An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation (手术) could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money. When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother， “Only a miracle (奇迹) can save him now，” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully. She ran to a drugstore（药店）with the money in her hand.

    “And what do you want?” asked the salesman.

    “It's for my little brother，” the girl answered. “He's really， really sick and I want to buy a miracle.”

    “Pardon?” said the salesman.

    “My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?”

    “We don't sell a miracle here， child. I'm sorry，” the salesman said with a smile.  

    “Listen， if it isn't enough， I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

     A well-dressed man heard it and asked， “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”

    “I don't know，” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He's really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it， so I have brought all my money.”

    “How much do you have?” asked the man.

    “$ 1.11， but I can try and get some more，” she answered.

    “Well， what luck，” smiled the man. “$ 1.11， the price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took up the girl's hand and said， “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”

    That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong， a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again

    How much did the miracle cost?

    I travel a lot in my work, and what I dislike about my job is eating alone. It always makes me feel lonely to see others laughing and talking. So, eating in the room is a better choice for me.

    After eating alone in my room for three nights in Houston, I needed to get out of my room. Although the restaurant opened at 6: 30, I arrived at 6: 25. The waiter at the front desk made a comment (评论) about my "being there really early" in surprise. I explained that I hated eating alone in restaurants. He then took me to a lovely table near the window and asked me whether I would mind if he sat down with me for a while.

    I was glad! He sat and talked with me about his career goals (职业目标) and the difficulty of being at work on nights, weekends and holidays. He said he hadn't enough time to be with his family. After 15 minutes, he saw some customers at the front desk and excused himself. I noticed that before he went to the front desk, he stopped in the kitchen for a moment.

    Then another waiter came out of the kitchen and had a wonderful chat with me. Before I left that night, some other waiters, even the cook, came out of the kitchen and sat with me!

    When I asked for my bill about one hour later, all the people who had sat down with me came over in a big group to my table, and gave me a red rose. And I cried! What a beautiful experience!

    Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11^th, 1911. He is known as "the father of China's space program" and "The king of the rocket".

    When he was 24 years old, Qian went to America for further study. After graduation, he worked in America for a few years, where his working conditions were better. In the early 1950s, he heard New China had been founded(成立) and decided not to stay in America any longer. He succeeded in coming back to his motherland in 1955 though the American government tried to stop him.

    In 1956, Qian Xuesen suggested setting up a special organization, which later became the leading organization for China's rocket and air travel program. In June 1964, China successfully created its first medium rocket. Qian also played an important role in developing China's first man-made satellite(卫星). On April 24, 1970, "Dongfanghong-I was successfully sent into the air."

    In 1964, a young man wrote Qian Xuesen a letter and pointed out a mistake in his published article. Qian immediately answered the letter and encouraged the young man to write an article out the mistake.

    Zhu Yilin, who was said to be the last student of Qian Xuesen, once said, "I learned a lot of professional knowledge as well as the spirit and attitude that a scientist should have from Mr. Qian, especially his deep love for the motherland. Without that, they couldn't have helped to develop science and technology when New China was badly development. Without that, he would not have made the great contribution(贡献)to industry in the late 1950s and early 1960s when conditions in China were too hard

    Mr. Qian has been dead for ten years, but he will live in the memory of Chinese people forever.

    After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son's school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake (煎饼).

    He was shocked. He didn't know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" And tears began to fill his eyes. He started digging through the ruins (废墟).

    As he was digging, other helpless(无助的) parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, "It's too late! They are all dead! There's nothing you can do!" To them he replied with one line, "Are you going to help me now?" And then he kept on digging.

    No one helped, however. He went on along because he needed to know for himself, "Is my boy alive or is he dead?" He dug for eight hours. 12 hours. 36 hours. Then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son's words. He shouted his son's name, "ARMAND!" He heard back, "Dad?! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, 'No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you! 'You did it, Dad! "

    "What's going on there?  How is it?" the father asked.

    "There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We're frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When the building fell down, it made a triangle (三角形), and it saved us. "

    "Come out, Boy!"

    "No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me! "