Sometime ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it repaired, as there are a lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception.  I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

    The second shop, though a little more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth. I realized that my approach must be wrong so I decided to try another way. I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind.  I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair? Twenty pounds," I said. "OK. I'll give you twenty pounds for it,"he said. "It's got a slightly broken leg," I added. "Yes, I saw that.  It's nothing," the shopkeeper replied.

    Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell after the repair is done.""I'll buy it," I said.  "What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," the man asked in surprise.  "Yes, I know. But I've changed my mind.  I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. He shouted, "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You're right,"I said, "And what would you have said if I had walked in and asked you to repair my chair?" "I wouldn't have agreed to do it. We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble.  But I'll repair this for you.  Five pounds will be the cost,"the man answered. He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

    Samantha (her husband， John， called her Sam) left the doctor's house looking perfect， satisfied with her appearance.

    The year was 1862. It seemed that the war with the North would never come to an end. Sam's father had left as soon as possible， fighting for their land， for their new government， for the South.

    At last， Samantha reached the house that she and John owned. It was a cold， rainy night， and she was glad to be home. She stepped into the sitting room. John sat in an armchair， reading a book. When he saw her， he put the book down， and stood， reaching his arms out for her. They kissed briefly. He put a hand to her now slightly round belly(肚子) and asked， “What did the doctor say?”

    “He said the baby was fine and that I seemed healthy. Do you have any news?”

    “Surprisingly， yes.” John hesitated for a moment， as if deciding how he would stop what he was about to say， and then unwillingly continued， “I've been required to join the army.”

    Sam screamed， “What?” She was near tears. “But-but we're just starting out.” Her voice shook. “I thought that after two years of begging my mother to let the two of us get married that our life would finally be happy. Isn't there any way you can get out of this?”

    John answered， “I'm afraid not.”

        “Please. Please， John， if you love me， please get out of this. Break a leg or do something.” She began to cry. John comforted her， resting her head on his shoulder.

    “Sam.”

    “What?”

    “Name the child after me； name it John or Joanna. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise.”

    Sam smiled， knowing that John never broke a promise. She put her hand to her belly， and， unknown to her， the baby was a girl.

    And unknown to both of them， the promise that John had just made would be the only promise he would ever break.

    The city Bank was broken into yesterday at 8 p.m. The police were asking two men, John Smith and his brother Joseph Smith.

    Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."

    "OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.

    Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.

    The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."

    The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"

    "Burnt yesterday evening."

    There are 100 chicks sitting quietly in a circle. Suddenly, each chick freely pecks(啄) the chick to its left or right. What is the expected number of unpecked chicks? Can you solve it?

Leo (the 13-year-old boy) gave the right answer, 25, in just 0.9 of a second. He got this question in the final round of the Raytheon Maths counts competition. Thanks to that correct answer, he won it this year. Last year, he was second.

    "I was surprised that I won," he said. "I was kind of worried that was the wrong answer."

    This year, more than 100,000 students took part in the competitions. And 224 students entered the final round. Leo will receive a ﹩20,000 college scholarship and free trip to US Space Camp.

    Leo is talented at Maths. And unlike other students, he studies at home. His mother Mary quit her job as a writing teacher to home—school her son. She thought traditional school couldn't meet his needs. He often asks his mother to write difficult Maths problems so that he can solve them.

    When Leo was 8, he started taking college classes. Even on vacation, he still tries to learn Maths. He once asked his parents to take him to a Maths library at the University of Texas. People around him regard him as a Maths genius.