It was nearly seven o'clock, when a man walked into a bar, ordered a drink and turned to watch the television.

    The seven o'clock news was on and it was showing a man standing on top of a tall building. He was looking down at the crowd of people below.

    On the ground, a police officer with a megaphone(扩音器)was trying to tell him not to jump.

    "Let's talk about your problem," the police officer was saying. "Perhaps we can help you."

    The man turned to the bartender(酒吧侍者)and said, "I bet you a hundred dollars he doesn't jump.

    The bartender looked at him. "You're offering me a hundred dollars if he jumps? Is that right?"

    "Yes. I don't think he'll jump."

    The bartender smiled. "OK. You've got a bet."

    The man turned back to the TV and watched it carefully. The bartender, however, did not seem to be very interested. He continued washing glasses and serving the other customers.

    Then, after about five minutes, the man on the building threw himself off the building and fell to the ground.

    The man in the bar turned to the bartender.

    "He jumped," he said. "You win."

    He held out a hundred dollar bill to the bartender, but the bartender would not take it.

    "I can't take your money," he said. "I knew I couldn't lose. That story was on the six o'clock news. I saw him jump."

    "Well, yes, so did I," the man said, "but I didn't think he'd do such a stupid thing twice."

Kian Hamer, 14-year-old, has become one of the youngest members (成员) of Mensa. Mensa is an international organization (国际组织) for IQ (智商). Mensa has about 110,000 members all over the world. Only eight percent of the members are under 16. Kian's IQ is 162 and it's two points higher than Albert Einstein's.

Mensa sent a letter to Kian's home. The letter wrote, "Kian is one of the cleverest people in the world." Kian is really excited to join Mensa. He always works hardest on everything he does. Although people call him a genius (天才), he still wants to be a football player when he grows up. He loves playing football very much.

His dad Rich Hamer said, "Kian is clever but I'm not calling him a genius like others. I want him to keep his feet on the ground. He needs to study hard all the time. Never be proud (骄傲). He always does well at school. He works really hard and always tries his best."

The little girl put her doll {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to the shelf（架子） and ran over to the computer game. After she talked to her father, she {#blank#}2{#/blank#}for the computer game and said to the shop assistant in a low voice.

So the boy got the computer game that he wanted for free（免费）—he was told it was a prize from the store. He smiled {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, although he felt it was so unbelievable.

The girl saw all this happen. She smiled happily, too.

When I walked out of the store to my car, I heard the father ask his daughter why she had done that. I would never {#blank#}4{#/blank#}their short talk. "Daddy, didn't Grandma want me to buy something that would {#blank#}5{#/blank#}me happy?"

He said, "Of course, she did."

"Well, I just did!" With that, the little girl started skipping(蹦跳) towards their car happily.

Mother Tongue (语言)

    My name is Jiniku but everyone calls me Joey, including my parents. My father is American but my mother is not. My mother grew up in a country whose name I cannot pronounce correctly. She was educated in French and Latin, Spanish and German.

    My mother wrote all day, but never showed anyone what she wrote. She had notebooks she would write in, and a typewriter to straighten out (整理) the final copy.

    When she had typed (打字) pages, she put them in a box. This box was deep under the bed that she and my father shared.

    There were only two words that she ever said in the real voice, with her real accent (口音), real tongue. I heard her say them only three times in her life. She taught them to me one night as I lay on her legs, sweating (出汗) with fever.

    "Jiniku," she said in a low voice. "Jiniku." I focused (集 中) on her voice through my fever, realizing that something had changed. She was speaking from a part of her that she had not opened for a long time. She took my hand, and placed my palm (掌心) over her heart. "Juriszu." She stared out the window. There was a long silence. I could feel her heartbeat, which was calmer and slower than my own. "My name," she said at last, speaking once more in English, "means „dark ocean (海洋).‟ And you, Jiniku, my baby, yours means „life.‟" She looked out the window again. "„Ji‟ is the word for a happy birth. One where everyone lives and there is little pain. „Ni‟ is a tree that had its roots (根) spread far and whose branches (树枝) shelter (庇护) all. „Ku‟ is spirit. You have this all-encompassing (包罗万象的) life." She placed her hand on my heart. "The first and last letters of our names are the same," she said. "Don‟t forget that, Jiniku."