My uncle has a very beautiful umbrella. He's had it for years. As he is very careful with it, so it still looks as good as new.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}He shook his head. "Then how did you get it?" I asked. "Well," he answered, "there's a strange true story about the umbrella. About ten years ago, I was walking along a quiet London street one evening when it suddenly rained. I had no raincoat or umbrella.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} And the people in the streets were fewer and fewer. As I was on my way to a party, I was afraid to get wet. So I stood in a doorway and waited for the rain to stop.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} What was worse, there even wasn't a person around, and still it rained and rained. At last a young man came to the place where I was standing.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} As I hoped he would allow me to walk to the next corner with him, where I could get a taxi, I stepped out of the dark doorway where I had been standing.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} As I suddenly appeared before him, the young man was so shocked that he dropped the umbrella. He ran away and disappeared into the darkness. I picked up the umbrella and continued my walk. I knew it would be hard in this big city to find the owner, so I've kept it ever since."

    How much do you know about Albert Einstein?

    Albert Einstein, born on March 14, 1879 in Germany, was a great scientist in the world. ①He was strange because he hated haircuts and new clothes. He believed in peace. All his life, he hated war. However, his most famous idea, E = mc², helped create the world's most dangerous weapon (武器). Many people think he was the smartest person in the world. But Einstein said that he thought like a child with many questions and unusual ideas.

    What did he like?

    Einstein liked learning sailing (帆船运动). He sailed in small boats all his life. He once joked, “Sailing is the sport that takes the least energy!” When Einstein was a child, his mother made him take violin lessons. At first, he didn't like the violin. But then he learned to love music and became a good violinist.

    Later, he said, “②热爱是最好的老师。”

    Why is the sky blue?

    In 1910, Einstein asked a question which many children often ask, “Why is the sky blue?” After his careful research, he answered the question like this: “It's because light is made up of many colors including blue. When light travels to Earth, gas particles (气体微粒) spread the blue light all over the sky.” His answer is true in physics.

D

    Linda was Tara's best friend before, but now things are different. Tara is a member of Purple Girls Club and they have some rules about who they can be friends with. Linda isn't very pretty and doesn't wear cool clothes. So she can't be in their club. Now Tara is making a name list for her party, and she decides not to invite Linda.

    “Tara, come here.” her mother calls from the living room. Tara goes to her mother and sees the school report card in her hands.

    “Tara, what's the matter with you? You have failed(不及格)math and English and you did badly in all of your other subjects. You were such a good student before!”

    Tara sees the disappointment in her mom's eyes. She feels terrible. The activities of Purple Girls Club leave her very little time for studies. The girls get together almost daily for movies, shopping and surfing the Internet. She calls every friend in the club and asks them to help her. But they all refuse(拒绝）and say, “Who cares about studies now?” This makes Tara even sadder.

    Later, Tam's mom takes her to Linda's house across the street. Tara says sorry and Linda is glad to have her friend back. She happily helps Tara with her studies.

    Tara now has a new rule for friendship and it is that a friend that lends a helping hand is a true friend.

    Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."

    The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.

    After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."

    On a Wednesday night, a young man was playing the guitar at the underground station. Some people stopped and put some money into his hat.

    The next day, the young man came to the underground station again. There was a large piece of paper next to his hat. It said，"Last night, a kind man named Chris put something important into my hat. Please come to get it back soon."

    About half an hour later, an old man came and the young man said，"Yes, I knew you would come back."

    "What did you lose？"asked the young man. "$800，000，"answered the old man.

    Then the young man took out a check(支票)and gave it back to the old man. The old man was so happy and thanked the young guitar player.

    To travel around the world is the dream of many adventurous people. But very few people can afford a global tour because hotels, food and airplane tickets are too expensive. Some people, however, have thought of some ways to realise their dreams.

    Laura Cody and Tanbay Theune, a couple from Britain, decided to travel around the world. They have found a good way to pay for their trips. They look after pets for rich house owners. In exchange, they can stay in the houses for free. They have looked after horses, cows, cats, dogs and fish. In two years, the couple has been to Australia, Germany, Spain and Italy. They have stayed in big cities and small villages. The home owners are usually very generous and give them food, wine and day trips.

    Another person who tries to realise her travel dream is photographer Rhiannon Taylor. She travels around the world to visit, review and take photos of the best hotels. She shares the places she stays in and the food she eats on the Internet with tens of thousands of followers.

    With these ways of making money, travelling around the world is no longer a dream. More and more young people are thinking creatively to make their dreams come true.