The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2,1666.In four days it destroyed more than three quarters of the old city,where most of those houses were built out of wood and close together.One hundred thousand people became homeless but only few lost their lives.The fire started on Sunday moring.By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire.On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames.Tuesday was the worst day.The fire destroyed many well–known buildings.
The fire stopped only when the king finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path(路線) of the fire.With nothing left to burn,the fire became weak and finally died out.
【小題1】What day die the Great Fire happen in London?

On Nov.18th, 1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Auguste Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.
Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to use the box to change the weight of the balloon. The three people were also carrying some bags of sand.
After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 metres, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men’s basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand; but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.
　　At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 metres! Everything became icy. They were very cold and  they decided to land. They came down in Poland　heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometres from London!
【小題1】Where did they start their travel on Nov.18th, 1908?
                                                                            
【小題2】What was the metal box used for?
                                                                            
【小題3】 Why did they have to drop some whole bags of sand during the travel?
                                                                            
【小題4】 How long did they travel in the end?
                                                                            
【小題5】
What do you think of the three people and their travel? (請(qǐng)自擬一句話作答)
                                                                            

Long long ago, a young man found a spring of delicious clean water while he was going through the desert. He brought some back to the oldest man in his village, who had been his teacher before. After a four-day journey he sent the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village happily. The next day, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It went bad because it had stayed in the old leather container(皮革容器) for so many days in such hot weather. The student asked his teacher why he pretended(假裝) to like the awful water. The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for love and kindness. And nothing could be sweeter than these."
　　I think we understand this lesson best when we receive small gifts of love from very young kids. Whether it's a slice of bread or a piece of colored paper, the natural and right response(反應(yīng)) is to show our thanks and happiness because we get love from the gift.
　 To show our thanks doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults only see the thing itself. They never feel the meaning of the thing. We should tell ourselves and teach our children about showing thanks and happiness to the persons who give the gifts from their hearts because gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.
【小題1】Where did the young man find the water?