At the age of nineteen, Xiliu married Gao Sheng, who had just lost his wife and had a son named Changfu. A year later Xiliu gave birth to a boy Changhu. Before long, Gao Sheng died of illness.

Seeing Changfu didn't often go to school, Xiliu sent him to work with the poor boys as punishment. Changfu could not stand and wanted to return to school. Xiliu refused, and Changfu, like a beggar (乞丐)， huddled(蜷缩) himself up with cold. Xiliu said to Changfu, "If you are ready to take a beating of 100 strokes, I'll take you back." Changfu decided that he would take the beating. Aware of Changfu's regrets for his mistakes, Xiliu did not beat him and asked him to continue his studies.

      Changhu was a slow-minded child, so Xiliu asked him to quit school and work in the fields.

      But Changhu was so lazy that he often ran away from work. Xiliu then asked him to do business, but he used up all his money in gambling(赌博)． At last, Xiliu sent him to Luoyang to sell goods, where he was put into prison for using fake (假的) silver. In prison he suffered a lot. Xiliu told Changfu, "I gave the fake silver to your brother on purpose, intending to make him suffer. Now you go and get him out." Back home, Changhu knelt before his mother and finally gave up bad and returned to good.

 B

    John Grisham is one of the most popular American authors(作家) today. All of his books have been best-sellers (畅销书). And six books of his, including The Client,have been made into films.

    Grisham was born in Arkansas in 1955. As a child, he wanted to be a professional baseball player. Later he changed his mind and studied accounting (会计学) at Mississippi State University. After 1981, he worked in a law firm (律师事务所) for nearly ten years. Although he was working 60-70 hours a week, he got up at 5:00 a.m. every day to write his first book, A Time to Kill. It took him three years to write this book and he finished it in1987. His next novel, The Firm, came out in 1991. It was his first big success.

    Now Grisham lives with his wife and their two children in Mississippi. In his free time, he helps children develop their baseball skills.

     Do you know what Oscar is? When did it start? Maybe you can find the background of the awards in the following passage.

The awards started in 1929. Their full title is “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards”. The Academy is a group of people who have worked in the film industry for many years. They decide who will receive the awards. The awards are often referred to as the “Oscar”. This is a nick name given to the awards by a lady called Margaret Herrick. She was once the director of the Academy and she once said that the little gold statue reminded her of her uncle Oscar!

    The Oscar is always an exciting event. Each year, at least one unusual thing happens. When the Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni won an Oscar for best foreign film, he danced on stage! When Gwyneth Paltrow,the star of Shakespeare in Love won the Oscar for best actress, she could not make her acceptance speech because she was crying so much with happiness!

    In 1987, Roberto Benigni won the award for best director for a film about the last emperor of China. Since then, Chinese film and actors have started to make an impact at the awards. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a huge success and it won the award for best foreign language film in 2001.It also won several technical awards for its amazing “flying” people. We expect to see more awards for Chinese film in the near future.

    It's time for the Oscar again. Once more, the stars will dress up in their finest and go to Kodar Theater. There, they will find out who have won the awards for best actor, best actress and best director. Millions of people watch the awards every year to find out who the winners are. Some people watch it to see the stars crying and laughing as they receive their awards.

A

    Hemingway was one of the famous writers. He was born in Americain 1899. His father was a doctor and loved sports very much, and his mother taught music. Among the six children in the family, Hemingway was the second oldest.

    Hemingway had written many books in his life. The Old Man and the Sea is one of the most famous books and it is also my favorite. It came out in 1952. The main character in the book is a fisherman. He is an old man and fishes alone. People think he is a man with bad luck, because he doesn't get a fish in eighty-four days. Every evening, he comes home with his empty boat. But the old man believes himself. Then on the eighty-fifth day the old man takes a big fish.Although he meets a lot of trouble, the old man never gives up.