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A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens. The first 6,000 copies of the book were sold out in a week. And the book has inspired many plays and movies. The first play was put on in 1844. The first two movies were silent films made in 1901 and 1908. Since then, the story has been remade more than 60 times for television and cinema. What makes such a tale so attractive? Audiences have always loved a good plot, a villain(反面人物) who harms other people or breaks the law, and the ending of right over wrong. The book offers all three.

The book tells the story of a man named Ebenezer Scrooge. He is mean and cruel to his clerk and turns away（避免）his only living relative. One night, Scrooge is visited by three spirits（幽灵）. The first shows scenes from Scrooge’s youth that led to this present state. The second takes him to the homes of his clerk and his nephew. Here Scrooge sees that people can be happy without lots of money. The spirit also shows him the desperate(绝望的） poor people of London. The third spirit shows Scrooge will die alone, and no one will care if he continues to live as he has. At last the message is understood, and Scrooge repents. He becomes generous and caring to all around him, especially to his clerk’s sick son, Tiny Tim.

Every year, thousands of people watch A Christmas Carol. Why? They may be touched by its lessons on the true meanings of wealth and happiness. They may enjoy the special effects and feelings or watching every year may be just a habit. Viewers never seem to grow tired of the old miser(守财奴), Scrooge, and his dramatic message of hope and change.

Li Shizhen was born in 1518. His father was a poor doctor. Li Shizhen often saw that people became ill. He decided to study medicine so that he could help people.

Li Shizhen read many books about medicine. He found that many of the old medicine books were full of mistakes. So his wish was to write a new one.

He did his best to study medicine science. He studied not only the herbs(草药) in his own garden; but also the wild ones. He set out to collect herbs and talked with old peasants(农民). He learned a lot from curing(治疗) patients.

After many years of hard work and study, Li Shizhen finished his great work Ben Cao Gang Mu(《本草纲目》). At that time he was sixty. His book is now one of the greatest contributions of the Chinese people to the medicine science of the world.