Yesterday evening，when l went to town with my  1  ，we met a strange old man．It was raining ham and we had no  2 ．We were trying to get into a taxi when he came up to us．He was 3  a nice umbrella and he said that he would give it to us for only a pound．He had forgotten his   4 ，he said，needed taxi—fares(出租汽车费)to go back home．My mother didn't believe  5 he had said at first，and asked him a lot of questions．Finally we bought it and he left  6 ．We followed him and found he went into a pub(小酒店)and  7  himself a glass of whiskey(威士忌)with the pound．

8 he drank it，he put 9   his hat and took up one of the many wet umbrellas at the entrance and went off．Soon after that，he sold it again．What a(n) 10  experience I had !

    A soap opera called "Tiger Mother and Cat Father" is popular in China now. The tiger mother is pretty strict with her daughter and the little girl is not allowed to watch TV or play computer games. On the other hand, she makes all efforts to buy the expensive house near the key school, in order to let her daughter have a better education. However, the cat father has an opposite view of how to raise their child. He gives her daughter more independence and doesn't make many rules for her. Which one is better, "Tiger Mother" or "Cat Father"?

    In China, it seems that in each family, there is tiger mother and a cat father, even worse, some families have two tigers. Children can't decide anything for themselves. What's worse, Chinese mothers believe key school will bring a better future to their children. This soap opera fully shows us a common problem in China. And maybe it is the real reason why such kind of TV shows can get popular.

    Whether the tiger mother or the cat father, respecting(尊重)children and growing together are the keys to family education. Confidence, kindness, honesty and independence are the most important qualities to develop a child, not the grades. Just like a poem said, "Educating children is like walking with a snail(蜗牛), and the steps are gentle and slow."

    There was a kingdom long, long ago. It was ruled by king who loved riddles. Once a year the king made a new riddle. He gave a prize to the person who could solve the riddle.

    There was a baker who also lived in this kingdom. Everyone agreed that he baked the finest breads. The baker had almost everything he needed except for a horse. If the baker had a horse, he could sell his fine breads from one end of the kingdom to the other.

    One year the king made a new riddle that puzzled everyone. "I will give a prize to the person who can solve my riddle," the king said. Whoever wins will have the pick of one of my strongest horses." He then drew a line down the middle of the courtyard "Make this line shorter without erasing(清除) any part of it," the king challenged.

    People came from far and wide. They looked at the line and squinted at it. They even put their noses to the ground and scratched their heads.

    How can you make a line shorter without erasing any part of it?” the people in the crowd asked each other. Some of them tried. The dressmaker kicked dirt(泥土)over the line to hide it. The farmer poured water over the line to make it disappear. None of these efforts worked, and the people went home disappointed. Everyone was puzzled about how to solve this new riddle.

    A week passed, and nobody had any new ideas. Then one day the baker came into the courtyard with a bag of flour(面粉).

    Your Majesty, "the baker said to the king, I can make your line shorter without erasing any part of it." Then the baker opened his bag of flour. He poured out a line of flour right next to the king's line. The line the baker made was longer than the king's line.

    Now, good king, "the baker smiled, "your line is shorter.

    The people were amazed. The king laughed and clapped his hands. "You have won the prize. I will give you a horse of your choice.

    The baker was excited. Now he could sell his breads from one end of the kingdom to the other.

    Once Einstein gave a lecture(演讲)in many places in America. His driver always listened to him and knew the lecture so well that he was sure to give it himself. So Einstein agreed that the driver gave the lecture for him. As nobody knew Einstein there, the driver gave the lecture for Einstein that evening. At first he was a bit afraid, but Einstein's smile made him feel better. He gave a good lecture and the people were quite pleased. Then the driver started to leave and Einstein followed him without a word. Then they got to the door, a man asked the driver a difficult question. The driver said that the question was very easy, and told the man to ask his driver behind to answer it.

    One day an old man is on his way home. Just then a stranger(陌生人)stops him and asks, "Excuse me, how long will it take to walk to the next village?"

    The old man looks at the stranger but he doesn't answer. The stranger says to himself. "This old man can't hear me clearly. I will ask him again." Then he asks the old man loudly. The old man thinks for a while, but he still doesn't answer.

    At this time, this stranger is very angry and shouts at the old man." How long will it take me to walk to the next village? ''But the old man doesn't give him any answer. So the stranger begins to walk quickly to the village.

    The old man calls after him, "My friend, it will take you only fifteen minutes." The stranger says, "Well, why do you tell me now?" The old man says, "How could I tell you just now? I don't know how fast you can walk."

    Homeless people face a lot of challenges, - such as not having enough to eat and no job opportunities. Some of the most basic challenges, - however, -are not having clean water and toiletries (卫生用品)-a big problem for homeless teens. That encouraged a young researcher to invent a multi-purpose product to help these teens.

    "I was born into a life of volunteering," said 13-year-old Leia Gluckman. And that's true. Her mom is a president of an organization providing help for homeless teens. Leia and her brother have volunteered there for years. When she was a young girl, Leia helped serve food where teens were eating. Now she's a teenager herself, and she's managing the toiletry and clothing work there.

    From her work at the center, Leia noticed that teens asked for some toiletries more than others. What they needed most often were toothpaste, body powder (粉)and shampoo(洗发水).Leia wondered whether she could create a product to serve all three purposes.

    It would need to take away dirt and oil from skin and hair. It would need to clean teeth. Also, it would need to kill bacteria (病菌)without being harmful to people. She wanted her ingredients (产品成分)to be natural, to be able to break down easily and to taste and smell pleasant. Moreover, this product had to be low﹣cost and have a long shelf life.

    Leia started by going to stores and looking at the ingredient lists for toiletries. Then she tried eight different ways. She tested each way to see how well it worked.

    Not all of them worked well. But she finally decided on three. Each includes salt and baking powder. Salt helps clean teeth and skin; baking powder helps take in bad smells. She also has some other recipes which include some special materials that give her products different tastes and smells, which would let teens choose a product based on personal preferences.

    It wasn't easy, but Leia came up with some model products. She presented them at the finals of Broadcom MASTERS science competition.

    Leia wants to develop her products further. "Could it possibly be used to drive away mosquitoes (蚊子)?" she wonders.

    "Science offers a way to go about solving problems and helping people," says Leia. And she thinks her products could benefit a great number of people, not just the homeless. Anyone in an area with little or no chance to get clean water could find her products useful, maybe refugees (难民) and soldiers who are sent to places without running water.