Maybe everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes to read stories about dogs.
　  I have a friend. He has a large police dog named Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes Jack for a long walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much.
　  One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became very worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention to Jack. He went on talking. At last Jack got angry. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he took the visitor's hat in his mouth. The visitor saw it and was surprised. He laughed and left.

    One day, Mary went to the airport to see her friend off. Her friend's name is Jack. There were so many people in the airport. It was hard to find Jack among the people. Suddenly, Mary saw Jack and she felt very happy. Then she shouted, "Hi, Jack. Hi, Jack. Here. Here！"

    At the same time, Jack saw her and waved his arms, "Here！"Within 3 minutes, many policemen came to the front of Jack and caught him, "Please come with us to the police office. "

    Mary was very surprised at it. She wanted to know what happened to Jack.

    "What are you doing？"Jack asked angrily.

    "What? We don't need a hijack here. Don't you know？"one of the policemen said.

    "I think you are wrong! I'm Jack, but I'm not a hijacker, "said Jack after a short while.

    Soon Mary laughed.

    The policemen were sorry and they went away.

    One day a ragged(衣衫槛楼的)beggar(乞丐)was creeping along from house to house. He carried an old wallet in one hand and at every house he asked for a little money to buy something to eat. As he was complaining at his misfortune(不幸), he kept wondering why people who had so much money were never satisfied and always wanted more.

    He thought that if he only had enough money to buy food and clothing, he would be very happy and wouldn't want anything more.

    At that moment, Fortune came down the street. She saw the beggar and stopped. She said to him:" I want to help you. Hold out your wallet and I will pour this gold into it, but only on this condition. All that falls into your wallet will be pure gold, but all that hits the ground will turn into dust. Do you understand?"

    "Oh, yes I understand." said the beggar.

    "Your wallet is old. Don't put too much in it," said Fortune.

    The beggar opened his wallet and a stream of pure gold flowed into it. His wallet grew heavy.

    "You are the richest man in the world now," said Fortune. "I think you should stop! Your wallet is going to break!" However, the beggar said he wanted one more handful. Fortune added one more handful and the wallet split. All the gold fell to the ground and turned to dust. The beggar had nothing but his empty wallet. He was as poor as he had been before.

    One pleasant evening, I was holding Grandpa's hand and taking a walk in the park. "Where are the peanuts? Give me now!" He suddenly said. How I wished I had some with me! "William, the monkeys are taking long to come out today. Wait till they smell the peanuts." I knew he was lost in one of his memories again. I remembered the stories he told me of how he fed the monkeys when he was a kid. Then, he saw the goldfish! He acted as if he was seeing them for the first time.

    Poor Grandpa! He fell ill with Alzheimer's disease (阿尔茨海默症) last year. The doctor said it was a progressive brain disorder which could destroy (破坏) a person's memory. The patient might also not be able to make reasonable judgments (判断). The saddening part was that it was a lifelong disease. But when my parents invited him to stay with us, he refused and said he liked living alone. One day, he forgot to turn off the fire after cooking porridge. Luckily, one of the neighbors came to help him before the fire could spread.

    It was then that my parents brought Grandpa to live with us. Often, he would forget my name and ask me who I was and what I was doing in his house. Each time I would answer softly, "It's me, Ray, Grandpa!" Even if he had forgotten who I was, he would always be my beloved grandfather.

    There are 100 chicks sitting quietly in a circle. Suddenly, each chick freely pecks(啄) the chick to its left or right. What is the expected number of unpecked chicks? Can you solve it?

Leo (the 13-year-old boy) gave the right answer, 25, in just 0.9 of a second. He got this question in the final round of the Raytheon Maths counts competition. Thanks to that correct answer, he won it this year. Last year, he was second.

    "I was surprised that I won," he said. "I was kind of worried that was the wrong answer."

    This year, more than 100,000 students took part in the competitions. And 224 students entered the final round. Leo will receive a ﹩20,000 college scholarship and free trip to US Space Camp.

    Leo is talented at Maths. And unlike other students, he studies at home. His mother Mary quit her job as a writing teacher to home—school her son. She thought traditional school couldn't meet his needs. He often asks his mother to write difficult Maths problems so that he can solve them.

    When Leo was 8, he started taking college classes. Even on vacation, he still tries to learn Maths. He once asked his parents to take him to a Maths library at the University of Texas. People around him regard him as a Maths genius.

    People sometimes like to read stories of dogs very much. They think that dogs are much cleverer than cats, sheep, cows or other animals in their homes.

    One of my close friends, Bob, has a very large police dog named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jack have a walk in the park nearby. Jack likes these walks very much.

    One Sunday afternoon, I paid a visit to Bob. I stayed there for a long time. Bob and I had much more talk with each other than ever before. Soon it was time for them to take a walk in the park but we forgot that. Jack became worried about it. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of me and looked at me. But I still paid no attention(注意)to him. I went on talking with Bob. At last, Jack could not wait any longer. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down in front of me again. But this time, he held my hat in his mouth.

    Suddenly, I understood what Jack meant and my friend understood, too.