Last December it was very cold and it snowed a lot. One Saturday, John was playing on the hill near his house with some friends. Suddenly, he fell over and hurt his leg. His friends ran to tell his mother. His mother and brother took him to the hospital.

    The doctor said John had to stay in hospital for four to five weeks. John liked the doctors and the other children in the hospital because they were very friendly. At first he was happy because he didn't have to go to school. He laughed at all of his friends. They had to do a lot of homework. He enjoyed listening to music and watching his favourite television programmes all day.

    But soon the Christmas holidays started. John was still in hospital. He was tired of watching television and listening to his CDs and he wanted to go home. "This is ▲" he thought. He felt sad so he started to cry.

    But then a man came to his room with a bag of presents and a Christmas tree. John knew him from the television. He was a famous sports star who was visiting all the sick (生病的) children. And the man was not the only person who came that day. All the students from John's class came to visit him. And his maths teacher brought him his "favourite" present — some maths homework!

    Do you know George? He is a little monkey. He lives in a deep forest. He likes jumping and climbing trees. He is happy every day. But he has a shortcoming（缺点）. He is curious（好奇的）.

    One day an old man went by the forest. He cared a lot of hats. George saw the old man, and the old man saw George, too. The old man said to himself, what a lovely monkey! I will catch him. I will take him home.

    The old man sat down and thought over. George saw and also sat down. The old man had an idea. He put a hat on his head, and put other has on the ground, Then be pretended(假装)to sleep.

    George was curious and looked at the hats. "I will be nice if I put a hat on my head, "George thought. Then be climbed down from the tree, picked up a hat and put it on. The hat was too big, and covered George's eyes. George couldn't see. And the old man got up at once and caught him quickly.

Poor George!

    If anyone can be called a scientific giant after Albert Einstein, that person must be Stephen Hawking. He was born in Oxford, England on Jan. 8th, 1942. What a pity On March 14th, 2018, the world-famous British scientist1in Cambridge, UK.

    After leaving high school Hawking went first to Oxford University 2he studied physics and then went to Cambridge University where he studied cosmology(宇宙学). As he himself admitted, he didn't work hard. And he did 3work. However, he always enjoyed thinking everything around him, especially the universe. Today, he is called the King of the Universe.

    It was at the age of 21 that Hawking first4something was wrong with him. He started to bump into some things. When he visited his family at Christmas time, his mother was so worried that she 5 him see a doctor. Hawking was sent to hospital for tests. Finally, the result came back. He6to have motor neuron disease(运动神经元病), an incurable illness which would make him unable to speak, breathe or move 7the help of a machine. Doctors said they had no ways to help him. He might die before 23.

    8, Hawking became very depressed. After a while, though, he began to see his life in a different way. As he later wrote, “After my illness was diagnosed(诊断), I was very9with life. There had not seemed to be anything worth doing. But shortly after I came out of hospital, I suddenly realized that there were a lot of worthwhile(值得做的) things I could do."Then Hawking got married and found a job at Cambridge University as a professor. We strongly believe that his story shows that 10, how had their situation is, should lose hope. “Life is not fair.” He once said, “You just have to do the best you can in your own situation.”

    The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809. His family lived not far from the River Severn, England. As a boy, Charles liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He enjoyed watching nature, and comparing what he saw with everything he had read in science books. He also liked collecting very much. He collected many things, birds, eggs, stones and leaves.

    At sixteen Darwin was sent to Edinburgh University to become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature.

    Then he was sent to study in Cambridge University. There he studied until 1831.

    Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and wanted a scientist. His teacher advised him to go. So when the Beagle left England in December, 1831, Darwin was on it. The trip lasted almost five years. Darwin saw many new plants and animals. He collected all kinds of plants.

    In 1842 Darwin went to live in Kent, and there he continued his studies of change in nature. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change. By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book The Origin of Species.

    In 1871 Darwin wrote another important book, the Theory of Evolution.

    Darwin continued his studies in science until he died in 1882.

    Once upon a time, a proud (骄傲的) Swallow lived in a large tree. He liked his colorful feathers (羽毛) and his long tail so much that he believed nothing could be better than them. One day he saw a Crow and thought. "How silly this bird is! All his feathers are black." He looked at himself lovingly and enjoyed his own feathers.

    Just then, the crow flew and sat on the same branch as the Swallow. The Swallow said, "All your feathers are black and your tail is so short." The Crow smiled and said. "But they help me fly." The Swallow said. "So do mine. But look at how beautiful they are!" He spread (展开) his wings and flew a little closer to the Crow. The Crow saw that the Swallow had lots of blue feathers and some white and pink ones, too. He looked at his own feathers and thought, "It's true. The Swallow's feathers are much prettier than mine."

    The Crow said, "Swallow, you're right. You have lovely feathers and a long tail, but only in summer. Your little feathers cannot keep you warm in winters at all. While you shiver (颤抖) in the cold, my thick feathers keep me warm in the cold winters."