It's Really a Miracle (奇迹)

    Mr. Clarke works in New York and he brought his family to China last summer. They visited many places of interest and had a good time here. Before they left for New York, the Clarkes climbed the Great Wall. It was the greatest project over two thousand years ago. They took a lot of photos there and then they had a picnic under a big tree. Suddenly it began to rain and they hurried to the car. And when they returned to the hotel, they couldn't find the bag in which their expensive camera was. They were all sorry for it. They could buy another camera but had no time to go to the Great Wall again. They could not miss the plane!

That evening they didn't have supper. Mr. Clarke hoped to make them happy, so he said, “Well, let me tell you a story. An old man lived in a sixty-story building. One day he fell down from it when he was cleaning the window. But he didn't hurt himself.”

  “It was a miracle!” called out his children, “Why?”

  “Because he lived on the first floor!”

    They all began to laugh while two policemen with a bag came in. They said a Chinese boy found it under a big tree and he asked them to find out who lost it.

  “It's really a miracle!” the Clarkes said happily.

C

    Hello! I'm Lily. I'm going to have a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, I 'm going to the Beach Park with my friends. We are going to ride bikes there because we can do some sightseeing on the way. We are going to play on the beach. At noon, we are going to have a picnic in the park. In the afternoon, we are going to visit our maths teacher. She wants us to go to her room and help us with our maths. In the evening, I'm going to visit my aunt with my mother, because it's my cousin's birthday. There is going to be a party in her house. On Sunday morning, I'm going to the bookstore with my good friends. I'm going to buy some storybooks. After lunch, I'm going to do sports with my brother. In the evening, I'm going to watch TV and clean my room. How busy I am!

    Once upon a time, there lived a teacher in a small town. He often taught his students in special ways. Once he sent four of his students to go to a small farm to see apple trees in different seasons. The first student went in winter, the second in spring. The third in summer. And the last in autumn.

    After the four students came back, the teacher called them together. They pictured (描述) their feeling to the teacher. The first student said that there were no leaves on the trees. It made him very disappointed. The second student said his eyes were full of light green. It made him feel hopeful. The third one disagreed. "What are you talking about? How pretty the trees were! The sweet smell of the beautiful flowers spread(传播) here and there." The last one shook his head. He only saw a lot of apples on the beautiful trees.

    The teacher smiled and told his students none of them were wrong. They each just saw one season. He continued, "The trees are not the same in different seasons. You can't judge (判断) a tree by only one season. Don't let the regret of one season destroy the beauty of the rest.

    Everything has different sides in our life. Don't hurry to make a conclusion(结论) before seeing the whole of it.

    There are 100 chicks sitting quietly in a circle. Suddenly, each chick freely pecks(啄) the chick to its left or right. What is the expected number of unpecked chicks? Can you solve it?

Leo (the 13-year-old boy) gave the right answer, 25, in just 0.9 of a second. He got this question in the final round of the Raytheon Maths counts competition. Thanks to that correct answer, he won it this year. Last year, he was second.

    "I was surprised that I won," he said. "I was kind of worried that was the wrong answer."

    This year, more than 100,000 students took part in the competitions. And 224 students entered the final round. Leo will receive a ﹩20,000 college scholarship and free trip to US Space Camp.

    Leo is talented at Maths. And unlike other students, he studies at home. His mother Mary quit her job as a writing teacher to home—school her son. She thought traditional school couldn't meet his needs. He often asks his mother to write difficult Maths problems so that he can solve them.

    When Leo was 8, he started taking college classes. Even on vacation, he still tries to learn Maths. He once asked his parents to take him to a Maths library at the University of Texas. People around him regard him as a Maths genius.

    An English traveller found himself in Norway with only enough money to buy the ticket for his journey back home. As he knew that it would take him only two days to get to England, he decided that he could easily spend the time without food. So he bought a ticket and got on the ship. The man closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When dinner time came, he didn't go to the dining room, saying that he was not feeling very well.

    The next morning, he still didn't have breakfast and at lunch time he again stayed in his room. But at dinner time he was so hungry that he went to the dining room and ate everything the waiter put in front of him. He got ready for the quarrel(争吵).

     “Bring me the bill,” he said. “The bill, sir?” said the waiter in surprise. “There isn't any bill. On our ship meals are included(包括)in the money for the ticket,'' said the waiter.