There once was a wise man who was very respected for his wisdom. This great man was called the Wise Circle Maker. His people believed that he had special powers to make it rain.

    But the Wise Circle Maker did not know everything about life often, when he saw things that he did not understand, he would ask questions, hoping to find the answers.

    One day, he noticed a man panting a fruit tree. He asked the man, "When will this tree bear fruit? How long will it take?"

    The man said that it would take 70 years for fruit to come to the tree.

"And how old are you now?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am almost 50 years old" replied the man.

"And do you think you will live to taste the fruit from this tree?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am already old and will never taste the fruit from this tree I plant. But when I was born, I saw many fruit trees like this planted by my father, and his father. And I ate the fruit from those trees." replied the man.

    "This tree is for my children, my grandchildren and for their children too. They will taste the fruit of this tree. That is why I am planting it not for me, but for them."

The Wise Circle Maker was impressed. He could easily see the meaning He walked away happily, knowing that he still had much to learn about life.

Kate and her friends play hide-and- seek(捉迷藏) at her home. Where are her friends? Canshe find them?

Several years ago, when I was in Grade Eight, our teacher gave us a test. I studied hard and did 1 in it than last time. Nearly all the questions were easy for me, 2 I stopped when I read the last question: What's the name of the woman who cleans the school?

I thought that was a joke at that time. I saw 3 woman every day. But how would I know 4 name? I had never talked to her before. In fact, I had even never thought about 5 to her, I started to feel sorry. Finally, I handed in my paper. But I6 the last question.

 When the test was over, one student asked," Will the last question count into our grade?"" Of course," the teacher said." In your life, you will meet many people. 7 are important. They deserve(值得) your care, even if you just smile and say hello 8 them."

I' ve never forgotten that lesson. I 9 get to know all of the people who work and live around me. That was, perhaps, the most important lesson in my life. Later I10 that the woman's name was Dorothy.

Many years ago, there was a family named Franklin. They lived in Boston. There were five girls and six boys in the family. On a January day in 1706, another baby boy was born. The boy's parents gave the boy a name— Benjamin.

Benjamin was the 1 of all the children. He could read when he was five and he could write when he was seven. The next year his parents sent him to school.

At school Benjamin was good at reading and writing, but not good at Maths. He read all of his father's books. And when he had money, he always went to buy 2 , because they told him how to do something. The boy liked to use his head and tried to 3 ways to help people enjoy life more. For example, he tried to know if there were some ways to swim farther, maybe with something on his hands or 4 . Slowly a picture of swimming shoes grew in his5 . They must be neither too big nor too small. And they must be neither too heavy nor too light. At last, he 6 the flippers for swimming.

Electricity was one of the things Benjamin experimented with when he stopped working. He discovered that lightning and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod(避雷针) was a(n)7 invention that we still use today. It can 8 buildings and ships from lightning damage.

Franklin preferred to have his inventions used 9 for everyone. He was not only an inventor, but also a writer, an educator, a politician and so on. He made great achievement in different areas. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of America, called Benjamin Franklin" the 10 man of the age and country in which he lived".