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 man 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.

    With renewed optimism（乐观精神）, 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.

    Manu，an eight﹣year﹣old boy，was sleeping comfortably in his bedroom．After a weekend break from his school，Manu failed to get up on time on Monday morning again．

    "Manu，wake up．It's time for you to go to school，"shouted out Manu's mother，

    Akhila，from the kitchen．Manu pulled the blanket over him and pretended he didn't hear his mother's repeated shouting．"Manu! Please wake up!It's already 6：30and your school bus will be here in ten minutes．Wake up and get ready．"

    After much yelling，Manu finally got up lazily when the school bus stopped in front of the house．Akhila had to ask the driver to wait for a few minutes．She quickly helped Manu get ready and helped him get on his school bus．

    "Phew!Manu didn't miss his bus today．Akhila sighed and thought to herself．"What should I do with this boy？Manu neither wakes up on time nor completes any of his daily tasks at the right time．It's time to teach him a lesson．"

    The next morning，Akhila was in the kitchen as usual．Everything seemed normal in the house except for the  unexpected silence．

    Manu finally woke up at around 9o'clock．He looked at the clock and ran to the kitchen，crying out，"Mamma!Why didn't you wake me up？I am really late for school．"He couldn't stop crying．"I have a maths test today and Madam Mangat will punish me if I miss her class and the test!"Madam Mangat was the strictest teacher in Manu's school．The fear of missing her class made Manu cry even louder．"Mamma，what should I do now？Please help．I promise I will wake up every day on time．"

    Akhila could no longer see her son crying and said，"Just promise me one more thing that you will do your daily task on time without pestering you to do it．

    "Sure Mamma!I promise!

    Akhila said in a loving voice．"I have already got permission from your math teacher and she has allowed Myou to take up the test today．"

    Manu hugged his mother．"Mamma!Thank you．"He quickly got himself ready for school without any help from Akhila．

    On the way to the school，there was silence in the car but a smile on Akhila's face．

    Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did fools' (傻瓜的) experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic (基础的) that other people just thought they were foolish?

    Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or a problem．Sometimes, they really do know an answer, but without thinking it is important．

    Charles Darwin didn't just think he knew something．And, he believed all things could be important no matter how simple they seemed to be．

    Suppose you drop pieces of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape．If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way．Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other pieces．What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn't be worth anything．

    But this simple experiment is important．It explains part of our present day understandings of physics (物理学) ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton．And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek (古希腊的) physics．

    The scientist sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them．Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations (基础) of science．

    Bill is a smart boy. He can do all the math problems(问题) in his math book.

    One day, on his way to school, he sees a sign of a fruit store. It says: "Apples: Six for five  cents(美分)". Bill knows what to do, so he goes into the store.

    "How much are the apples？" Bill asks the man.

    "Six for five cents."

    "But I don't want six apples."

    "How many apples do you want？"

    "Well, it's not a question of how many apples I want. It's a math problem. If six apples are worth(值) five cents, then five apples are worth four cents, four apples are worth three cents, three apples are worth two cents, two apples are worth one cent and then one apple is worth ZERO! I only want one apple."

    Bill chooses(选择) a good apple and starts to eat it. The man is so surprised(惊讶的) that he can't say a word!

    It was raining heavily as I was walking up the hill towards the station at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Just as I was crossing the road near the top of the hill, a car came around the corner. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it hit a lamp post (路灯杆) and turned over.

    I ran to the car to help the driver at once. He was badly hurt and there was a lot of blood on his face. Many people came to see what had happened and there was nothing we could do. A young woman hurried into the station and phoned for an ambulance (救护车). A policeman arrived a few minutes later and asked me a lot of questions about the accident. After a while the ambulance arrived and the driver was sent to the hospital.

    On Monday morning I went to the hospital to see the man. The doctor told me that he was much better, and he would leave the hospital after a few days' rest.