George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen, he became his father's helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines. On holidays, he often took one engine into pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write.

      He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young teacher.

      On his eighteenth birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we will think of this great man—George Stephenson.

    A boy thought that he was the most unhappy person in the world. He thought he was 1 because almost everything bad always happened to him. So he wanted to 2 the secret (秘密) to happiness. He walked a long way and finally came to a beautiful 3. There he met the king（国王）.

     After learning why the boy had come, the king advised that he should  4 the palace and come back in two hours. "At the same time, I want you to hold (拿住) this spoon with milk," said the king. "As you walk around my palace, carry(携带) this spoon 5spilling(溢出) the milk."

    The boy kept his 6 on the spoon and began to walk around the fantastic palace. After 7 hours, he came back to the king. "Well," asked the king. "Did you see the wonderful paintings in 8 palace? Did you see the colorful flowers in the garden(花园)?" The boy felt 9 because he saw nothing. He 10 paid attention(注意) to the milk.

    "Then go back and see the beauty of my world," said the king. 11 time the boy saw all of the works of art on the walls. He saw the greatest gardens and mountains all around. 12 he came back, he described everything he saw.

    "But where is the 13?" asked the king. Looking down at the spoon he was holding, the boy saw there was 14 on the spoon. "Well, there is only one piece of advice I can 15 you," said the king. "The secret to happiness is to see all the beauty of the world and also keep an eye on the milk on the spoon."

    Some people like to collect stamps. Others prefer posters or coins. But Pinky Bhutia is different. She collects children. In her mountain village, in Sikkim, she is known as the wonderful young woman who adopts(领养) all the children she can.

    Pinky was 14 when she adopted her first child, a Nepali baby girl, whose patents passed away. Pinky's parents did not mind. Pinky left school and started working full time because she had a baby to feed. Today , she has twelve adopted children, and two sons from her marriage.

    Pinky is about 30 years old and she comes from a common family. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't give her a second look. She lives in a brown mud-washed(泥刷的) house. There is a vegetable garden outside. Red hens with noisy chicks run all over the garden looking for food.

    If you ask her why she provides a home for so many kids, she smiles shyly. But her eyes are serious. "I know what it is to be poor and hungry." As a child, her only dream was to eat a full meal, and her favorite amusement was watching people with shoes and imagining what it felt like. By adopting poor and homeless children she is making sure that they never feel that hopeless.

    Pinky feels very proud when she sees her children happy and bright, her oldest baby, Aarita Rai, is now 20 years old, Then, there is 19-year-old Nimbe who came to Pinky because her mother was unable to look after her. She started to work in a government office two years ago. Ten-year-old Bhim and 14-year-old Kumar came to Pinky five years ago, after their father's death. They started living on a patch of land given by Pinky and grew vegetables for sale.

    "I like children. It's not one more mouth to feed but one more soul saved," Pinky says.

    Karen lived with her parents in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. The Karoo was famous for plant and animal fossils(化石) ,Karen's father was a paleontologist(古生物学家) ,and Karen enjoyed looking at the dinosaur bones in his office. She hoped to discover her own dinosaur someday.

    Every summer, Karen's father invited paleontologists from around the world to the Karoo. As they hiked through the dry land, he would show them fossil samples(样本) within the layers of sedimentary rock(沉积岩) and ash.

    This summer, Karen asked her father if she could go along on the hike. He agreed, but he asked her to stay close by. As they drove to the trail(小径) ,Karen's heart beat quickly with excitement. There were so many places to visit.

    The hike was interesting, but Karen was too curious to stay on the trail. Without asking, she ran down into a nearby ravine(峡谷) and looked among the rocks, Then, he heard her father's voice calling to her. She ran up the side of ravine. Suddenly, she spotted something white and shiny. "Dad!" she shouted excitedly.

    Karen's father stood at the top of the ravine with the other people. They looked worried until Karen pointed to the shiny object. All the paleontologists examined it. They nodded to each other in surprise. It was the skull(骨头) of a dinosaur nobody knew about! The paleontologists took pictures and shook Karen's hands. Her father smiled, "Karen." he said. "You are now the youngest paleontologist in the Karoo!"