Tommy and his mother go shopping today. Tommy's father likes apples very much. They buy some red apples for him. Tommy's mother likes yellow bananas, but the bananas are green. "Look! The Strawberries are very nice, Mum. Do you like them?" Tommy says to his mother. "Yes, I like strawberries very much." Tommy's mother buys some for herself. The oranges are very nice. Tommy's mother buys some for Tommy. He likes oranges very much.

    They need some vegetables. The vegetables in the supermarket are very good. They buy some tomatoes, cabbages and carrots. Tommy doesn't like carrots, but his parents like carrots. They like carrots very much. They buy lots of carrots.

    Life is full of surprises and you never know how things will turn out.

    Sir John Gurdon is a good example of this. As a boy, he was told he was hopeless at science and finished bottom of his class. However , the very same Gurdon shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Japanese stem cell (干细胞) researcher Shinya Yamanaka.

    Like so many scientists, Gurdon shows us where the power of curiosity and perseverance (坚持不懈) can lead.

    At the age of 15 in 1948, Gurdon ranked last out of the 250 boys at his high school in biology and every other science subject. Gurdon's high school science teacher even said that his dream of becoming a scientist was " quite ridiculous".

    In spite of his teacher's criticisms, Gurdon followed his curiosity and kept working hard. He went to the lab early and left later than anyone else. He experienced thousands of failures.

    "My own belief is that we will, in the end, understand everything about how cells actually work," Gurdon said.

    In 1962 ,Gurdon took a cell from an adult frog and moved its genetic( 基因的 ) information into an egg cell . The egg cell then grew into a clone(克隆) of the adult frog. This technique later helped to create Dolly the sheep in 1996,the first cloned mammal(哺乳动物) in the world.

    In 2006, Gurdon's work was developed by Yamanaka to show that a sample (样本) of a person's skin can be used to create stem cells. Using the technique, doctors can repair a patient's heart after a heart attack.

    "Luck favors the prepared mind," Gurdon told the Nobel Prize Organization. "Ninety percent of the time things don't work ,but when they do ,you have to seize(抓住) the chance. "

    Lester was walking in the street with two huge and heavy suitcases. A stranger walked up to him and asked, "Have you got the time?"

    Lester stopped, put down the suitcases and looked at his watch. "It's five fifteen,'" he said. "Hey, what a nice watch!" said the stranger. Lester smiled a little and said, "Yes, it's not bad. Look at this." Then he showed the stranger a time display for the 86 largest cities in the world. He hit a few buttons and a voice told the time in Chinese.  Lester continued, "Its voice can be set for different languages." The stranger seemed very interested in the watch. "That's not all," said Lester. He then pushed a few more buttons and a small map appeared on the watch. "The map can show where we are," explained Lester. "I want to buy this watch!" said the stranger. "Oh, no, I'm not selling it. I have spent nearly two years making it," said Lester. "I'll give you $1,000 for it!" "Oh, no, I've already spent more than that." "I'll give you $ 5,000 for it!"

    Lester stopped to think. The stranger quickly gave him a check(支票) and said, "$ 5,000. Here it is." Lester finally agreed to sell the watch. When the stranger was going to leave with the watch, Lester pointed to the two huge suitcases and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Don't forget your batteries."

    A few days ago, I walked into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him, and we were very polite. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around, I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply, "While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient (耐心的). I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue. " I said, "I am so sorry that I treated (对待) you that way today. " And she whispered (悄声说), "Mommy, that's okay. I still love you anyway. " I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers. "

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to do better in the future.

    One morning, I was driving my father-in-law to the airport when a plane flew silently over the road like a big bird, about to touch down at the airport.

    "It's magic," my father-in-law said. I looked at him, without knowing what was happening.

    He was a doctor who gave speeches at colleges and had visited more than 100 countries. He understood better than I why a plane can fly in the sky. It, really, wasn't magic. But now, I realize he was at least right in some way.

    Though flying might not be magic, it's certainly magical. What it brings to our real lives is something found in our dreams.

    But too often, we, especially I forget. I read a sentence a few months ago. It said, "You know you're growing-up when you no longer want a window seat."

    Too often in recent years, I've asked for a seat near the exit row, forgetting the wonders of traveling fast. But sometimes, when the Wi-Fi's not working or my computer has no power, I remember to look.

    I think of one time when I was leaving on a family vacation. Moments after take-off, I started working. But a passenger behind me wouldn't stop talking. "The clouds!" he kept saying, "Look at the clouds!"

I turned around, and saw two men, one who appeared to be in his seventies and the other much younger. The chat continued for 20 minutes until, not patiently, I raised my eyes from my computer screen and looked out of the window.

    The clouds!

    He was right. We were floating through big soft balls of cotton, each in different shapes. They seemed easy enough to touch. The afternoon sun provided all kinds of colors, all against a blue sky. I put away my computer and appreciated(欣赏)them for the rest of the flight.

    I don't remember the work I felt like I had to complete that afternoon. I've never forgotten those clouds.