Maria Mitchell was born in 1818 during a time when many people thought that woman did not need to learn . But , Mitchell's father thought that both boys and girls should go to school .1 he tutored her at home as well as sent to her to school .

    Mitchell's father , recognizing her interest in astronomy (天文学) at early age , encouraged her interest and taught her how to use a telescope . As an 2 she worked as the first librarian at the Nantucket Atheneum library from 1836to 1856 , all the while still looking at the sky at night , studying the stars and the planets.

    In October 1847, Mitchel saw a bright star through the telescope . She was sure that she had 3seen that star before. Excited , she ran to tell her father . She carefully wrote notes about the star. The next night , it looked as if the” star” had 4It also seemed to have a tail (尾巴)！Now , Mitchell was sure that she had found a comet , not a star.

    At eh time , the king of Denmark was offering a prize to the first person to find a comet that could only be seen through a telescope . Mitchell won the prize! It was a gold medal . But , she won something else too . She won people's respect when they saw that she was 5her work . Later , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences voted her in as its first female member .

    In 1856, a new college just for women opened . It was called Vassar College , and Mitchell became a professor there . She was the first female professor to teach astronomy , or the science of stars and planets . Because of her , female students learned that they could be scientists too . Women could make valuable 6to help understand our world .

    Each of us makes mistakes from time to time. In fact, we can 1 a lot from our mistakes.

    Donnie was a 2student and he never answered questions in class. He was afraid 3making mistakes. He never finished his homework4 he didn't want to make any mistakes. Nothing changed 5Mary, a teacher, came to our 6.

    One morning, Donnie was asked to 7some questions. After a while, he was in tears because he made a mistake. 8Mary got a box filled with erasers from the desk.

    "Look, Donnie," she said standing beside 9. "I have something to show you." She10the erasers, one at a time, and put them on the desk.

    "See these erasers, Donnie?" she said. "do you know 11these erasers become smaller and smaller? That's because we make mistakes. But we erase(擦掉) the mistakes and try 12. That's what you must learn."

    "Here," she said," I'll13one eraser on your desk, so you'll remember that 14may make mistakes." Donnie looked at Mary and smiled.

Donnie15a lot from then on. He knew that everyone might make mistakes. He should learn from them and tried again.

Nature was Chen Rui's "childhood home". The 37-year-old researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Zoology was not able to talk until he was 4 years old because of the way his brain processes sensory (感官) information. 

This made him "strange" in some people's minds. So, he didn't have friends who were around his age, which led him to turn his attention to nonhuman things around him. He became enraptured by the world of insects. "The happiest time of my childhood was in the farm fields," says Chen. "I squatted there, observing the actions of insects. I had so many questions about their activities and was full of curiosity about this world." These experiences planted a seed in his heart. 

Many years later, he's an expert in life-science research. He has visited the Amazon rainforest several times, and has found around 100 new species (物种), many of which are named after him. 

"I was a child who was ‘cured (治愈)' by nature," he says. "I wanted to grow up to share the power of nature with more young people and to popularize understanding of animals, including insects. I wanted to start classes to bring children to learn in the open air and experience the gifts nature gives." These led him to recently publish the popular science book, Du Chong Ji (Reading About Insects) 

"Insects were the earliest creatures that could fly and feed themselves by farming. They have survived three mass extinctions (大规模灭绝). No other living things have won such victories." He hopes that people will learn and draw inspiration from the "superpowers" of insects and use it to improve their own lives. 

Once there was a duck called Rodney. He lived in a town near a big forest.

Most animals in the town thought Rodney was a clever* duck because 1 could tell the stories of many great writers and even the stars in space. Rodney himself was also proud*of being the cleverest in his town. He 2 asked others for help.

One day, he went for a walk in the forest alone. And before long, he was 3 . Just then, a bird flew by and said to him, "You're quite far from the town. Do you want me to show you the 4 ?" Rodney didn't want other animals to think that he, a clever duck, would 5 help. So he said "Oh no, I'm OK!" to the bird before hurrying off.

It was getting dark. Another bird flew past and saw him. "Hey, are you 6 the way to your town?" The bird asked. But the proud duck told him that he was just watching the stars, and then hurried away again 7 asking for help.

"How can you see the stars in a forest with so many trees?" the bird thought. "A 8 young duck!"

It was really dark then. Rodney couldn't see anything to guide him. He became afraid and sad. Rodney finally 9 he would ask for help when someone came along. He waited with hope 10 not an animal came by. The forest was dark and quiet. The clever duck spent a cold night shivering under a leaf.

"If I was really clever, I'd listen to others!" he thought.

Alice was very excited. One of her favourite writers had just published a new book. She had saved up her money, and she was ready to buy the book this weekend. She talked about the book with her online chat (聊天) group. A lot of the other kids in the group were going to buy the book, too. In fact, that was the main thing everyone in the chat room was talking about one afternoon.

 All of a sudden, Alice got a chat message from Ella, one of the kids in the chat room. The message said that Ella wanted to meet Alice at the bookstore. Then they could buy the new book together. Alice told her mum about the message, and her mum asked, "Do you know Ella from school? "

"No, "Alice answered. "We' ve only chatted online. I don't think she goes to my school. "

"Listen, "Alice's mum was anxious and said, "I want you to have friends, but sometimes, people online aren't who they say they are. And when you' re online, you can't always tell. So I don't think it's a good idea for you to meet this person. "

"But, Mum, "Alice said, "what if it is just a kid named Ella who wants to buy a book with me? "

 Alice's mum considered that for a moment. Then she said, "Let's do this. Dad and  I will go with you to the bookstore to buy the book with Ella. If Ella really is just a kid who wants to meet you in person, that's great. If not,      ▲      . "

 Alice didn't like that idea. It made her feel like a baby. But she knew her mum was right about safety, so she finally nodded. Then she answered Ella's message. She told Ella that she and her parents would be at the bookstore the next afternoon.

 The next day, Alice went to the bookstore with her mum and dad. When Ella never showed up and then disappeared from the chat room, Alice knew her parents were right. She was glad they were there to be with her.