Different people have different skin（皮肤）. Some have black skin. Some have yellow skin, and some have white skin. There was a woman in Alaska. Her skin was orange. It was almost the color of orange juice.

    How did her skin become orange? She ate lots of tomatoes, carrots, and squashes (南瓜). She ate too many orange things. That's why her skin turned orange.

    The woman didn't want her skin to be orange, so she went to see the doctor. The doctor said. “Stop eating orange things. Eat some green things.” The woman did so, and her skin wasn't orange any more.

C

    O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison（监狱）. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales（故事）were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader's surprise.

    Erik Weihenmayer was born with an eye disorder. As a child his eyesight became worse and then, at the age of 13, he lost his sight completely. However, he did not lose his determination to lead a full and active life.

    Erik became an adventurer. He took up parachuting, wrestling and scuba diving. He competed in long-distance biking, marathons and skiing. His favorite sport, though, is mountaineering.

    As a young man, Erik started to climb mountains. He reached the top of Mount McKinley in 1995 and then climbed the dangerous 1000-metre rock wall of EI Capitan. Two years later, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya with his girlfriend, they stopped for a time at 13,000 feet above sea level－in order to get married. And on May 25, 2001, at the age of 33, Erik successfully completed the greatest mountaineering challenge of all. He climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world two years after he climbed Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America in 1999．

    Erik invented his own method for climbing mountains. He carries two long poles: one to lean on and the other to test the way ahead of him. The climber in front of him wears a bell to guide him. Erik is a good team member. He does his share of the job, such as setting up tents and building snow walls.

    Although he could not enjoy the view, Erik felt the excitement of being on the top of Everest. He hopes that his success will change how people think about the blind．"When people think about a blind person or blindness, now they will think about a person standing on top of the world."

    A 16-year-old Australian girl drove her bright pink ship out of Sydney Harbor on Sunday to begin her beautiful travel. She wanted to become the youngest person to sail solo（单人）around the world.

    After saying goodbye to her parents beside the sea, Jessica sailed her 10-meter ship out of Sydney harbor, smiling to well-wishers.

    Her plan is to make a 38-thousand-kilometer journey. Although people are not sure someone so young could make it, the girl and her parents insisted she was an experienced and good sailor.

    On the eve of her traveling, she said she was fully prepared.

    Jessica said, "I suppose it's a big, scary（恐怖的）, and possibly risky（冒险的）thing to do, but yes, there's plenty of different risks, but it can't beat me." Jessica's trip is to last about eight months.

    In August, a 17-year-old British boy, Mike, wanted to be the youngest solo round-the-world sailor. He made a 45-thousand-kilometer trip in nine months.

    During the time of Jin Dynasty, there was a man named Le Guang. One day, Le Guang asked one of his friends to have dinner at his home. After dinner, his friend was back.

    For a long time, his friend didn't come. Then Le Guang heard that his friend was ill, so he came to visit him. Le Guang asked him what was wrong with him. His friend answered, "Last time, at your home I found a little snake in the glass and I was ill after I drank the alcohol (酒)." Le Guang was very surprised because there wasn't a snake in the glass. Suddenly, he remembered there was a bow (弓) on the wall. There must be the shadow (影子) of the bow which looked like a little snake.

    So Le Guang asked his friend to join him for a drink again. When the glass was full of alcohol, he pointed to the shadow of the bow in the glass and asked his friend to have a look. His friend shouted, "That is what I saw last time!" Le Guang laughed and took away the bow.

    "Can you see the snake now?＂ he asked. His friend was surprised to find that the snake was gone. After his friend knew the truth, he was well.

    For many years, this story has been used to advise people not to be too suspicious (怀疑的) easily.

    Everyone faces difficulties in their life. Daniel Kish was born with a special eye illness and lost his eyesight before he was only 14 months old.

Soon after, however, he started to do an amazing thing. He learned to make clicks (咔哒声) with his tongue to help him move around. Kish now moves about using sonar (声呐). He is so good at it that he can ride a bicycle by himself on public roads. And he started the organization World Access for the Blind (WAFTB) in 2000, teaching others how to use sonar. In the interview with National Geographic, he explains how the sonar works.

    "When I make a click sound, it produces sound waves. These waves reflect (反射) off surfaces all around and return to my ears. My brain then deals with the sound and turns it into pictures in my mind. Each click is like a camera flash, which helps me make a 3-D picture of my surroundings for hundreds of feet. It's like having a conversation with the environment."

    Kish feels it is exciting to ride a bike using sonar, although he needs to click twice a second, much more than he usually does. "It may sound a bit dangerous to move around the world in this way," he says. "But most people in the world live in fear of things that they imagine. I love hiking and mountain-biking. I go almost everywhere. And I've never had an accident and hurt myself."

    He is happy to be able to help more blind children to improve their life. "We've served over 10, 000 students in nearly 40 countries," he tells the reporter. "Many students are surprised how quickly results come. Seeing isn't in the eyes. It's in the mind."