Nine-year-old Jimmy was given a task in school to write a story on "My family's ancestors(祖先)". The purpose was for the kids to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} their family history.

    In search of some {#blank#}2{#/blank#} for his task. Jimmy interviewed his grandmother who of course {#blank#}3{#/blank#} nothing about the reason why Jimmy asked such questions.

    When she was asked, "Granny, where did I come from?" his grandma was quite{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Why didn't he ask his parents? She had to be quite careful when talking {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a kid about such a subject. She wanted to buy some time, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} she replied," Well, sweetie , the stork(鹳鸟) brought you." She said no{#blank#}7{#/blank#}, hoping that the subject would be dropped until Jimmy's parents came back.

    "So , where did Mom come from?"

    "The stork brought her also."

    "Well, then where did you come from?"

    " The stork brought {#blank#}8{#/blank#}too, sweetie"

    "All right, thanks, Granny"

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} grandmother did not think anything more about his questions. Three days later, when she was tidying up and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} at Jimmy's desk, she read the first sentence of his paper," For three generations(辈)there have been no natural births in our family".

    Imagine the scene, you are twenty - one years old, and you are having a promising future. Now you are living in the university {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, but today, you have to leave the school and sit in your wheelchair all your life. If that happened to you, what should you do? Maybe, some people will be {#blank#}2{#/blank#} and they have no confidence to face the situation. But Hawking lived an active life. In his life, he didn't give up his dream and continued to{#blank#}3{#/blank#} his research. He was one of the most famous {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in the world and made great success.

    Having ALS(渐冻人症), Hawking had to "walk" in his wheelchair, but he got his degree. He wanted to have a happy life and devote (奉献) himself to his research. He continued his research of the universe and travelled {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the world to made speeches. In 2002, Hawking visited China and spoke to university students in China. He told the students about his thoughts on some of the greatest {#blank#}6{#/blank#} .Hawking{#blank#}7{#/blank#} famous in the early 1970s, when he and his American friend made new discoveries about the Big. Bang and black holes. In 1988, he wrote A Brief History of Time, which quickly became a best - seller. Readers are pleased and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} to find that a scientist could write about his work in a way that ordinary people could understand.

    In the book, Hawking said science work is never finished, and even the best thought {#blank#}9{#/blank#}  turn out to be wrong. We should learn{#blank#}10{#/blank#}Hawking.

Dear Larry,

    It was lovely to hear from you again and to know that things are going {#blank#}1{#/blank#} with you.

    Thanks for telling me all {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the Chinese Moon Festival. It sounds like you enjoyed a great party in Inner Mongolia (内蒙古) . It makes me think of the festival we took part in {#blank#}3{#/blank#} we traveled in South Africa. The people there kept many goats (山羊) , as well as sheep and cows. Beef was expensive and was only for very {#blank#}4{#/blank#} "times. In all our time there we were {#blank#}5{#/blank#} served beef in the villages, because beef is not usually served to {#blank#}6{#/blank#}

    By the way, I happened to see these pictures and thought you'd like to see {#blank#}7{#/blank#}. A Chinese girl gave Tang Suit to Joan and me when she left school. We {#blank#}8{#/blank#} them on in the university car park. Someone took photos for us though I was wearing my kilt (苏格兰短褶裙) ! It seemed to be {#blank#}9{#/blank#}， different that some suggested that I could start a new look.

    We wore Tang Suit to a dinner which was held on the ship in August when we visited Germany. Some Chinese ladies came and spoke to us. They were interested in my traditional Chinese clothing.

    We {#blank#}10{#/blank#} look forward to hearing from you again.

    Best Wishes!

Yours,

Ken and Joan