Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403, Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He asked people to build many new ships and let Zheng He lead seven sea ships to different parts of the world between 1405 and 1433. Zheng He travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

Each voyage lasted(持续) between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometers during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet(船队) with 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers’ horses.

On these trips, he brought with him many Chinese goods(物品) like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He came back from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He’s travels. He died in 1433. After that, the new king stopped these trips and he burned(焚烧) almost all the books about Zheng He’s travels because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures(冒险) of great Zheng He.

Labor（劳动）education has become more and more important in recent years.     61     As students, doing housework is the best form of labor. But some people think that students only need to study hard and should not waste time doing housework. I think this idea is wrong.     62    

First, teachers often ask students to clean the classroom at school. This is because what the school teaches is not only knowledge, but also how to adapt to（适应）society. The same is true for the family. Doing housework shows duty toward the family.     63     In the future, these will be helpful to us.

Finally, the purpose（目的）of getting knowledge is to learn the skills we will need in the future.     64     No one wants to be useless in the society.

President Xi Jinping once said, “The people’s life lies in hard work, and hard work leads to prosperity（繁荣）.”     65     Labor education is also the first test for us to enter society.