Nick and his friends were talking about things that can bring them luck. “I have a lucky red pen,” said Andy. “I have a lucky coin,” said Peter. “Every time I take a test, I carry my lucky coin.” Nick thought for a moment, and said, “My blue socks.” “Blue socks?” the boys were surprised and asked together. Nick said that every time he wore his blue socks to school before a test, he got a good mark.

    The next day Nick had a Chinese test. He was sad because he couldn't find his blue socks. “Mom!” shouted Nick. “Where are my blue socks? I have a Chinese test today, and I need to wear them.”

  “Don't be silly,” Nick's mom said.“They need to be washed.” “When I wear them, I get a good grade.” Nick said.

  “Did you prepare for your test?” asked Mom.

  “Yes.”

  “Then don't worry about it. Just do your best.” Mom encouraged.

    A few days later, Nick's teacher told him that he got 95 in his test. Nick was so excited that he couldn't wait to tell Mom he did well in his test. Mom said, “It wasn't the blue sock s that made you success. In fact, it was made by yourself.”

    Millie is a little girl who is at the age of nine. She is a pupil in a primary school. She works hard at her subjects. In class, she takes an active part in all kinds of activities. She looks smarter than her classmates.

    One day, she was doing her homework after supper as usual. Her father was not in. Her mother was taking a shower in the bathroom. After she finished her homework, Millie asked her mother to check it for her, but her mother didn't answer her. A few minutes later, her mother was still in the bathroom. Millie felt strange. She knocked at the door. But her mother had no answer. She pushed the door open and found her mother lying on the floor. At the same time, she smelled something terrible. It was the gas. She quickly opened the window, turned off the gas and called 120 and 110 for help. Soon some doctors and policemen came and sent her mother to the nearest hospital. Her mother was saved at last.

    Why did the little girl know how to do that? That was because she had learned how to save herself and others in danger in school.

    When Grandma welcomed us, she was dressed in bright colors and wore jewelry(珠宝)I never knew she had. She seemed to be in a good mood(心情), but because of her deafness, communication was still difficult.

    It had been half a year since my last visit. She must have thought that as an overseas student, I don't get to eat much good food anymore. So, with her wrinkled(皱纹)hand, she passed me some homemade pastries(糕点).

    Her hands tested the temperature of my cup again and again, and every time it showed a slight sign of cooling down, Grandma poured in more hot water. She also never allowed me to stop eating. As soon as I finished what was on my plate, she gave me something new to try. Finally, when my stomach couldn't take any more, she stopped and held my hands as she sat beside me.

    When it was time to leave, she walked downstairs to see us off. The sun shined on the white pearls(珍珠)round her neck. She was smiling, and her wrinkles sat happily on her soft skin. People usually compare wrinkles to a dry tree trunk(树干). But to me, my grandmother's wrinkles are among the loveliest things I've ever seen.

    There used to be a time when I disliked old age and stayed away from elderly people, but that was because of my ignorance(无知). And now I understand that there's beauty in everything. My grandma's wrinkles are just like a thousand stories being told all at once.

    After a while attention to Tom ended, and the usual school murmur(嗡嗡读书声) rose upon the boring air once more. Now the boy began to steal secret glances(偷看) at the girl. She noticed it, made a face at him and gave him the back of her head for the space of a minute. When she slowly faced around again, an apple lay before her. She pushed it away. Tom gently put it back. She pushed it away again, but with less animosity(敌意). Tom patiently returned it to its place. Then she let it remain. Tom wrote on his paper, "Please take it. I got more." The girl glanced at the words, but made no sign.

    Now the boy began to draw something on the paper, hiding his work with his left hand. For a time the girl refused to notice, but her human curiosity soon began to show itself by hardly noticeable(明显的) signs. The boy worked on, seemingly not aware. The girl made some non-committal(含糊的) efforts to see, but the boy did not display that he was aware of it. At last she couldn't bear it and whispered: "Let me see it."

    Tom partly uncovered the picture of a house with some smoke rising from the chimney(烟囱). Then the girl's interest began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot everything else. When it was finished, she gazed a moment, then whispered:

    "It's nice! Draw a man."

    The artist created a man in the front yard. She was satisfied, and whispered:

"It's a beautiful man—now draw me in it."

    Tom drew an hour-glass(沙漏) as the body, a full moon as her head and some arms added to it. The girl said:

    "It's ever so nice. I wish I could draw. No one has ever taught me that."

    "It's easy," whispered Tom, "I'll teach you."

    "Oh, will you? When?"

    "At noon. Do you go home for dinner?"

    "I'll stay if you will."

   "Good, that's a deal. What's your name?"

    Grace Murray was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City. In 1928 she finished her education in Vassar College in Maths and Physics. Since 1931, she had been teaching at Vassar and continued her study at Yale University, where she achieved a lot in Maths in 1934.

    In 1930, Grace Murray married Vincent Foster Hopper. They were happy together for 15 years. She taught at Vassar College until 1943, when she joined the United States Navy(海军)to help her country during World War Ⅱ.Then she was given a job at the Bureau of Ships Computation Project at Harvard University, where she worked on the Mark series of computers.

    In 1945, she began to do research in Applied(应用)Physics at Harvard's Computation Laboratory. In 1949 she joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and worked with people working in it. Years later, she returned to the Navy. She retired in 1971 but continued teaching for the computer development. Brewster Academy, a school in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, the United States, gave its computer lab to her for free in 1985, calling it the Grace Murray Hopper Centre for Computer Learning. She had spent her childhood summer at a local family in Wolfeboro. She passed away in her sleep in 1992. Since her death, her workmate Elenor Briggs has been going on with her work.

    Grace Murray was a great woman and a leader in the computer development. Her work helped improve the use of computer languages. She practised her words" Dare and Do" in her lifetime.