To: hans @ yahoo. com

    From: …@…

   Subject: A pen-friend from Shanghai, China

Dear Hans,

    First, let me introduce myself to you. My name is …

is the boy?

My school is near my house and I can go to school .

    Yao Ming was born in China in 1980. In his last season with the Shanghai Sharks. he scored 32. 4 points per game. Now the big man from China is helping the Houston Rockets in the NBA. He is the son of two great basketball players. And he learnt how to play basketball when he was young. Now, as one of the stars in the NBA, he is working hard to make his dream come true and shows the world that Chinese basketball players love this game too！

    Pele was a football player that everyone knew. He was born in Brazil in 1940. He started playing for Santos when he was only 16 and he didn't retire until 1977, when he was 37. He played for Brazil 111 times and he scored 97 international goals. Pele came from a poor family. He started playing football in the street, like many people around the world do. He was soon picked to play for Santos and quickly became an international figure.

    Steffi Graf was born in Germany in 1969. She won the tennis semi-final(半决赛)at Wimbledon in 1985 when she was only 16 but she lost the final to another great tennis player, Martina Navratilova. People were surprised by the strength and power of her game. She soon became a famous tennis player and she has won most of the main matches several times.

    Tom arrived at the bus station quite early for a bus to Paris. It would not leave until five to twelve. He saw a lot of people waiting at the station. Some were standing in line, and others were walking around. There was a group of schoolgirls. Their teacher was trying to keep them in line. Tom looked around but there was no place for him to sit.

    He walked into a station cafe. He looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. He found a seat and sat down before a large mirror on the wall. Just then, Mike, one of Tom's workmates came in and sat with Tom.

    "What time is your bus? "asked Mike.

    "There is plenty of time yet, "answered Tom.

    "Well, I'll get you some more tea then, "said Mike.

    They talked while drinking. Then Tom looked at the clock again. "Oh！It's going backward！"he cried. "A few minutes ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven. "

    "You're looking at the clock in the mirror, "said Mike. Tom was sad. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. Since then Tom has never liked mirrors.