Once lived a family with eighteen children. Two of the children loved painting very much, but the family was too 1 to send both of them to study at the 2 college at the same time. After many discussions, they would toss (抛) a coin. The loser would go down into the mines (煤矿) to earn money and 3 his brother to study. And the winner would learn art at the 4. Albecht Durer won the toss and Albert went down into the mines.

    Albecht Durer worked hard and his paintings were much 5 than those of most of his teachers. After graduation, he made a lot of money for his paintings.

    When Albecht Durer returned, the family held a big dinner for his great 6. Soon after the meal began, Albecht Durer said to his dear 7, "Albert, now you can go to the art college and your 8 will come true. I will take care of you."

    But Albert said 9, "Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too late. Now I can't even hold a glass."

    To show his great love and respect, Albecht Durer 10 his brother's hands with fingers towards the sky. He called his drawing "The Praying Hands", which became very famous years later.

    Kierman was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up near the sea. For more than 40 years, he raced in international sailing competitions.

    In 1987, Kierman was competing in an around-the world race when he began to 1 the huge amount of rubbish in the world's oceans.  When he returned to Australia, he 2 to do something about it.

    He organized a community 3 called "Clean Up Sydney Harbour". On Sunday, January 8, 1989, more than 40,000 volunteers came out to 4away rubbish. The next year, Kierman made the clean-up a national event. It was a huge 5 Across Australia, about 300,000 people spent the day improving their local 6.

    Since then, "Clean Up Australia" has got 7every year. In 2002, for example, 800,000 people cleaned up almost 15,000 tons of rubbish from Australia's beaches, parks and streets.

    Kierman was 8 with the success of his project. In 2003, he started an even bigger program. With the9 of the United Nations Environment Program, he introduced "Clean Up the World", an international program that supports communities around the world in cleaning up and protecting the environment. "Clean Up the World" has grown 10 and his wonderful idea has now spread from one city to the whole world.

    Born into a farmer's family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so 1 that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to 2 cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.

    A 3 once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was 4 with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help 5stories I'd heard that day. She listened 6At first, since in her eyes professional storytellers were smooth-talking(花言巧语的) men—7good ever came out of their mouths. 8 slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, which is a silent 9 for me to enjoy new stories. As a repayment(回报) for Mother's kindness and a way to 10 my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, 11 my stubborn grandmother.

I knew she was 12 me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their 13 when they talk too much. Mother often 14 me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. 15, my natural desire(渴望) to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name — Mo Yan, which means 'no speaking'. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.

How do blind people get around safely? Some people use special guide dogs. A well-trained dog knows how to help its owner cross busy streets and get from place to place. Some people use long white canes（手杖）to help them get around. 

Guide dogs and canes are helpful, but there must be a better way for blind people to get around. A scientist in England thought so. His name is Waters and he studies bats（蝙蝠）. He knows that bats are able to fly in the dark. Besides, he knows that bats go by using sound to "see". Dr. Waters wondered if people could do something similar. 

Bats make sounds as they fly. These sounds travel in waves（波）in the air. When the waves hit an object such as a tree or house, they bounce back（反射回来）. The waves travel back to the bat's ears. A bat learns the location and shape of objects around it. 

Dr. Waters talked to other scientists, including Withington from America and Hoyle from Germany. They worked together and invented a new kind of cane. They called it a "bat cane" because their idea started with bats. The new cane has a computer in the handle（手柄）.  ▲  The sound waves hit objects and echoes（回声）back. This causes the handle to make sounds, which humans can hear. 

With a little training, a person using the cane can easily tell where objects are and can "see" with sound! 

Jessie is an eleven-year-old student in Star Primary School (小学). It is a big school with many trees and flowers. There are 220 teachers in it. Sixty classrooms are in the classroom building. And every class has 30 students. 

Here is a map of her school. Let's have a look!

Jessie likes her school very much. But she likes the music classroom best because it is very special. There are some desks in it, but there aren't any chairs. Guess where they sit! They sit on yoga balls. Sitting on yoga balls is so fun. All the students like it very much. In every classroom there are many pictures on the wall and there are many flowers in the front of the classroom. They make the classroom very beautiful.