It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and Maggie and I were returning from our walk through the woods. We were only a couple of blocks from home when I spotted a cell phone and a credit card sitting on the road. We took them home. We always find amazing things on the street and she looks upon them as a movable feast-a chicken wing here or a barbecue rib there.

    I found another cell phone a few years back, too, and called a number in its phone book. I explained the situation to the guy who answered. He said it was his sister's and that he'd come to pick it up, which he did.

    And that was that. No verbal thank-you, no written thank-you, no “here's a box of chocolates” thank-you.

    I didn't have time to call anyone on my latest found cell phone. I was pouring myself coffee when it started to vibrate(震动) and dance across the kitchen counter.

    “Who's this?” someone asked when I picked up.

    “Who's this?” I countered（反问.“Sarah?”

    She was surprised at my knowing her name until she realized her name was on the credit card. “Could you send them to me?” she asked.

    She lives in Arlington, which is 2 miles from my house.

    “Hmm, no, ”I replied, adding that I thought she could come to get them, and that if I wasn't at home, they would be in my mailbox.

    A day later, when I was out for a run, someone retrieved(取回) them. There wasn't even a piece of paper put in the mailbox with “Thanks” on it. In this age of e-mail and cell phone, there's really no excuse. Years ago, I found something more precious than a $100 bill on the street: a driver's license. I saw  that its owner lived a couple of blocks from me, so I called him up. He asked whether I could slip the license through his front door.

    “I guess I could, ”I replied.

    And that was that.

                                                                                             Three Boys and a Dad
      Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother. Expecting a whole day to relax, he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months. “This will be like a walk in the park.” he'd told his wife. “I'll look after the kids, and you can go visit your mom.”

Things started well, but just after eight o'clock, his three little “good kids”—Mike, Randy, and Alex — came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted “breakfast, daddy.” When food had not appeared on within thirty seconds, Randy began using his spoon on Alex's head as if it were a drum. Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat(节拍) . Mike chanted “Where's my toast, where's my toast” in the background. Brad realized his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.

    Life became worse after breakfast. Mike wore Randy's underwear on his head. Randy locked himself in the bathroom, while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants. Nobody could find clean socks, although they were before their eyes. Someone named “Not me” had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Brad knew the talk show had already started.

    By ten o'clock, things were out of control. Alex was wondering why the fish in the fish bowl refused his bread and butter. Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating kitchen wall with his color pencils. Randy, thankfully, appeared to be reading quietly in the sitting room, but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands. Brad realized that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.

    At exactly 11:17, Brad called the daycare center(日托所).“I suddenly have to go into work and my wife is away. Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes?” The answer was obviously “yes” because Brad was smiling.

                                                                      How I Turned to Be Optimistic

    I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.

    I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.

    The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism (乐观), but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost-having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex (复杂的) for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times.”

    My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.

    From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles finally go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.

    We humans spend about one-third of our lives asleep. This may sound like a lot of time, but it is not wasted. Sleep not only helps us stay healthy but it also helps our brains remember. Our brains need good sleep to remember what we do and learn during the other two thirds of our lives when we are awake.

    Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that sleep helps improve brain performance by shrinking(收缩)synapses in the brain. A synapse is the area where cells pass messages to other cells.

    Scientist Chiara Cirelli is a leader at the school's Center for Sleep and Consciousness. She told the reporter that sleep is when the human brain mixes information it has learned while awake into its general collection of knowledge. Meanwhile, the brain forgets unimportant details. This forgetting is important. It makes space for new learning and new memories.

    Cirelli said that the Centers research began with this hypothesis(假设): We sleep so that our brain can repair and refresh itself. She said the idea seems simple and reasonable. However, testing and discovering how it works has been extremely difficult.

    Synapses are only about 20-40 nanometers(纳米)wide. The team began their study by measuring the size of the synapses to look for changes in these already tiny spaces between nerve cells. Cirelli says the process(过程) is difficult because"all the actual measurements of the synapses have to be done by hand." The team had to wait until improvements in laboratory technology made it possible to see these tiny changes. A University of Wisconsin press release called the research a"huge job." Many research specialists worked for four years to photograph, rebuild and study certain areas of a mouse brain. The report also said the scientists measured 6,920 synapses.

    Cirelli says they found that our synapses shrink as our brains clean themselves during sleep. We wake up refreshed and ready to fill those synapses with new information. The research findings are the result of years of hard work at the University of Wisconsin Madison. The researchers published their findings in the journal Science.

    Fix it on your own

    Did you know that a bowl of rice could save your iPod if you drop it in a swimming pool by accident? Or that the camera on your phone could tell you what's wrong with your TV remote control(遥控器)? The experts at Geek Squad have made a gadget (小机件) rescue guide. So, let's take a look at some of their useful advice.

    How to get more juice out of your phone battery (电池)

    If your battery goes dead but you need to get a number or send one last text, try warming it up. That may give you a tiny bit of power. Take the battery from the phone and rub it between your hands. Or warm it under your arm for a few minutes. Then try to start the phone-but use it quickly.

    What to do if your gadget gets wet

    First, try drying it out with a vacuum cleaner(真空吸尘器). If a vacuum cleaner isn't at hand, fill a pot or bowl with uncooked rice and put your wet gadget inside. The dry, uncooked rice will absorb all the water and, after a few hours, you should be able to use the gadget. Don't forget to remove the battery and SIM card before you dry it.

    What to do if your TV remote control stops working

    If replacing the batteries doesn't work, get the camera function up on your phone and point the remote at the lens (镜头). When you press a button on the remote, if it is working, the glass bobble (小球) at the front of the remote will light up when you look at it on the screen of your phone. This is because the screen on a phone or digital camera picks up infrared rays (红外线), even though your eyes don't. If the glass bobble doesn't light up, the remote is broken. If it does, the receiving device is broken.

    More and more people in America are celebrating the Indian holiday Diwali. Diwali is Hindi for "row of lights". It is the most important holiday in India.

    Many people around the world are beginning to celebrate it as well. The United States is one of the places where the festival is becoming more common. Diwali celebrations can now be found at American landmarks like Disneyland in California and New York City's Times Square. They are also held in many parks and museums.

    Neeta Bhasin created the Times Square event. She said Indian immigrants have found great success in America. But, she said, many Americans still do not know much about India. So, she decided to act." I felt it's about time that we should take India to mainstream America and show India's rich culture, heritage, arts and variety to the world," she said, "and I couldn't find a better place than Times Square."

    Bhasin came to the United States from India 40 years ago. She is president of ASB Communications, the marketing firm behind Diwali at Times Square. Tens of thousands of people attend the event, now in its fourth year.

    In India, Diwali is a five-day harvest festival held just before the Hindu New Year. The exact dates change from year to year but Diwali is always in the fall. Celebrations include lighting oil lamps or candles called "diyas".

    A Diwali celebration will light up Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim this year. Visitors can watch performances of traditional Indian dances and take part in a Bollywood dance party. The event is part of a Festival of Holidays program at the theme park to show cultural traditions from around the world. The program takes place on November 10th through January 7th.

    San Antonio, Texas, also holds a Diwali celebration. And it is one of the nation's largest celebrations, with more than 15,000 people in attendance each year. Visitors can enjoy Indian dance，food and fireworks. Organizers also plan to float hundreds of lighted candles in the San Antonio River, along the city's famous River Walk.