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.

A TV programme has become popular in China recently. It has made people all over China become interested in writing Chinese characters （汉字）.

The increasing use of computers and smartphones has left most young people hardly able to write by hand. Many of them are even unable to remember the 1，000 characters used in daily life without the help of electronic equipment.

CCTV started Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters to improve the population's handwriting skills. Contestants （参与者） on the show were school pupils， but it was found that 70% of the adults in the audience were unable to remember how to write the word "chanchu".

Because computers allow people to type characters simply by entering pinyin ，  they don't need to remember how to write them. "The keyboard age has had a big influence on the handwriting of Chinese characters，" Guan Zhengwen， who designed and directed the show， said. He added that he hoped to encourage people to keep it alive as an art form.

Hao Mingjian， an editor of a magazine， putting his heart into Chinese characters， said： "Learning Chinese characters goes on throughout your life. If you stop using them for a long time， it is very likely that you will forget them."

Lisa has always been overweight. She wanted to lose weight, not just because she wanted to 1 more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier. For example, it was 2 for Lisa to find ready-made clothes that would fit. She had to ask a tailor(裁缝) to make clothes that were large enough. At school, she needed a special chair which was bigger and 3 than the other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly. She was also unhappy about the way people 4 her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. That's5 ! It's true that I'm overweight, but I don't think people should treat me differently because I'm big. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter. " Her friends and family 6 made fun of her. They tried to help her 7 . They wanted her to be happy and healthy. Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.

But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School 8  Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role of the proud Queen(女王) who was tall and fat. Lisa 9  it and practiced a lot. 

Soon after the play, Lisa became the 10 ! She did so well that everybody remembered the proud Queen. They stood around her and said"Congratulations!"to her. She even won the School Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance.

Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying"Every dog has its day. "

Here is some "breaking" news: the International Olympic Committee（IOC）has added（增加）breaking（霹雳舞）to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games! 

Breaking might be one of the very unusual sports to be added to the Games, as it's often seen as more of an art than a sport. 

The dance style first appeared（出现）on the streets of New York in the1970s. Performers dance to hip-hop music while using different movements. In the1980s, breaking swept around the world when it was adopted by pop stars such as Michael Jackson. Jackson's moonwalk became popular among teenagers worldwide. 

Why did the IOC choose breaking? Over the past few years, the Olympics has become less interesting to young people. The IOC is trying to make the Games more "youthful", with sports that young people actually do in their spare time. "We want to take sports to the youth," said IOC President. 

To be added to the Olympics, a sport must be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and by women in no fewer than 40 countries. Breaking certainly meets this standard（标准）, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. It is also competitive（有竞争力的）and requires strict training just like other sports. Dancers need to have the strong upper body and core（核心）strength. 

"I train at least 10 hours a week, and I've been training since I was a young kid," top Australian break dancer Lowe said. 

"It's great that it gives us more recognition（认可）as a sport," said British break dancer Karam. "Now, the efforts of break dancers are gradually accepted and even admired by a growing number of people. And for the Olympics, it will attract young people who may not follow some of the traditional sports."

This is a tale of two friends—one is blind, the other has no arms. On their own, the two are "disabled". But together, they are a powerful team that has changed part of their village in North China's Hebei Province into a rich, green forest. Meet 53-year-old Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi! 

Their story began in 2000, when Haixia, who was already blind in his right eye, lost his left one after an illness. Wenqi lost his arms in an accident when he was just three. Neither could. find a job, so the two decided to team up. They rented some poor land and began to plant trees. In return, the local officials paid them a small fee. 

Haixia and Wenqi never imagined that they would end up creating an environmental paradise. Their forest now has over 10,000 trees, hundreds of birds and many other wild animals. In addition, it saves the village from river flooding during the rainy season. 

When the friends work together, they focus on their strengths not their disabilities. Their day begins at 7 a. m. when the sightless Haixia carries Wenqi across the river to get to their worksite. Since they cannot afford to buy young trees to plant, the two use branches from existing trees. Haixia climbs to the tree-top and with Wenqi's direction, selects the perfect branch. He then digs a hole and carefully plants it. Finally, Wenqi waters the area. 

Though hard-working, the men don't make much money. But as Wenqi puts it, "We stand on our own feet. so the fruits of our work taste sweeter. "

Neither Haixia nor Wenqi cares about money. Together, they already have everything they need—a perfect pair of eyes, two strong hands, and the best friendship in the world! 

 These days, I find that mail delivery(投递) is a little different. I got a notice of my mail's arrival through email from a friend of mine. I went to the mailbox after the time the mail usually arrived. Nothing, but my neighbors' mail. I thought that was unusual.

I decided to take my neighbors' mail to them. I was going to put the mail in their mailbox when a tall man came and shouted at me. "Hey, what are you doing?" He snatched(夺取) the mail from my hand, open the mailbox, and pointed inside. "You were after this!"

I shook my head, "No, I was just bringing it to them. I got this mail by mistake in my box today." He gave me a funny look and went back into his house.

I got the knock on the door the next morning by two police officers. The angry tall man had phoned the police and told them I was a crazy old woman going around mixing up everyone's mail. Before I could finish telling them about what was going on, the officers had watched the dog coming near my mailbox with mail in his mouth. He took out the mail that was in my box and put letters in. He pushed the door closed with his nose, picked up the new pile of mail he had got from my box, and repeated this all the way down the next street. We all started laughing.

 The dog had belonged to a postman who had died. It had been trained to put mail in and take mail out of the boxes. After his owner died, he was left alone, but he still carried on with his duties.

I went by to talk to the tall man to describe what had happened. He was very pleased when he realized I was not a mail thief. He did, however, adopt(领养) the little guy.