A short Chinese man is one of the biggest men in the world right now. He is Jack Ma (Ma Yun), the Chairman（董事局主席）of Alibaba Group. On Sept. 19,2014, Alibaba went public（上市）and raised $25 billion（十亿）. Ma, a former English teacher, has become the richest man in China.

    Born in 1964 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma grew up as a happy kid. When he was a teenager, he wanted to learn English. Every morning, he got up at 5a.m, rode his bike for 40 minutes to a hotel near the West Lake and talked with foreign tourists in English. He did it for nine years, rain or shine.

    The experience made him an excellent English speaker and also opened his eyes to the outside world. In 1994, Ma Yun heard about the Internet. And on a 1995 trip to the US, Ma was shown the Internet for the first time. He searched the word “beer” on Yahoo, and found that there was nothing there about China. Seeing the chance, Ma returned to China and set up a website called China Pages without even knowing much about computers.

    Four years later, Ma, his wife and his friends set up Alibaba in Hangzhou. He believed in the Internet business potential（潜力）when few other Chinese did, 15 years later, Alibaba has developed into the world's largest e-commerce company（电子商务公司），owning popular shopping websites like Taobao and Tmall.

    Mr Turner teaches in a middle school. He's friendly to his students. And he is always strict with himself. He often tells his students to be polite and to do their best to help the persons who are in trouble.

    One Monday morning, Mr Turner didn't go to work and went to see Mr White who was ill in hospital. As something was wrong with his car, he had to take a bus. At first he easily found a seat, but soon plenty of people got on the bus and it was very crowded. Some of them had to stand. Mr Turner looked around and saw a woman standing behind. He stood up and made room for her. The woman said nothing and sat down. Her behaviour made Mr Turner unhappy.

    "It's necessary for her to be taught how to be polite," he said to himself. Then he asked, "What did you say, madam?"

    "I didn't say anything, "answered the woman.

    "I thought you said 'Thank you!"'

    When the woman heard this, her face turned red.

Dear Frank,

    Thank you for your postcard. I'm very glad you are having a good trip now. Ottawa is very beautiful in May. I hope I will have a chance to go there one day.

    Our summer holiday will start next month. I enjoy my summer holiday, although(虽然)it's hot at that time in America. During the summer holiday, I can swim in the sea and go fishing. It's so cool. And I am going to our hometown near Chicago with my sister Linda, and my parents agree(同意). Our uncle lives there, so Linda and I can stay with him.

    We are not going to take a plane. We are going there by train. I am going to fish there. And Linda likes painting. She is going to do some painting there. I'm sure we'll have a good time.

Sincerely,

Jack

    They say that "travel is the best teacher" and there is no better example of this idea than the Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer Xu Xiake (1587-1641). His book The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, not only encouraged a love of travelling among Chinese people but provided important scientific information about the country's land and geography.

    Born into a wealthy Jiangyin family, Xu became interested in books about different places at anearly age and wanted to travel. When he was 18, however. Xu's father died and so, it seemed, did his travelling dreams. He now was responsible for the family farm and taking care of his 60-year-old mother as tradition required.

    But his mother had different ideas. Understanding her son, slove of travel and valuing the knowledge he could get from such experiences, this modern-thinking woman refused to keep her son at home. She agreed that Xu could travel for three months every year, when there was less farm work.

    So at the age of twenty and with his mother's support, Xu set off for the first time, leaving behind not only his mother but his new wife as well. He would repeat this goodbye each year for most of the next 30 years. During this time, he travelled throughout the Ming kingdom, carefully studying the lands he passed through and recording his experiences and many discoveries in a diary. This diary, which once had over 500,000 words, would eventually become The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

    Although rich, Xu avoided comfortable travel, preferring to go almost everywhere on foot. This way he could research the environment in detail and get a true picture of the natural world. Many of his trips were to hard-to-reach mountain areas, and through wild forests where few people lived. His willingness to face hardships came at a cost however. Progress was slow and tiring and he was frequently sick, robbed and beaten during his journeys

    Sadly Xu became seriously ill during his last and longest journey, a 4-year trip through the Southwest of China. He died in 1641, soon after returning to his hometown for the last time. When his diary was finally printed years after his death, much of it had been destroyed or lost. Although incomplete, it still made Xu a travelling legend around the world.

    Laura has an aunt who works in London. She loves Laura so much that she invites Laura to

    London every summer.

    Last year Laura was happy to go to London and see some famous places in London, including the British museum, National Gallery (画廊)and other great buildings. How beautiful! She fell in love with them, but one thing made her very unhappy. It's her first time to go to a big square, but when she passed the square alone, a thief(小偷)stole her wallet in her pocket. She had to walk to her aunt's home angrily.

    This year Laura's aunt invited her to London again. One day, when she passed the same square with her aunt, she was more careful not to be stolen. After a while, she saw a man go close to her and put his hand in her pocket with a smile. Then he took out his hand quickly and left. She became very angry and shouted, "Stop it, or I will call the police!" To her surprise, she found her aunt and all the other people there laughing with the word "Congratulations(祝贺)"! In fact, the man was not a thief. Instead, he put ten pounds in her pocket. It was an interesting game. The organizers(组织者)wanted to correct the bad impression(印象)of the square, so they hired(雇佣) some "thieves" to do that game.