In a nice house there lived an old man. Behind the house there was a big garden. He planted many plants there. He took care of his flowers all the time, watering and fertilizing (施肥) them.

       One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. Then, suddenly he found the old gardener was blind. He was very _________ about this and asked, “You can't see these flowers. Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”

       The old man smiled and said, “I can tell you some reasons  . First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can't see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that's you.”       

       “Me? But you don't know me,” said the young man.

       “Yeah, it's true that I don't know you. But I know that flowers are angels that everybody knows. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”

       The blind man's work opened our eyes and pleased our heart, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical words. Beethoven himself couldn't hear  his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn't it one kind of happiness?

阅读理解

Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in the world. He was born in 1942. He's a famous scientist and expert on space and time. Stephen is trying to find the answers to some very big questions, such as: how did the universe begin? How will it end? These questions are very hard for us to understand. But they are very important and can tell us many things about the universe.

Stephen studied Maths and science when he was a student at university. Then, at the age of twenty-one, he became sick. He was so young, but the doctors said to his family, “He has only two more years to live.” As a matter of fact, the doctors were wrong — he didn't die. He can't walk now but he uses a wheelchair. He can't feed himself and get in or out of bed himself. But he refuses to give in. He talks with the help of a computer. After Oxford, Stephen went to Cambridge University. Three years later, in 1965, he became a Doctor of Philosophy.

Because of his serious health problem, it was difficult for him to draw diagrams (图表) or write. So he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking, he became one of the most famous scientists in the world. In 1981, he met the Pope (教皇) in Rome. They talked about his ideas. Then in 1988, he wrote his first important book, A Brief History of Time. It was sold more than 5.5 million copies in 33 different languages. He was once invited to China. He impressed us with his self-confidence and humorous conversation.

    Joanne "Jo" Rowling was born on 31 July 1965, pen name, is a British novelist, best known as the writer of the Harry Potter books. The Harry Potter books are world famous. People bought more than 400 million copies. They have become the best—selling book series in history. Rowling finished the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997. Later Jo published 6 more — the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007.

    Jo is said to be the twelfth richest woman in the UK. In October 2010, Jo was named the “Most Influential (有影响的)Woman in Britain.

    Mr Smith gave his wife money every Friday evening. His wife always spent it all the next Wednesday, so that for the next three days she had no money to spend at all. One day Mr Smith asked her," But how did you spend all that money?" She answered, "I don't know." So one Friday evening, Mr Smith gave her money together with an exercise book and a pencil. He said to his wife, "Please write down how you spend the money." Next Tuesday, his wife had no money again. Mr Smith took the exercise book to see how she had spent it. "I have done what you told me, "she said gladly. She had written "Friday, I got 18 pounds from Mr Smith." on the first page, and on the second page, she wrote, "Tuesday, I have spent it all."

    There was a very rich man named Mike. In his house, he had a very large room. "If anyone can fill my room in one day, I will give him 20,000 dollars." he said. Everyone in the town wanted to have a try.

    Mark tried to fill the room with stones. At the end of the day, he was very tired, but the room was still not full. Martin tried to fill the room with wood. He worked all day, but the room was not full. "That room is too big, no one can do this." he said. Alan said, "I can do it. It's easy." Everyone laughed. They thought he could not do it. Then, he went to the park and played all day. His friend asked him, "Why are you playing, you should be working." The man said, "Don't worry." At 8:00 at night, the man came to the room with a small bag. The rich man said, "That bag is too small. How will you fill the room?" The man took a candle out of the bag. He lit the candle and said, "You see, the whole room is filled with light!"

    How important is your appearance? Although everyone wants to be good-looking, are beautiful people always happier people? For example, it must be a problem to be a really beautiful woman, because some people may be more interested in looking at you than talking to you. They think of you as a picture rather than a person.

    Some people think that women who are exceptionally(格外地) pretty and men who are particularly handsome must be stupid. They believe that only unattractive(无魅力的) people can be intelligent(智慧的).

    On the other hand, no one wants to be really ugly, and have a face that even your mother doesn't want to look at; and no one wants to be plain, either--that is, to be neither attractive nor unattractive, and have a face that is easily forgotten. Being attractive is like being rich. It can help you find happiness, but it doesn't always make you happy.

    So maybe the best thing is not to worry too much about how you look, but simply try to be an interesting person. For interesting people have interesting faces, and interesting faces are almost always attractive.