early. He likes sleeping until nine or ten o'clock in the morning.

His mother doesn't want him to be late for school，so she says to Tom, "You must get up when you hear the clock ring."

"OK, mum," says Tom. And from then on, Tom gets up when he hears the clock ring at six thirty every morning.

But today, his mother forgets to wind (给……上发条) the clock, so Tom doesn't get up now. Mother goes to wake him up! Tom is in bed and his eyes are open.

"____" Mother asks angrily. "It's six forty."

"You say I must get up when I hear the clock ring, so I am still waiting for the bell."