Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American—George Washington. Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave (奴隶). He and his mother and his grandmother were free. Benjamin's grandmother came from England. In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean. After working many years, she saved enough money to buy a farm. Benjamin lived with her for a while. She taught him to read, write and do arithmetic (算术).

    Benjamin's neighbours knew that he was clever. They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock. He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch. The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America. People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds to Benjamin to settle.

    Thomas Jefferson heard of Benjamin Banneker's ability to settle hard problems. He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States—Washington, D.C. Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city. He marked where the streets and buildings—the Capitol (美国国会大厦), the White House, and many other places should be built.

    Later, L' Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger. He took all of the plans away. The workmen couldn't build without any plans to follow.

    For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed, but Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw. He drew each again as he had built each piece of his clock.

    If it weren't for Benjamin Banneker, Washington,

    D.C might look very different from the way it does today.

The morning of December 26th was warm and sunny on Phi Phi Don Island (岛) in Thailand. The sunshine was a welcome change from the wet, rainy weather at home. After breakfast, we went to the beach. My parents played volleyball and I ran straight into the clear water. I had great fun. 

Suddenly, I heard a roar (咆哮). Then I saw a big wave (海浪). "Mark，run!" I heard my mom shout before the big wave came to me. In no time I was under the water. I tried to get out of the water, but I couldn't. Luckily, a hand pulled (拉) me up. I breathed and looked around. I was in a tree with a Thai man. 

I was shocked and was not able to move. The only thing I could do was sit and watch. The hours passed slowly. Suddenly，both the Thai man and I saw a plane and we started shouting. The pilot saw us and came to save us. Half an hour later we were in the hills. A lot of people were there. I felt lonely and lost. Just then, my mom ran to me and said, "Mark, you're here." I was relieved (放心的) at that time. 

Two days later we left the island. We felt lucky to be alive (活着), but we were sorry for the people there who lost their homes. 

Zhu Xiangbing has been teaching at the Dongxi Primary School in the mountains of Hubei Province for 39 years. He has helped over 200 students get out of the mountains.

Back in 1984, Zhu graduated from middle school and was preparing to take the exam to enter high school. One day, the leader of his village came to visit him and asked if he would like to be the teacher at the village's primary school. It was a hard decision for Zhu to make. Accepting the job meant he would not be able to leave the village, but if he refused the offer, the students there would be left with no teacher.

After spending a whole night thinking, Zhu decided to take the offer. Then he began to work hard to learn teaching skills. Besides learning from his own teachers, he also taught himself in his spare time. Quickly, Zhu became a good teacher. Zhu often walks for several hours on mountain roads to visit his students' homes. He encourages them to study hard. With his help, more than 30 students from poor families have been able to go to school and receive education.

Because of the school's terrible working and living conditions, many teachers don't want to stay there. To get them to stay, Zhu tries his best to make them feel at home. He often invites them to live and eat in his house.

Over the years, Zhu has had many opportunities (机会) to leave the village, but he has turned all of them down. "I want to stay and help more young teachers grow and take root (扎根) here so that our kids can get a good education," he said.

The story of Zu Chongzhi

Zu Chongzhi （429 — 500 AD） was a Chinese mathematician ，astronomer and mechanic .He was {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（birth） in a well — educated family . {#blank#}2{#/blank#} an excellent engineer，Zu Chongzhi's grandfather taught him science.From {#blank#}3{#/blank#}early age，Zu Chongzhi showed great {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（intelligent） and curiosity，with special interests in mathematics and astronomy.Today we know Zu Chongzhi {#blank#}5{#/blank#}he was the first person to find out that pi （π） falls between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927，and {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（he） result remained the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} （many） accurate value in the world for more than nine hundred {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（year）.Zu Chongzhi also {#blank#}9{#/blank#} （ work ） out the close value of pi to be 355/113，which he called "close ratio".This ratio was so hard {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（get） that a Japanese mathematician named it "Z's ratio".

Chen Beier, a TV host, was going to make a programme about Atule'er, the small village in Sichuan that sits on a cliff(悬崖). People could only get to the top by climbing a 2, 556-step metal ladder(金属爬梯). 

China has reached an important goal(目标). It eradicated extreme poverty(消除绝对贫困). And life has greatly changed in Atule'er too. Years ago, there was no schools for kids to get an education. Many people died because of poor medical condition. There are no more sad facts like these in Atule'er now. Government built schools and hospitals. People can go to school and see a doctor as easily as those in town. 

Now Chen was on her way to Atule'er but it wasn't easy to complete the trip. When Chen was halfway up the ladder, she felt so tired that she could hardly go any further. But the woman set her teeth and continued her climb. Thanks to Chen, people can easily see how life in China's countryside has improved. 

China has changed a lot. Many people outside China, however, couldn't believe it. Now, Chen has shown us what can be done about that: Don't just tell them, show them. 

Students from a high school in Changchun, Jilin, spent 129 days creating a relief mural (浮雕壁画). Their idea came from the famous painting A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains(千里江山图)by Wang Ximeng.The mural was created on the wall of Changchun No.15 High School's art classroom.

It was completed by 21 students from this school under the guidance of their teacher, Duan Yingzi. The mural is nearly 3.5 meters high and 11 meters long. This piece of artwork has amazed a lot of people on the Internet. According to the teacher, creating this mural is part of the school's special lessons. The process of the creation includes drawing an outline (轮廓), making relief, painting base colors, and then finishing the final artwork. Most of the students in this group had no painting experience. Their teacher helped them learn the painting skills and practise painting many times.

The teacher explained that the most difficult part of creating this mural was the color mixing. "It took us over a month to finish the outline and relief work. In the following two to three months, we focused on perfecting the color mixing." she said. After trying again and again, they finally achieved this great goal.

"Although there is a difference in color compared with that of Wang Ximeng's painting, the students are still very pleased with the final result." she said.The difference is not so significant(显著的). The work still looks very beautiful.

"In the past, students could only see the artwork in books. And they were unable to fully experience its beauty.By drawing the painting, students can have a deeper understanding of the ancient Chinese artists' wisdom(智慧)."Duan said.