One day after school Mr. Tillman found Philo Farnsworth making drawings on the blackboard in the school-room.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Tillman asked with interest. “ What are these drawings?”

“I want to invent things,” Philo answered, “and these are drawings of my first inventions.”
Mr. Tillman smiled to himself, “What is your invention?”
“I have an idea for a way of sending pictures through the air,” The boy answered. “Please just let me tell you about it. You are the only person who can understand what I have done.”
In 1922, even radio was new. The United States had fewer than 30 radio stations. But in 1922, a boy of 16 showed his teacher drawings for television!
In 1926, Philo worked as an office boy in Salt Lake City. Many important businessmen came into the office where he worked. One of these, George Everson , was from San Francisco. Like Mr. Tillman, Everson soon became interested in Philo. The shy, hard-working boy was like other office boys who Everson had known.
One evening Everson asked Philo to have dinner with him. After the meal, Philo began talking about his idea for Television. At first, Everson was not much interested in the invention. He listened only to be polite.
Many years later, Everson wrote a book telling about that evening with Philo. “As Farnsworth talked, he seemed to change,” Everson wrote, “His eyes lighted up , and he was no longer shy.” Talking freely about his invention, Philo Farnsworth was no longer an office boy--he was a scientist.
At the end of the evening, Everson was more interested than ever in Philo. And he was also interested in Philo's idea for television.
After talking with Philo , Everson returned to San Francisco. There he brought together a number of important businessmen . Philo told them about his invention. The men became so interested in the young inventor that they gave $25,000 to help him work on his idea. Philo was only 20 years old, but here was his chance.

B

    My grandfather Jack is 96 years old, and he has had an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids in Egypt. He hunted（狩猎） lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.

    Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he was cycling round France. They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.

    Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise. He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!

    Do you know any 9-year-olds who have started their own museums? When Theodore Roosevelt was only nine, he and two of his cousins opened the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". The museum was in Theodore's bedroom. It had a total of 12 specimens. On display were a few seashells, some dead insects, and some birds' nests. Young Roosevelt took great pride in his small museum.

    Born in New York in 1858, Theodore Roosevelt was not always healthy. "I was a sickly boy", he once wrote. Roosevelt had a health condition called asthma. He often found it hard to breathe. Instead of playing, he watched nature and then read and wrote about it.

    Roosevelt's interest in nature sometimes got him into trouble. Once, his mother found several dead mice in the icebox. She demanded that the mice be thrown out. This was indeed "a loss to science", Roosevelt said later.

    Because Roosevelt was often sickly as a boy, his body was small and weak. When he was about 12, his father asked him to improve his body. Roosevelt began working out in a gym. He didn't become strong quickly. But he did decide to face life's challenges with a strong will. That determination stayed with Roosevelt his whole life. And eventually his body did get strong. As an adult, he was an active and healthy person. He enjoyed adventures, and he loved the outdoors.

    A toy company named the teddy bear for Theodore "Teddy". After knowing that, Roosevelt refused to shoot a baby bear while hunting.

    In 1900, at the age of 41, Roosevelt was elected Vice President. A year later, President McKinley, was shot and killed. Roosevelt became our 26^th President. At 42, he was the youngest leader the country had ever had.

    Tony Wheeler was born to travel. His father worked for an airline. For the first 16 years of his life, Tony and his family lived in many different countries.

    In the early 1970s, Tony met a young woman named Maureen. They soon married. Before getting jobs, Tony and Maureen wanted to travel. They took a year-long trip from England, through Asia, to Australia. On the trip, they visited places like Iran(伊朗), India, and so on.

    When Tony and Maureen arrived in Australia, people asked many questions about their trip. To answer these questions, Tony wrote a book called Across Asia on the Cheap. The book told people about different countries' weather, customs(风俗)，and places to visit. But unlike other travel books then, Tony Wheeler's book also talked about places most tourists did not go. He also wrote about unusual things to see and do. The book was very popular.

    Tony and Maureen started a company called Lonely Planet… They continued travelling. They wrote books for each place they visited. Today, 800 people work for Lonely Planet. The company has over 650 books. Tony Wheeler, the great traveller, still writes about travels to many places and will bring us more surprises.