1. The Time of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. He is remembered for many things, including his log — cabin home, his absurd looking clothing accessory, a top-hat， but Lincoln’s absolute most important contribution to America’s history was to abolish slavery, a very hard task to accomplish at that time 。 In the middle of the 19th century, America was split by an abstract border. The country was cut into two parts: the North and the South 。 There were an abundance of differences which caud this abnormal paration 。 For instance, the North held all of the Universities and Military Academies whereas in the South, access to such institutions was limited. Also， Northerners spoke standard American English while Southerners spoke with a Southern accent。 But the largest difference that abound between the North and the South at that time was slavery and all of the aspects that accompanied it.
The North thought that the South should abandon slavery becau mint most cas， slaves faced daily abu from their owners 。 Most Northerners tried to abide by the rule
that“All men春年对联 are created equal 。" The reasons largely account for the American Civil War 。 The Civil War was a long, brutal war with a very high casualty rate. Many young men from both the North and the 财务顾问协议South were killed 乙肝早期症状on the battlefield； the death toll was also accelerated by the fact that small Army hospitals could not accommodate so many wounded soldiers.
The Civil War was filled with heroes on both sides of the battlefield 。 Names like U 。 S.Grant， General Sherman， and the acclaimed Southern General Robert E. Lee. All of the men fought bravely and made harrowing decisions on their own accord. But Lincoln is probably most often associated with his leadership of the country during this difficult period 。 He was a firm believer that slavery was wrong and he fought hard to stop it. In 1863, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which legally granted freedom to all slaves living in America. But in 1865, Lincoln’s life came to an abrupt ended while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. His death was not an accident； he was assassinated by a man named John Wilkes Booth 。
Not long after Lincoln's death, the North defeated the South and the Civil War was ended. 彩练当空舞The South was no longer thought of as another country， but part of America. And all of the slaves living and working in the South were freed and absorbed into society.
2 。 Mike — a Story of Personal Change
Mike could hardly be described as your typical adolescent. He would casually acknowledge to his few friends that he liked to watch DVDs， although perhaps a more accurate description was that he was a DVD addict 。 Over the last six months， Mike had accumulated thousands of DVDs. When he was not at school, he had become accustomed to spending his time wandering the streets of the city， acquiring more and more films. Indeed, it became a joke that if asked for his address， he would give the address of the DVD shop adjacent to our school since he spent so much time there.
Mike hated attending school. In his eyes， its only advantage was its location. During lessons， he adopted a rather cool demeanor towards most of his classmates and was often accud 减腰围of being aloof. All he emed concerned about was adding to his DVD coll
ection. In truth, Mike had not adapted to life at the school very well. Perhaps he felt that he still needed adequate time to adjust to a new environment although no one could耐久性试验 work out why he harbored such an acute
feeling of lf—pity。
As someone 地狱门前who also adores watching films， I had slowly become acquainted with Mike. I had often en him in the DVD shop which adjoined our school， yet it took a long time before he responded to my advances of friendship 。 Maybe it was an exaggeration to say we were actually friends, although he would at least acknowledge my prence with a cursory nod of the head when he saw me.
One day， I was asked to administrate our school ’s new film club. I was a little wary about asking Mike对你偏爱 to help me lect suitable films in ca he said no. however， I needn't have worried 。 Mike’s face lit up as he scrutinized a poster I had just adhered to
the wall. The poster advertid the grand opening of the Film Club the following week 。‘Hey David,’he muttered excitedly， ‘I want to be involved with that 。’
