B

    Are you a big fan of E.T. (Extraterrestrial) or aliens? Then you should read Extraterrestrial Civilizations (《地球以外的文明世界》) by American writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). In his 1979 book, Asimov looked at whether there is life beyond the Earth. He also talked about how we might be able tocommunicate with aliens someday. Asimov even told us that there are possibly about 500,000 civilizations (文明) in the galaxy (银河系). The book may be a little out of fashion since it came out in the 70s. But you'll still enjoy the good reasoning (推理) and imagination of it. Asimov was a science fiction (科幻故事) master. His most famous works talk about the relationship between robots and humankind.

B

    Last summer, Mac Hollan, a primary school teacher, was cycling to Alaska with two friends. On the way, his friends had to stop for a bicycle repair, but they encouraged Mac to ride on, and they would catch up with him soon.

    Mac began to cycle alone. A few minutes later, Mac heard quick and loud breathing behind him. "Man, that's a big dog!" he thought. But when he looked to the side, he saw immediately that it wasn't a dog at all, but a wolf, quickly catching up with him.

    Mac's heart jumped. He searched and took out his can of bear spray（防熊喷雾）. With one hand on the bars, he fired the spray at the wolf. A bright red cloud enveloped the animal. To Mac's relief（宽慰）, it fell back, shaking its head. A minute later, however, it was again by his side. It even attacked the back of Mac's bike, tearing open his tent bag. He fired at the wolf a second time, and again, it fell back, only to quickly restart the chase（追赶）.

    Mac was riding hard now. He waved and shouted at passing cars without slowing down.

    At that moment, Paul and Becky were driving their car on their way to Alaska. They found a dog-like animal running alongside a man on a bike. As they got closer, they realized that the "dog" was a wolf. Mac heard a large car behind him. He kept waving and shouting as the wolf was catching up closer. And the car did stop in front of him at the right time.

    At midnight, Mr. King coughed again. He got up and took some medicine. Before he lay down again, he smoked. And he couldn't go to sleep any longer. He found the medicine book and began to read it. He was afraid he had lung cancer (肺癌）He seemed to see death was waiting for him. Tears ran down his face. He didn5t see his wife was standing by him.

    "What's wrong with you, dear?" asked the woman.

    "Nothing," the old man answered and covered his face with his hands.

    The old woman opened the book and understood at once. She said, "You must stop smoking right now."

    "I began to smoke when I was nine, you know. How can I do that?"

    "But I think health is more important".

    Mr. King coughed again and his wife said, "Go to see a doctor tomorrow. He will be able to help you, I think."

    The doctor told Mr. King to have an X-ray examination of his lungs. And then he looked at the X-ray carefully for a long time.

    "Tell me the truth, doctor," said Mr. King, "Do you see any shadows (阴影）in my lungs?"

    "No, I don't see anything."

    "Yes?" the old man said happily. "Really?"

    "Yes. Your lungs are turning black. How can I see any shadows?