One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold(金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in the nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.

    One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根）in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.

    Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.

    The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn't complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.

    Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest(最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman's husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.

    Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.

    A problem even experts couldn't deal with was solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it a miracle  (奇迹）?

To take root in the heart, even the most common seed, can grow into a miracle!

    One day, Mr. Smith is going to take a train to his hometown. When the train starts, one of his shoes falls to the ground. The train is running faster and faster and he can't pick it up. Then he quickly takes off(脱下) the other one and throws it on the ground near the fallen shoe. A little boy on the train asks him, "Why do you do that?" "I've already lost one shoe." Mr. Smith answers. "If a man picks them up, he may get a pair of shoes."

    Lots of people make it as their aim to get to the top of Mount Everest. Mark is one of them. The difference between Mark and other climbers is that he lost both his legs when climbing New Zealand's highest mountain, Mount Cook. He was caught in a big ice hole and he had to have his legs cut below the knees after he was saved. But that couldn't make him lose heart, who has become the first person with man-made legs to reach the top of Mount Everest.

    From the top of the world's highest mountain, Mark called his wife to say he made it. His wife, Anne got the phone when she was sleeping. She couldn't hear him clearly on the phone. She was unable to say when he reached the top but thought it was around mid-day. She also said his "legs" didn't work well sometimes, so her husband was carrying a spare leg and repair tools.

    Mark used to be a mountain guide before his accident. He said it was not important that no one like him had ever reached the 8,850-meter mountain.

    "I'm not doing this to be the first. I have been climbing most of my life and I just feel Mount Everest is really a great aim. I want to send a message that I can do anything better. "

    Mrs. Liu lives in the countryside, and she doesn't know Guangzhou very well. One day, she goes to Guangzhou, but she can't find her way. Just then, she sees a man near the bus stop. "I can ask him the way." She says to herself. Then she goes over to the man and asks, "Excuse me, will you please tell me the way to Zhongshan Road?" The man smiles with no words. He doesn't know Chinese. He is Japanese. Then he puts his hand into his pocket (衣袋) and takes out a piece of paper and lets Mrs. Liu look at it. On the paper are these words, "Sorry, I can't speak Chinese."

    My dad works from Monday to Friday in a bank. He uses the computer to count money. His job is very important in the bank. Dad is also busy at home. At weekends he cooks dinner. Usually he cooks Italian food. On Sundays he makes five pieces of pizza. Sometimes he cooks chicken and makes Chinese food. My mum watches and helps him. I help my dad, too. I wash the dishes.  Many people think it is strange for a man to cook. But my dad enjoys his hobby. Cooking relaxes him. He is a weekend cook.