One of the most famous people in ancient China was a wise philosopher (哲学家) named Confucius (孔子) (circa 551—479 BC). He sometimes went by the names Kong Zi. He was born in the country of Lu.When Confucius was only three, his father died. His mother was very poor. He never had a good education. As Confucius grew up, he wanted to learn things. So he decided to teach himself. Confucius was a strange-looking boy. He got very upset, but he was also a kind boy. Confucius didn’t play with other children in his free time. But he always talked to artists and musicians and learned from them.

If he met with something difficult to do, he kept trying over and over again until he learned how to do it. Later, Confucius grew up to be a very clever man and became the leader of a city. He used his knowledge and skills in a wise and fair way to govern (管理) the city. He was very popular with his people.

People today believe Confucius was the wisest man who ever lived in China. He also made many wise sayings in ancient China that helped many people learn about nature, the world, and the human behavior. Many of his wise sayings are still inspiring (激励) us, such as “Is it not happy to receive friends coming from a far place?”.

March 5 is a special day for Chinese people because of the name—Lei Feng. Lei Feng was an ordinary young soldier. His only goal was to serve the people. He was born in 1940 in Changsha, Hunan and died at the age of 22 because of an unfortunate accident. In 1963, Chairman Mao Zedong designated(命名) the day as “Learn From Lei Feng Day”.

Most people born in the 1960s or 1970s admire Lei Feng and regard him as a good example to follow. What about young people today? The following examples may answer the question.

In 2011, 27-year-old Zhang Liangliang and his friends made a movie named Lei Feng Xia. In the movie, an ordinary guy tries to become a superhero by emulating（模仿）Lei Feng. Millions of people have seen the movie online. “We can see great things from what Lei Feng did, even though they were just small things. It’s our duty to learn from him.” said Li Huanyue, a student from Wen Yuan Middle School.

With the development of society, learning from Lei Feng should be more realistic（现实的） and modern. So Guangdong government announced the new slogan（口号） “do each other a favor”. And in Changsha, Hunan, the slogan was also updated （更新）from “devote yourself to benefit others” to “do my duty”.

Doctors see and examine patients online. Robots help to send food to patients. We are using new ways to fight the novel coronavirus（新冠病毒）. They are safe. They can help people keep in touch with each other. Let’s meet these high-tech（高科技）helpers!

Telemedicine（电子医疗）system.With a video system that can be used from a far place, doctors can examine patients without seeing them in person. Also, doctors from different hospitals can have a meeting by using the system at the same time. This saves a lot of time.

3D “hospital”. A company in Shanghai printed 15 rooms by using 3D technology. They sent the rooms to Hubei for patients to live in. Each room is about the size of your bedroom. A 3D printer takes 24 hours to build the rooms.

AI（人工智能）system checks for fever. The AI system can check people in crowds to see whether they have fevers. When people pass by, the system can scan（扫描）people’s faces. The system can check about 300 people in one minute.

Smart robots. Time to eat! In some hospitals, smart robots help to give out food to patients. The robots can also help to hand out medicine and show the way to people.

How to Choose a Good Book

Many people want to read a good book, so how to choose a good book is very important. Follow these tips:

Start With Your Interest. Reading for fun isn’t like reading for school.     21    . They can be something about cooking, computers, or fashion design（时尚设计）.What’s Your Type? Do you prefer fiction（科幻）or nonfiction (or both)? Fiction books, like novels, can take you to another world or help you imagine something you never experience. Nonfiction books give you the who, what, when, and why of something.     22    . Many of them are interesting from beginning to end.

Read the quotes(引言). The quotes in the book may give you an idea of what the book is about.     23    . If you find a book you really like, take a minute to read the quotes and see which writers praised（赞美）the book. Often, they’ll have similar styles and you might find books you like by those writers, too.

    24    . Which book did your mother and father love best when they were at your age? How about your brothers and sisters? Find out and read them, then your family can share the thoughts about the book.

Finally, you’ll probably enjoy the book much more if you find a quiet place and make time for it.     25    . But you can also play some good music, get yourself some tea and let yourself be carried away by the book. You’ll see that time does fly when you’re reading something you love!