People often said Thomas Edison was the greatest genius(天才) of his age. There are only a few men in all of history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be pleased only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such a thing as genius,” Edison said. He thought what people called genius was mostly hard work.

     But Edison was a thinker as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. He tried to understand them, and then he tried to learn what he could usefully do with them.

     Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people would do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking could give men enjoyment and pleasure.

     Edison could not understand why anyone could not be interested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what idea he had about life. “Work,” he answered, “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.

    Fred is eight years old. He goes to school near his home. He always goes there and comes home on foot. One day he comes home from school late. His mother sees him and asks him, "Why are you late, Fred?"

    "My teacher is very angry and asks you to go to her office tomorrow."

    "To her office? Why?" his mother asks. "Because she asks a question in the class." Says Fred. "Nobody can answer it, but I can."

    "You are so clever, my son." His mother says with a smile.

    Her question is "Who puts the tomato on my chair and makes my trousers dirty?" says Fred.

    Lester was walking in the street with two huge and heavy suitcases. A stranger walked up to him and asked, "Have you got the time?"

    Lester stopped, put down the suitcases and looked at his watch. "It's five fifteen,'" he said. "Hey, what a nice watch!" said the stranger. Lester smiled a little and said, "Yes, it's not bad. Look at this." Then he showed the stranger a time display for the 86 largest cities in the world. He hit a few buttons and a voice told the time in Chinese.  Lester continued, "Its voice can be set for different languages." The stranger seemed very interested in the watch. "That's not all," said Lester. He then pushed a few more buttons and a small map appeared on the watch. "The map can show where we are," explained Lester. "I want to buy this watch!" said the stranger. "Oh, no, I'm not selling it. I have spent nearly two years making it," said Lester. "I'll give you $1,000 for it!" "Oh, no, I've already spent more than that." "I'll give you $ 5,000 for it!"

    Lester stopped to think. The stranger quickly gave him a check(支票) and said, "$ 5,000. Here it is." Lester finally agreed to sell the watch. When the stranger was going to leave with the watch, Lester pointed to the two huge suitcases and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Don't forget your batteries."

    In this August, I had a trip called "Cultural Trip: Germany, Italy & France" to go to Europe with a group of American students.

    This was not my first time to other countries, but it was unusual one. Why do I think the trip Unusual? Travel agencies (旅行社)usually have travel buses for tourists, What about us ? For five days, we traveled along Germany by bike. We were tired but happy! For some times on the trip, something went wrong with someone's bicycle. But at the end of the trip, everyone was safe and happy.

    In Italy, we went to a kitchen to learn to cook Italian dishes, we made a great dinner and ended by making the chocolate cake. I gave full marks to that night!

    France was the last stop, we went to the capital of France, Paris. We went to the Eiffel tower and we even got onto it. The tower is 324 meters tall, It has three levels(层) for visitors. There are restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level is 276 meters above the ground. If you climb from ground level to the first level, you need to climb over 300 steps. There are another 300 steps from the first level to the second level. That's why people usually get onto the top level by lift.

Humans are mammals (哺乳动物). Most mammals are born able to do many things.

Some can walk within a few minutes of being born. They have to be able to run away if 1 is near. But human babies are born 2. They need the care of adults to live.

In the first month of life, babies can not smile or sit up. They can not even hold up their own heads 3 some help from grown-ups.

In the next few months, babies grow a lot. They learn to roll over, support their heads, and 4 sit up while being held.

Babies also have to learn to use their 5. It takes months for them to learn to reach for objects. At around six months old many babies can 6 an object from one hand to another.

Babbling is 7 a human baby learns to speak. Babies all seem to make similar sounds by babbling. They try to imitate (模仿) the sounds they hear from adults. It will take about nine months 8 a baby can say real words.

Somewhere around a baby's first birthday he or she may stand or walk with help. Soon the baby will 9 around on his or her own!

The first year of a baby's life is a time of growing and 10. Growing sure takes a lot of work!