Wang Fang, a Suzhou native, has given her heart and soul to Kunqu Opera. Wang, who has twice won the Plum Performance Award — China’s top award for theater and opera performances-started to learn the traditional art form in 1977.

Born with a melodic voice, Wang loved to sing and dance when she was little. She performed frequently, and was recruited by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe (剧团) when she was in middle school. However, her parents refused the troupe’s invitation, insisting that she should concentrate on her studies and not drop out of school. After members of the troupe visited the parents repeatedly and showed great sincerity,Wang’s parents finally agreed.

Learning the traditional art form was never easy. She started to learn how to pronounce words, sing them lyrically and make gestures gently. As an actress playing martial artists roles at first, she had to spend extra time practicing kung fu movements. Years later, Wang used the word “unimaginable” to describe how hard the days were when she first learned Kunqu. She was soaked in sweat when practicing movements in summer, while in winter she often had chilblains (冻疮) on her hands when training in shabby classrooms with broken windows. “But I was young and determined at the time. No matter how difficult, I always got up early the next morning to practice,” Wang recalls.

Wang says she did not love Kunqu at first, but in her early 20s,when she watched the show Peony Pavilion performed by Zhang Jiqing, a master of the art form, it clicked. “I was shocked,” Wang says. “Her every movement was full of elegance and delicacy. Each of her lines and songs was perfect. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Kunqu for the first time in my life, and it has stayed with me since.” Now, Wang has herself become a master of Kunqu. Her performances have impressed generations and helped to promote the art form among young people.

Jack London, one of America’s major writers of adventure tales, was born in California in 1876. During his life, London worked at many jobs. His broad life experiences would become the background for his writing.

London, loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the Oakland, California, public library. He attended college at the University of California at Berkeley, but he stayed for only six months. He though Berkeley was “not lively enough” and wanted to do something more exciting.

London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a living. He knew their problems first hand. He worked as a sailor, farmer, factory employee, railroad worker, and gold prospector, to name just a few of his many jobs.

London grew up near the waterfront in Oakland. He loved the water. When he was fifteen years old, he bought a small sailboat called a sloop. Later he sailed to Japan on a schooner, which is much large sailing boat. Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush Fever. In 1897, he headed for Alaska. He didn’t find gold, but he discovered something even more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made up with his vivid imagination. London entertained the miners with story after story. Later, using his experiences during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories.

London resolved to live a full, exciting life. He once said, “I would rather be a superb meteor (流星), every atom of me in magnificent glow,than a sleepy and permanent planet.” Each day, he pushed himself. Once London determined that he was going to be a writer,nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words everyday. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best writer. White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his most famous stories and are about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers can enjoy Jack London’s energy and his talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.

Marty was new at school. On his first day, he showed magic to his schoolmates. He made a toothpick (牙签) disappear and appear within seconds. Everyone wondered how he did it.

“How did you do that?” I asked. “Sorry, but that’s the first law of magic. A magician never lets out his secrets.” Marty smiled. I thought he was tricking everyone. I would make his secrets known to all.

The next day, Marty gave his second magic show. He said he could make things float (飘起). He had a ring in one hand and a pencil in the other. That’s when I saw it: a thin line tied around the end of the pencil and attracted to a button on Marty’s shirt! Sure enough, he made the ring “float” by sliding (滑动) it over the pencil and hanging it from the line. No one else noticed, but I found the secret. I got close to him and said, “I know how you did it.” He looked nervous and asked me, “Are you going to tell others?” I thought for a moment. If I told, I’d finally be able to prove Marty’s magic was fake (假的). Then Marty might lose his new friends. So I told him that I would say nothing about it. And then I walked away.

“Wait!” Marty jumped in front of me. “You’ve got a pretty good eye for magic. If you’re interested, I have an idea,” Marty suggested. And I accepted his idea. That’s how the Magic Marty and Mysterious Matt Lunch Show began. We’ve been a magic team for three months now. It turns out that instead of a fake magician, Marty is a real friend.