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.

   It isn’t easy being a princess. A princess addresses large crowds and uses perfect manners. A princess must always be polite and sweet and sometimes repairs car engines and fixes tires. Princess Elizabeth Ⅱ really did so.

Before she was Queen of England, Princess Elizabeth wanted to join the ATS, a female branch of the British military. It was in World War Ⅱ , and women worked at jobs traditionally held by men.

Elizabeth was a teenager and first had to convince (使信服) her parents about her plan. Her parents thought it was too dangerous, but she would not take no for an answer. “ I ought to do as other girls of my age do,” she said firmly. After some months, her parents finally agreed. Princess Elizabeth did not receive any special treatment in the ATS. The only thing different was that she returned to Windsor Castle each night to sleep.

When she arrived at the ATS camp for her first day of training, she was greeted by a jacked-up car with its wheels off. In the following weeks, she learned to take apart an engine and then assemble (组装) it. The princess loved the training, admitting, “I’m a mechanic at last. I’ve scraped the skin off my knuckles.”

Princess Elizabeth worked on cars, trucks, and even tank engines. She also learned to read maps and drive cars, ambulances, and military trucks. To complete her ATS training, she was required to drive a big truck on her own.

The King and Queen thought driving a truck was too dangerous, but before they could let her know how they felt, they discovered Elizabeth driving a truck onto the palace grounds. She had driven from the ATS camp through the busy London streets all by herself.

Now at her old age, she still drives — sometimes in London but more often around her large property at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Being a queen requires a lot of hard work, but it can be fun as well. Queen Elizabeth loves horses and still rides four times each week. She also still likes to get a little dirty. She actively manages her estate farm at Balmoral and is often seen hiking through the countryside there.

   For years considered as a foxy politician, Thomas Cromwell has been greatly rehabilitated (恢复……的名誉) by Hilary Mantel’s prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012). It’s true that he planned Anne Boleyn’s fall, and made a large fortune in a dishonest way, but he was also a good husband and father, charming and modest, a self-made man.

Certainly, he is one of the outstanding figures from Henry VIII’s court. Extremely hard-working, he was a productive reporter. It was not unusual for him to start work as early as 5 am and finish well after midnight.

Yet in researching the biography of Cromwell, I have discovered frustrating gaps in sources, particularly in relation to his early life.

The man who would one day become the most powerful in England was raised from such humble (卑微的) origins that nobody knows when or where he was born. As the son of a blacksmith, he suffered a miserable childhood.

I had the portrait (肖像), which now hangs in the Frick Collection in New York, of a thoughtful but rather bad-tempered official in mind. It seems to describe a cruel man of business, which was what I thought before I read Wolf Hall. But Mantel’s portrait of a rude but intelligent man who was as loyal to his family and friends as he was cruel to his enemies is really convincing.

His last letter to Henry VIII, written from the Tower in June 1540, is desperately moving. “Most gracious Prince,” he wrote with his trembling hand, “I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy !” Henry was said to have read the letter three times. But it was not enough to save Cromwell from the axe.

Within weeks of Cromwell’s death, his royal master was regretting the loss of “the most faithful servant”. But Henry’s daughter Mary destroyed all of that. Debate has taken place ever since — among historians, novelists and film-makers alike — as to who was the real Cromwell.

   Ed Murrow was a famous radio program producer in the 1940s.In the United States，the rise of television in the 1950s ended the period called the Golden Age of Radio Broadcasting. Most of the popular shows vanished. More and more people started watching television. Ed Murrow and his boys moved to television as a result. He joined with Fred Friendly to create the series See It Now.

This show lasted from 1951 to 1958.Some broadcasts on See It Now concerned important issues（议题）of race，war and government dishonesty. Experts said the program was important in the history of television.

Murrow also started another television show called Person to Person. He spoke with famous people in their homes. One episode（一集）visited Eleanor Roosevelt，wife of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The show also visited actress Marilyn Monroe，actor Marlon Brando and Senator John F. Kennedy.

Ed Murrow also produced a number of special programs for CBS. One such program was called Harvest of Shame. It showed the hard life and poor living conditions of farm workers who moved from place to place. Some people said this program was so powerful that it influenced American lawmakers to take measures to protect these migrant workers.

After John F. Kennedy was elected president，he asked the newsman to lead the United States Information Agency. Murrow served as the agency's director from 1961 to 1964.Then he retired from the job. He died in 1965 at his farm in Pawling，New York. He was fifty-seven years old.

Today, Edward Murrow is remembered for his influence on broadcasting and the quality of his reporting. Former CBS chairman William Paley once said Murrow was a man born for his time and work.

Paley called him a student, a thinker, and at heart, a poet of mankind. As a result, he said Murrow was a great reporter.