A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had loved a beautiful sports car, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

    As Graduation Day came, the young man waited for the good news of the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his study. He handed his son a beautiful gift box. Curious and disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely ,leather—bound(用皮包装的)Bible《圣经》,with the young man 's name on its cover. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then rushed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

    Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. But he realized his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could set off, he received a telegram(电报)telling him his father had passed away. He needed to come home immediately and deal with things.

    While searching for his father's papers, he found that new Bible. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible, It had a note with the salesman's name, the same man who had the sports car he had hoped. On the note was the date of his graduation, and the words :“PAID IN FULL.”

    Barbara McClintock was one of the most important scientists of the twentieth century. She made important discoveries about genes（基因）and chromosomes（染色体）.

    Barbara McClintock was born in 1902 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her family moved to the Brooklyn area of New York City in 1908. Barbara was an active child with interests in sports and music. She also developed an interest in science.

    She studied science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Barbara was among a small number of undergraduate students to receive training in genetics in 1921. Years later, she noted that few college students wanted to study genetics.

    Barbara McClintock decided to study botany, the scientific study of plants, at Cornell University. She completed her undergraduate studies in 1923. McClintock decided to continue her education at Cornell. She completed a master's degree in 1925. Two years later, she finished all her requirements for a doctorate degree.

    McClintock stayed at Cornell after she completed her education. She taught students botany. The 1930s was not a good time to be a young scientist in the United States. The country was in the middle of the great economic Depression. Millions of Americans were unemployed. Male scientists were offered jobs. But female geneticists were not much in demand.

    An old friend from Cornell, Marcus Rhoades, invited McClintock to spend the summer of 1941 working at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. It is a research center on Long Island, near New York City. McClintock started a temporary（临时的）job with the genetics department. A short time later, she accepted a permanent（永久的）position in the laboratory. This gave her the freedom to continue her research without having to teach or repeatedly ask for financial aid.

    By the 1970s, her discoveries had had an effect on everything from genetic engineering to cancer research. McClintock won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1983 for her discovery of the ability of genes to change positions on chromosomes. She was the first American woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize.

    My friend Joan is a nurse at the People's Hospital. She worked a year ago. She is a short beautiful girl with big eyes. Joan finds the work interesting, and the hours are not very long. Every day she works in a ward(病房)from eight to twelve. She brings the patients medicine, answers their telephones, and tries to be kind to everyone. She likes people even when they are not happy. In the afternoon. Joan has a rest. Then four days a week she goes to classes. She is learning first aid(急救)and Chinese. She is not good at Chinese, but she is good at first aid work. She is a good nurse.

    A passenger told an air hostess(空姐) that he needed a cup of water when the plane just took off. She told him that she would bring him the water soon.

    Twenty minutes later, when the passenger's ring for service sounded, the air hostess realized it at once. She was kept so busy that she forgot to bring him the water. Therefore, the passenger was held up to take his medicine. She hurried over to him with a cup of water, but he refused it.

    In the following hours on the flight, each time the air hostess passed the passenger, she would ask him with a smile whether he needed help or not. But the passenger never paid attention to her words.

    When he was going to get off the plane, the passenger asked the air hostess to hand him the passengers' booklet(意见簿). She was very sad. She knew that he would write down sharp(苛刻的) words. But with a smile she handed it to him.

    Off the plane, she opened the booklet, and let out a smile, for the passenger put it: On the flight, you asked me if I needed help for twelve times in all. How can I refuse your twelve sincere smiles?

    That's right! It was the twelve smiles of the air hostess that moved the passenger.

    I live on the twelfth floor of a building. One afternoon I was coming home from a friend's house. It was just after four o'clock. I got quickly into the lift and pressed Button(按钮)13.

    The lift started to go up, but very slowly. And then, halfway up, it suddenly stopped between two floors. I couldn't understand it. I pressed all the buttons from 1 to 14.I called for help very loudly. But nobody answered.

    Then suddenly the lights went out, and I was alone in the dark. I started to cry and beat the walls of the lift. I cried and cried until I had no voice left. Then, I felt hopeless, and pressed all the buttons with my hands. And at the same time, there was a bell far away. It rang and rang. It was the fire alarm. I thought the whole building was on fire. I said to God quietly, "Just get me out of here. I'll never be bad again."

    Just then, I realized the lift was moving very slowly. On the ground floor it stopped, and the door opened. A man was standing there. "How long have you been there? It is good that you pressed the alarm bell. But haven't you learned to read at your school?" He pointed at a small piece of paper on the wall beside the lift. It said:

    "Attention: This lift will be stopped for repairs between 4 p.m. and 5p.m. on Thursday, March 13."

    Jay Chou was born(出生) on January 18th,1979, in Taiwan, China. He grew up with his mother, and was a quiet and shy kid. He didn't do well in study, so people thought(认为) he would never be successful(成功) in life.

As a small child, Jay took a great interest in music. His mother sent(送) him to learn the piano when he was only three years old. He loved it and kept on practicing. When he was in high school, he could play the piano quite well. At the same time, he showed his talent for writing songs.

    Before Jay became a singer, he worked as a songwriter. For two years, he spent most of his time writing for singers. Some of them were very famous, like Coco Less and Jacky Cheung. Jay released(发行) his first album(专辑) in 2000 and soon he got quite popular.

    Now Jay is one of the most famous singers in Asia. However, he is still shy and doesn't speak clearly when he sings or talks, but he has a lot of fans. Most of his fans like him because he is really good at music and never follows(仿效) others.