Which Is More Useful?

    Thomas is in Grade Two now. He goes to school from Monday to Friday. After school he must do some housework. He helps his parents on the farm(农场) on Saturdays and Sundays. So he doesn't have any time to play football in the daytime. He often plays with his friends in the moon(月亮).

    It's five in the afternoon. School is over. Thomas goes home and cooks for his family. After dinner he sees his friend Paul near his house and asks him to play football. The boy looks at the sky and sees the moon. Then he asks, "Which is more useful, the sun or the moon?"

    "I think the moon is," says Thomas. "We need light(光线) in the evening, but we can not see the sun, but the moon!"

    One day a red rose blossomed (开花) in a forest. A pine tree(松树) not far away said, “You're so beautiful! I wish I could be lovely like you. ”

    The rose said, “I am the most beautiful plant in the forest.” Then the rose looked at a cactus(仙人掌) and said, “Look at that ugly plant. It is full of thorns (刺)!”Sometimes, the red rose would look at the cactus and say, “This plant is useless. I'm sorry I am his neighbor. ”

    Summer came and the plants and animals needed water, but no rain fell. One day the rose saw some birds stick their beaks(鸟喙) into the cactus and then fly away. The red rose asked what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. The pine tree told the red rose, “You can also drink from it. The birds can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help. ”

    The red rose felt ashamed, but she still asked the cactus for help. The cactus agreed kindly and the birds filled their beaks with water for the rose's roots. Later on, the rose never gave her opinion about anyone by look again.

    A man came out of the airport. A lot of taxis were there. He asked the name of every taxi-driver. Then he took the 3rd one. It cost 5 dollars from the airport to the hotel. "How much does it cost for the whole day?" the man asked. "One hundred dollars," said the taxi-driver. This was very expensive, but the man said it was OK.

    The driver took the man everywhere. He showed him all the parks and museums in the city. In the evening, they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars and said, "What about tomorrow?" The taxi-driver looked at the man and said, "Tomorrow? It's another 100 dollars." But the man said, "That's OK! See you tomorrow." The driver was very pleased.

    The next day the driver took the man everywhere again. They visited all the parks and museums again. And in the evening they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars again and was going home tomorrow. The driver was unhappy because he liked the man and above all, 100 dollars a day was a lot of money.  "So you're going home. Where do you come from?" he asked. "I come from New York." "New York!" said the driver. "I have a sister in New York. Her name is Lucy. Do you know her?" "Of course I know her. She gave me 200 dollars for you!"

    Imagine this. Somebody hides free books in the subway for you to find and read. Sound exciting? Well, British actress Emma Watson, 26, is doing it! She is known for acting as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies.

    Watson hid 100 copies of a book called Mom & Me & Mom (2013) in London's subway. The book is an autobiography（自传）from US writer Maya Angelou. It tells about the writer's relationship with her mother. These books were put in different places in the subway. People saw Watson doing the same thing in the New York Subway this month.

    With each book, there is a handwritten note by Watson. She asked people to "take special care" of the books if they find them. She also wrote that "when you are finished, please leave it on the subway again for someone else to find".

    Watson's work is part of a movement called Books on the Underground. It calls on people to leave their books on the subway so other people can enjoy them too.

    Hollie Belton, a woman in London, started the movement in 2012. She loves reading on the subway. She noticed that a lot of people shared her habit, so she got the idea. Over the years, Belton has left over 2,000 books of her own. The movement has attracted more and more people.

    Watson is a book lover as well. That's why she tried it. Earlier this year, Watson set up her own online book club Our Shared Shelf. She reads a book every month with others. Mom & Me & Mom is the club's book for November.

    Do you think there is a ghost in the world? More than 20 years ago, a student jumped from the top of the clock tower in the University of Birmingham. He did this only because he failed his final exam.

    After his death, a superstition（迷信） began: Anyone who walks under the clock tower will have bad luck in his exam. Years later, students there still remembered the story of the tower. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the university is green and quiet. The grass around the tower has been worn away by the feet of students who refuse to pass underneath the tower.

    The university had to pave（铺） extra paths, so students could walk to their classrooms without passing under the most terrible area. But, one day just before an important exam, a top student in the university walked under the clock tower because he was lost in thought. However, he got high marks in the exam the next day. Quickly students all knew about it. Then they realized that the most important thing is working hard.

    Whenever I go under the clock tower, I will tell myself, "Working hard is the key to success."

    Yasutaro Koide, the world's oldest man, died at the age of 113, in Nagoya, Japan on January 19, 2016. But along with his many years, Koide also left us with a piece of advice for a long and fruitful life.

    Koide was born on March 13, 1903. He learned sewing and worked as a tailor(裁缝) for a men's clothes shop in most of his life. He moved to live with his daughter when he was 107 years old. When he turned 110, Koide could still read newspapers without glasses and could eat well without dentures(假牙). In August, 2015, Guinness World Records confirmed(认证) that he was the world's oldest man.

    Koide always loved sitting in front of his sewing machine, enjoying making all kinds of clothes by hand. Being a tailor was his only and last job before his death.

    When he was given the world record in 2015, he told reporters about his secret of living a long life, "No smoking or overdrinking! Be happy about everything. Never overdo things. Work and live with happiness.