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.

"The more you work the land (地), the better your crops (庄稼) will be." That's what our school told us during (在……期间) our Growing Week! 

In the morning, we went to our rooms. Then, our teacher 1 us how to make the bed and where to put our things. At first, we didn't know why we needed to 2 these simple things. But the teacher said, "Even simple things can be 3 until (直到) you know how to do them."

At lunchtime, the teachers told us, "You have to 4 after eating." At first, we didn't do it very well, 5 the teachers showed us the right way to clean them. After that, the dishes looked very clean!

In the evening, the teachers taught us how to 6 rice. We made some mistakes (错误) at first, but 7 , we got it right with lots of hard work! We were so 8 , because we were eating food made by ourselves. That night, we ate all the rice. 

Time went by 9 , and Growing Week ended. I really had a good time and learned a lot. Now, I think it's time for me to help out 10 at home.

Peter and David are good friends. Every morning. Peter gets up early to read books. In the afternoon, he does sports with David. 

Today they don't go to school. David comes to Peter's room and says, "I want to read books like you, but I don't understand(理解)them. Is reading good for me? "

Peter say, "This is a coal basket(煤筐). Get a basket of water from the river. Then I tell you. "David does that. But there is no water in the basket when he comes back. Peter says, "You can walk fast. "

This time David runs, but there still (仍然) no water in the basket. "See? It's useless. " he says. 

"Look at the basket!" Peter says. 

Then David finds it's clean now. Peter says, "That's how reading can help you. You may not understand all. But when you read, you'll be different. "

If you go to a club and pay to hear someone tell funny stories, there is a performance called "stand-up". Stand-up comedy (单口喜剧) started in Britain and the US more than 150 years ago. It has come a long way in the West, but it is a new kind of TV show in China. More and more young people began watching stand-up comedy, and some even started doing it part-time. Unlike the Western's, the Chinese stand-up comedy is much shorter, lasting five to ten minutes long.

So far, the most popular one in China is Stand-up Comedy 2024 on the Internet. More than 50 performers from China and abroad join the show. A graduate (研究生) talks about the problems when he is looking for jobs. A British man tells his funny stories while living in China. A grandpa shares what happened to him and his children when they live together. Their colorful stories and different ideas on life put wonder into this season's program. The show is such a big success that it has opened a door to the golden age of stand-up comedy.

Today there are stand-up clubs around the world. Why is stand-up comedy so popular? Because people think it is simple and fun. All you need is one person to stand up and make the whole room laugh. The performers are telling their own stories in a straightforward (直接的) and funny way, which makes people forget about their worries and leave a big smile on their faces. So if you're looking for a good time full of laughter, choose stand-up comedy.