Ludwig van Beethoven is the most famous classical composer of the Western world. He is known for his powerful music and for continuing to compose after he became deaf.

Born to a musical family in the small German city of Bonn in December 1770, Beethoven was an excellent pianist and violinist as a boy. He soon became the first important composer to earn a successful living without working for the church or court. Beethoven began to lose his hearing in the late 1790s and by 1819 he was totally deaf. When he heard nothing, in order to hear the notes (音符), he cut the legs off the piano so that he could feel the vibrations (震动)as he played.

Beethoven enjoyed taking long walks in the countryside. The villagers respected him a lot and would not bother him when they passed him. He was a strange man with his untidy clothes, wild hair and a bad temper.

For his last 15 years Beethoven was regarded as the world’s best composer. The four-note beginning to his Fifth Symphony is one of the most famous moments in all of music. The notes were described as “Fate knocking at the door”. He wrote the popular Moonlight Sonata in 1801.

Beethoven never married. After his death in March 1827, his friends found his letters to a lover, but they never found out who she was.

Besides lots of concerts and broadcasts, over 200 films use Beethoven’s music. Although he died many years ago, Beethoven is still influencing the music world.

About the year 1900, a dark-haired boy 【小题1】 (name) Charlie Chaplin was often seen waiting outside the back entrance of London theatres. He looked thin and hungry. He was hoping to get work in show business. He could sing and dance, and above all, he knew 【小题2】 to make people laugh. Sometimes he 【小题3】 (send) away to a home for homeless children.

But twenty years later, this same Chaplin became the 【小题4】 (great), best-known, and best-loved comedian in the world. People all over the world are greatly amused by the man with a moustache,【小题5】 (wear) large trousers, worn-out shoes and a small round hat. Even people who don’t understand English can enjoy his films, because they are mostly 【小题6】 (silence). It isn’t what he says 【小题7】 makes us laugh. Acting out common human situations, without words,【小题8】 (play) an important part in his films.

   Chances are the first Monday in September is a day off from school for you. If it is, you can _______ a man named Peter McGuire. Who's Peter McGuire?According to_______  , he's the founding father of Labor Day. On September5, 1882, McGuire led a_______ of 10, 000 workers in New York City一workers who took the day off from their jobs to hold a parade(游行) and a picnic. The_______ came to be known as Labor Day，and the idea_______ throughout the country. In 1887，Oregon became the first state to make it a statewide holiday, on the first Saturday in June. And in 1894，President Grover Cleveland_______ a bill that made . Labor Day a(n)_______ holiday, on the first Monday in September一the date we still celebrate to this day.

Labor Day began as a day for workers to protest, (抗议)_______ poor working conditions一long days, low pay and a lack of job security. Back in Peter McGuire's day, you could be_______ just for calling in sick -________  you were really too sick to work. Twelve-hour workdays were also________  . And workers had only short breaks for meals and other necessities.

McGuire went to work at the age of eleven, ________ newspapers on the streets of New York City. He had to help________ his family. McGuire saw poor working conditions first-hand. And he________ those conditions himself. That urged him to help________ the first trade unions in the United States.

The workers hoped strength in numbers would________ their employers to improve working conditions. They weren't always ________ . But' thanks to their________ the eight-hour workday and the five-day workweek became common practices. So did________ vacations and sick days. As for Labor Day itself, it became a day________  labor for most workers. So thanks to Peter McGuire, Labor Day means a day off from school for you and your teachers.

   Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California.  Frost attended Dartmouth College after graduating from high school in 1892.  In 1894 his first poem, titled My Buterly. An Elegy, was published in The Independent.  Robert Frost went on to attend Harvard University in 1897 after marrying his wife Elinor in 1895.  He left university due to health concerns, and moved to a New Hampshire farm.

The time spent on his farm in New Hamp shire, where he tried to work the land, make a life, and provide for his family, was very hard for Robert Frost, his wife and children.  However, Frost came to respect rural life and grew an appreciation for what those living around him went through.  Because he so intimately （密切地） knew rural country life, he was able to master describing it through prose.  These experiences on the farm inspired many of his well known pieces of poetry, including The Tufts of Flowers and The Trial by Existence, both of which were published in 1906.

It was when Robert Frost decided to sell his farm in 1912 and move to England that he found publishers who were willing to shine a light on his poetry, something that was tough for a new poet to do in America.  His first book of poems, A Boy's Will, was published only a few months after his arrival in England, and North of Boston was published a year afterward.

By the time that Robert Frost made it back to his home country of America, he had built a solid career and reputation in England and was able to further his success.  His standing allowed him to connect with influential publishers, such as Henry Holt, and get his poetry out into the hands of the American people.  In 1916, Frost published Mountain Interval, which contained poems and stories he had written during his stay in England.

Robert Frost died on January 29, 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts at the age of 88.  Before passing away, Robert Frost was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poems and contributions to American literature.