A Father and a Son

    Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those shuttles that take travelers from the main terminals (航站楼) to their boarding gates. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter. At the front of the first shuttle were a man and his son.

    We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of happiness.

    “Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he's walking to his plane.” The son turned his neck to look forward.

    As I was early for my flight, I decided to go back to the terminal. Where I went back again, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn't been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle.

    “I want to ride some more!”

    “More?” the father said, mock-angry but clearly pleased. “ You are not tired?”

    “This is fun!” his son said.

    “All right.” the father replied, when a door opened, we all got on.

    There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and there are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong.

    “Where are all those people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

    “All over the world,” came the reply.

    The other people in the airport were leaving for far destinations (终点) or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, enjoying being together.

    So many troubles in this country. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

    The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn't cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

    The shuttle picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.

    A businessman was once deep in debt（债务） and could see no way out. He sat on a park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company.

    Suddenly an old man appeared in front of him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the businessman's trouble, the old man said, "I believe I can help you."

    He asked the man his name, wrote out a check（支票） and pushed it into his hand, saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared.

    The businessman saw his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller. One of the richest men in the world.

    "It can solve my problem at once!" the businessman realized. But instead, he decided to put the check in his safe. Just knowing it was there that might give him the strength（力量） to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

    After that, he did better in his business. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

    Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the check. At the agreed-upon（约定的） time, the old man appeared. But just as the businessman was about to hand back the check and share his successful story, a nurse came running up and caught the old man.

    "I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been troubling you. He's always escaping from the hospital and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller."

    And then she led the old man away by the arm. The businessman just stood there, suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence（自信心） that gave him the strength to achieve anything he went after.

    Once Einstein gave a lecture(演讲)in many places in America. His driver always listened to him and knew the lecture so well that he was sure to give it himself. So Einstein agreed that the driver gave the lecture for him. As nobody knew Einstein there, the driver gave the lecture for Einstein that evening. At first he was a bit afraid, but Einstein's smile made him feel better. He gave a good lecture and the people were quite pleased. Then the driver started to leave and Einstein followed him without a word. Then they got to the door, a man asked the driver a difficult question. The driver said that the question was very easy, and told the man to ask his driver behind to answer it.

Julie grew {#blank#}1{#/blank#}in Guangzhou. Last year, she moved to Harbin. She also experienced the heavy snow there. 

It was Sunday yesterday. In the afternoon,there was a strong wind and  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} were getting together in the sky. It seemed there would be a heavy snow.

At around seven o'clock,it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to snow. At first, it snowed lightly. Then it snowed heavily. At ten o'clock,Julie went to bed. She couldn't sleep for about two hours. She was thinking about the snow."A snowstorm is coming,"she said to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} .Suddenly, a strong wind blew and the windows were broken. The floor was full of glass. Julie lived {#blank#}5{#/blank#}so there was no one to help. What great trouble she was in!

Julie had to call the police. When the police arrived,they helped Julie to repair the windows. And luckily,the snow wasn't so heavy as Julie expected. It soon stopped completely.