No one knows exactly when jazz was invented, or by whom. But it is said that it began in the early 1900s.Jazz was a new kind of music, for America and the world, and New Orleans was its birthplace.

    Who were the jazz pioneers? Most were blacks. This music was not written down, and at first only blacks played it. It was hard for white musicians to learn the new style. But soon they, too, were playing jazz.

    The popularity of this music spread. From New Orleans, it traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago, then to Kansas City and New York. By the 1920s, there were many jazz musicians, both black and white. Many of them were famous. One man was better than the rest. His name was Louis Armstrong.

    Louis Armstrong was a born musician. He was not only talented but also hard-working. He also had a good sense of humour and a big, good-natured smile. These personal qualities were valuable in his rise to fame. After he became famous, he travelled around the world. It seemed that everyone wanted to hear Louis play. But life was not always easy, especially at the beginning.

    Louis Armstrong was born in 1900 in New Orleans. His father never went to school and his mother could hardly read. When Louis was still a kid, his parents separated, and Louis lived with Mother. How hard their life was can readily be imagined. And yet Louis smiled through everything. He later wrote, "My whole life has been happiness. Life was there for me and I accepted it. Whatever happened has been beautiful to me. I love everybody."

    If you love reading books, you must know about the book The Little Prince. It's a famous novel written by a French writer. As one of the best-selling books in history, it has been sold as many as 200 million copies in 253 languages and dialects(方言).Now, around seventy years after the birth of the book, an American director has found a way to make it into a 3D animated film(动画片).

    The book tells the story of a pilot, called The Aviator, who crashes(撞击)into the desert and meets a young prince there. However, in the film, the story starts years after the crash when The Aviator is much older. He has got a new neighbour called The Little Girl, whose mother wants her to get ready to enter the grow-up world. Slowly The Aviator shares his story with The Little Girl by writing it down and sending her a page at a time. The pages are complete with the pictures in the book, speaking about his time in the desert and taking The Little Girl to an amazing world where anything is possible.

    China is the first country in the world to see the film in two versions-in Chinese and English. The film shows The Little Girl's life and tells The Little Prince's story at the same time in a beautiful way.

    Huang Lei, who dubbed the film together with his daughter, says the film is like a childhood dream which is lost by most adults in this stressed-out society.

    "The most touching part is that every one of us was a good-natured kid like the Little Prince, and it's a pity that this good characteristic(品质)goes away as time flies," he says.

    Garfield first appeared in a comic strip on June 19, 1978. Garfield is well known all over the world. Lots of Garfield books have been translated into 26 languages. Garfield products are sold in 69 countries.

    Jim Davis is Garfield's creator. Jim was born on July 28, 1945 in Indiana. He grew up on a farm where his dad raised cows. Jim and his brother Dave helped with the farm work. They had 25 cats. Their mom always made sure there was plenty of food for the cats.

    As a boy, Jim was in poor health. When he had to spend time resting, he drew pictures. He added words to his pictures to make them funny.

    After college Jim worked a few years at an advertising company. In 1969, he got a job to help a cartoonist. Jim noticed that there were many comic strips about dogs but few about cats. He thought that was strange since the world is full of cat lovers.

    He remembered the 25 farm cats he grew up with. They gave him ideas for a cat comic strip. In the comic strip, Garfield became the central character in daily difficult experiences with Jon, his owner, and other characters. He is lazy, funny and hungry.

    Jim Davis has received many awards for his work. Twice he was given the Best Humour Strip Cartoonist of the Year Award. He has won four Emmys(艾美奖)and other honours.

    For some teenagers, being an adult(成年人)is the coolest thing in the world. Adults don't do homework (and)take exams. They do what they like and make money. wonderful！But is it true？

    Last month, Grade 7 students at Sunshine School had a taste of the adult world. The teachers asked them (finish)a piece of special homework called" Working with your parents for one day".

    Wu Jing's mother works as (an)ticket collector in a park. At 6 a. m, the 14-year-old girl set for work with her mother. It was dark and cold.the park opened, they did some cleaning and prepared for the visitors' coming. When the visitors came, they greeted with a smile. After standing for the whole day, Wu was worn out.

    "She is (busy)and more tired than what I thought. I should help her more, "said Wu.

    Li Shiyi, 14, spent her day (help)in a car. Her father is a taxi driver. She had to pick calls and give change back. Li thought would be easy to sit in a car and tour the city. But soon she found that her father didn't even have time for lunch.

    "Now I know how hard it is to make money, "Li said." We (should) care for our parents more and never waste money."