The United States is a country of immigrants. It is a place where people from all over the world come to build a better life. Some immigrants bring their families. Some bring a few of their favorite things. Others come alone with nothing but determination. One thing that every immigrant brings with them is their culture.

    American immigration began in 1607 with the colony (殖民地) of Jamestown. In 1620, another group of people left England to build a settlement in America. They wanted to go to a place where they could practice their religion freely. Then many more people left their homes in Europe to build a better life in America. Many also came to America from Africa. By 1770, more than two million people had moved to America. Later on, more people came to the United States than ever before.

    In cities all over America, you can see different cultures that formed this country. Many things that you may think of as being “American” are actually from a foreign culture. Some of the best examples of this are the foods people eat. Pizza and spaghetti are foods that all Americans know and love. But both of them are from Italy. Baseball is an all-American sport. But the hot dogs that people eat during the game are a type of food that was brought to America by German immigrants.

    Over time, pizza and hot dogs have become a part of what is considered to be American food. In the same way, different groups of people have come together to define what an American is. An American can be a person of any background. An American can be of any faith. An American can be of any skin color. They can speak English clearly. They can speak English with an accent. Each new immigrant adds something new to American culture. It will keep changing as more people come to this country.

    "Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked. When the baby was lying in her arms and she moved the fold of  cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped(喘气). The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

    Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was imperfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be unfortunate. He cried out the tragedy, A boy, a big boy… called me a freak(怪人).

    He grew up, handsome. A favourite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might communicate with other young people,” his mother blamed him, but he felt a kindness in her heart.

    Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret.” The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged.

    Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.” “ I do not believe you could,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know… not yet.”

    The years kept their secret, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother's casket, Slowly. Tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal the mother had no outer ears

    “Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut,” his father whispered, gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they?”

    It was Mother's Day morning last year and I was doing my shopping at our local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were leaving, we found that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and had hit her head on the concrete. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.

    Walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very upset about what had happened to the couple. He said to me, “Mum, it's not much fun falling over in front of everyone.”

    At the front of the supermarket a charity(慈善) group had set up a stand selling cooked sausages and flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we should buy the lady a flower. “It will make her feel better,” he said. I was amazed that he'd come up with such a sweet idea. So we went over to the flower seller and asked her if we could buy a flower for the lady to cheer her up. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can't take your money for such a wonderful gesture.”

    By now paramedics（救援人员）had arrived, and were attending the injured woman. As we walked up to her, my son became intimidated by all the blood and medical equipment. He said he was just too scared to go up to her. Instead I gave the flower to the woman's husband and told him, “ My son was very upset for your wife and wanted to give her this flower to make her feel better.”

    At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you so much, you have a wonderful son. Happy Mother's Day to you.”

    The man then bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Though badly hurt and shaken, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile.

    When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she fought to find a place to sleep on the street. But she beat these terrible setbacks（挫折） to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry （录入）into Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”.

    Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up with two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just l5 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died. She decided to do something about it.

    Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. “What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, and by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

    She admitted that she used envy （妒忌）to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time. ”

    Liz wants moviegoers（常看电影的人） to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

    Smart Kids is a collection of one hundred events scheduled in October. This year, it is experimenting with Pay What You Decide (PWYD). That is, you can decide to pay what you want to or can afford, after you have attended an event. You can pre-book events without paying for a ticket in advance. Here are some of the director's picks.

    Walk on the Wild Side

    Not ticketed, Free

Join storyteller Sarah Law to hear science stories about animals. Along the way you'll meet all sorts of beautiful creatures and discover life cycles and food chains. Best suited to children aged 5-9. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

    Introduction to Waves

    Pre-book, PWYD

    Subjects range from sound waves to gravity waves, and from waves of light to crashing waves on the ocean. Mike Goldsmith explores the fundamental features shared by all waves in the natural world.

Science in the Field

    Not ticketed, Free

This storytelling night features a scientist sharing his favourite memories of gathering first-hand data on various field trips. Come along for inspiring and informative stories straight from the scientist's mouth. Join Mark Samuels to find out more in this fun-filled workshop.

    Festival Dinner

Pre-book, £25 per person

Whether you want to explore more about food, or just fancy a talk over a meal, join us to mark the first science festival in London. Which foods should you eat to trick your brain into thinking that you are full? Find out more from Tom Crawford.

A little girl created the perfect Mother's Day gift.It was a drawing of a 1 on white paper with the words "For mom: love, love, love" decorated in hearts.She folded(折叠) her letter,2 then she lost it.

For most people, that would be the 3 of this story,but this story has a different result:James Carrell 4 the letter.He had just 5 his mother, wishing her a happy Mother's Day.After he got off the phone,Carrell saw the 6 on the ground outside of a hardware(五金器具) store in Manvel in Texas, United States."I 7 it was a note" said Carrell."I 8 it and saw the flower and hearts.It 9 .

moved me." Carrell thought the letter would 10 someone's day and maybe he could find the 11 , so he posted it in the Talk of Alvin Facebook group.The message 12 a lot of people, especially one man.

"I was sitting at my friend's house and saw a man 13 ,"said Carrell.

His Facebook comments(评论) included a message from Roberto Alvarado.He wrote, "I can't 14 you found my baby's letter."Carrell reached out to Alvarado to 15 the letter.It took a few days, but the men finally 16 on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado's daughter Natalie celebrated her seventh birthday." 

17 the letter made it home," said Alvarado." We are 18 for what James Carrell did." 

We often forget the power of 19 things,but for this family from Alvin, Carrell's small act left a(n)20 impression(影响).