Every January we celebrate the life of a great man, Martin Luther King who fought for civil rights. He believed that all Americans should be treated fairly, no matter what their skin colors were.

    Dr. King was born in 1929 in Atlanta. Because he was dark, he could not go to the same schools as white children. Black Americans also had to use separate restrooms, restaurants, theatres and swimming pools in some states.

    Dr. King thought this was wrong. He was a Christian minister(牧师) who worked for equal right for black people. He helped organize protests to change those unfair laws.

    It was a hard fight. Dr. King was attracted and arrested(逮捕) many times. But more and more Americans grew to understand that it was wrong to treat black people differently from white people.

    In 1963, Dr. King led many people in a march to Washington D. C. where there he gave his famous speech "I have a Dream." He said people should be judged by their hearts, not by their skin colors. His efforts helped bring about new laws to create equal rights for all Americans.

The third Monday of January is a holiday to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King. We should respect his courage in working to improve the lives of so many people.

    Being able to go to a perfect university is what every high school student dreams of. However, for Jin Chengkuang, a high school senior at Shenzhen Experimental Chenghan School, his long-standing dream has been to be a film director. He has received offers from four top art schools in the United States, which means he is already on the way of making his filming dream come true.

    Although Jin is only 18 years old, he has had some experience of filming. During his three years in high school, Jin produced four more short films besides Choose and Out of Control, which were more successful.

    According to Jin, he shot Choose with an Argentinian student when he was at a summer school programme in New York. It was a short film about freedom. The film was produced in a classroom with only a fish tank as the main prop (道具). To express the opposite of freedom, the tank was empty in the beginning, but suddenly, a fish appeared and swam freely in the tank. In the end, the fish disappeared, leaving us an open ending. It took Jin and his partner one month to finish the six-minute short film.

    As a beginner, Jin has been quite lucky so far. Last winter, he got a chance to join the well-known film director Chen Kaige when they travelled to Northern China to film I Legend of the Demon Cat.

    Jin said, "A great firm takes everyone's efforts. Although the conditions were pretty poor, it was all worth it because I learned a lot."

    Jimmy is a very kind young man. He works in a big supermarket. His workmates like him very much. Last month Jimmy caught a bad cold, and he stayed in bed for about two weeks. But after he got well, something happened-he couldn't stop winking(眨眼) . When he stayed at home, he was all right as usual. But if he went out, he couldn't stop his eyes from winking.

    Jimmy went to work the next morning. On the way he met a policeman and winked at him. The policeman felt surprised but said nothing. Then he met an old man and winked at him. The old man thought he must be mad. But still he didn't say a word.

    Real trouble started when he met women. First he met a young lady. He winked at her. The woman's face turned red, and ran away as fast as she could. And then he met an old woman who carried a walking stick. Jimmy winked at her. She looked closely at him. Jimmy winked again.

    Without saying a word, she hit Jimmy on the head with her walking stick. "Take that!" she cried out. "This is a lesson(教训) for you."

Poor Jimmy! How could he explain it? He ran away quickly. From then on, he always wears a pair of dark glasses when he goes out.

We all know that paper-making, gunpowder, the compass and the art of {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (print) are the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. But have you heard of another important invention—the abacus (算盘)?

It's said that Li Shou (隶首) invented the abacus. It {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (be) around for over 5, 000 years. Some researchers believe the abacus has a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (long) history than the other calculators (计算器) in the world. In China, people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) abacuses to do calculations for thousands of years before people use electronic calculators in daily lives. 

The abacus is usually made of wood. It has many beads (珠子). Each bead above the abacus stands for five, and each bead below stands for one. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} moving the beads up or down, one can do all kinds of calculations. 

It is pleasant thing to watch a skilled hand use an abacus. Fingers move, beads knock, and after {#blank#}6{#/blank#} few seconds, the result comes out. In the past, the use of the abacus was a necessary skill. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} it was taught in many schools. 

Today, because we have been used to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (use) electronic calculators, we don't have many chances to see an abacus in our daily lives. Many young people have not even {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hear) of the word "abacus". However, the abacus still plays an important role in certain situations. 

The abacus is one of the important inventions in Chinese history. It used to make a big difference to Chinese people's life. It is one of the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (reason) why we are proud of China. It shows the great wisdom of the ancient Chinese people. It is our national treasure.

 If you are looking for a simple place to stay for a few nights, a capsule(胶囊) hotel might be a good choice. Providing small rooms and just a few basic services, these hotels can help people save lots of money.

 What do the rooms in capsule hotels look like? The rooms are usually the size of a bed. They are very small, but they have enough space for you to sit up on the bed. Rooms in capsule hotels are usually side by side and on top of one another. So, if you are staying on the top level, you have to use a ladder to climb into your room. There are also curtains( 帘布) for you when you' re sleeping. Although there's little you can do inside your room apart from ( 除了……还 ) sleeping, capsule hotels usually provide other services. Shared bathrooms and dining areas are available (可提供的) for you to use.

 The first capsule hotel appeared in Osaka, Japan in 1979. Many Japanese loved the idea, so more capsule hotels opened all over the country. From there, capsule hotels spread to several other countries such as India and Iceland. China has also seen a rise in the number of such hotels in recent years. And they are quite popular with young people.

 Many experts(专家) believe capsule hotels will become more popular as time goes by. What do you think?