Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did fools' (傻瓜的) experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic (基础的) that other people just thought they were foolish?

    Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or a problem．Sometimes, they really do know an answer, but without thinking it is important．

    Charles Darwin didn't just think he knew something．And, he believed all things could be important no matter how simple they seemed to be．

    Suppose you drop pieces of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape．If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way．Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other pieces．What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn't be worth anything．

    But this simple experiment is important．It explains part of our present day understandings of physics (物理学) ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton．And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek (古希腊的) physics．

    The scientist sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them．Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations (基础) of science．

    I arrived in the UK last weekend to learn English. So far I have already made a few friends and had some traditional English food there. But after having three days of hamburgers, sandwiches and potatoes, I thought none could be more delicious than Chinese food , especially my favorite—huo guo. You can't imagine how excited I was when I got to know that there was going to be a free meal of hotpot to welcome the new students. On the way to the canteen, I seemed to smell huo guo in the air.

    To my surprise, when I went into the room I didn't see any of huo guo. Where was it? With many questions in my mind, I sat down to have the free meal. After talking with an English girl, I got to know that Chinese huo guo is completely different from hotpot. Chinese huo guo is written in two words—hot pot, and hotpot, one word, is a traditional English dish.

    Hotpot is made from mutton and onion. On the top are pieces of potatoes. People put it in the oven all day in a heavy pot on a low heat. It takes very little effort to prepare. You can often see it at parties in the UK because it's easy to prepare for a large number of people and is not expensive.

    Hotpot doesn't taste bad. However, I still miss huo guo—hot pot, two words!

    The robin (知更鸟) stood on an old climbing plant, and sang his most beautiful song. Suddenly the wind made the plant move, and Mary saw something under the dark green leaves. The thick, heavy plant was covering a door. Mary's heart was beating fast and her hands were shaking as she pushed the leaves away and found the keyhole. She took the key out of her pocket, and it fit the hole. Using both hands, she managed to unlock the door. Then she turned round to see if anyone was watching. But there was no one, so she pushed the door, which opened, slowly, for the first time in ten years. She walked quickly in and closed the door behind her. At last she was inside the secret garden!

    It was the loveliest, most exciting place she had ever seen. There were old rose trees everywhere, and the walls were covered with climbing roses. She looked carefully at the grey branches (枝条). Were the roses still alive? Ben would know. She hoped they weren't all dead. But she was inside the wonderful garden, in a world of her own. It seemed very strange and silent, but she did not feel lonely at all. Then she noticed some small green shoots coming up through the grass. So something was growing in the garden after all! When she found a lot more shoots in different places, she decided they needed more air and light, so she began to pull out the thick grass around them. She worked away, clearing the ground, for two or three hours, and had to take her coat off because she got so hot. The robin hopped around, pleased to see someone gardening.

    As far back as he could remember, Larry had wanted to go to Hollywood and become a film star. The young man's hopes for success were broken again and again. However, Hollywood was just everything to him. When he first came to California? Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success. Therefore, he kept on trying. "Some day," he told himself, "my big chance would come."

    Larry found a job—parking cars at one of Hollywood's big restaurants. His pay was low, but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money, he managed to make a living. One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot and getting out of his car. Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture.

    Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it. Then he stopped, jumped out, and ran over to the director. "Excuse me, sir, but I think it's only fair to tell you that it's now or never if you want me in your next picture. A lot of big companies are after me."

Instead of pushing away the boy, the director laughed, then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man. "Come and see me tomorrow."

    Larry got a small part in the director's next film. He was on his way!