He was an old manwho fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

      The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

      “Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We've made some money.”

        The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

      “No,” the old man said. “You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

      “But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

      “I remember,” the old man said.

     “It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

     “I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

       "He hasn't mush faith(信心)"                       

     “No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven't we?”

     “Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?”

    “Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”

    Tim Berners-Lee is not the most famous inventor in the world．However，his invention has changed our lives．

    He was born in London，England in 1955．When he was a small boy，Tim was interested in playing with electrical things．He studied science at Oxford University．He made his first computer from an old television at the age of 21．

    Tim started working on early computers．At that time，they were much bigger than now．He worked in England then Switzerland．Tim was really interested in two things，computers and how the brain works．How could the brain connect so many facts so quickly？He had to work with people all over the world．They shared information about computers．It was hard to manage all the information．He answered the same questions again and again．took a lot of time．It was even difficult for computers in the same office in Switzerland to share information．Tim also forgot things easily．Could a computer work like a brain？Could it"talk"to other computers？

    There was an Internet already but it was difficult to use．In 1989，Tim Berners﹣Lee invented the World Wide Web（WWW） all by himself．This had a special language that helped computers talk to each other on the Internet．When people wanted to share information with others，they used the World Wide Web．The Internet grew quickly after that．

    Tim Berners﹣Lee doesn't think he did anything special．He says that all of the ideas about the Internet were already there．All he did was to put them together．He says that many other people worked together to make the Internet what it is today．

    Most inventors want to become rich．But Tim gave away the World Wide Web for nothing．He now works in America．He helps people share technology and wants the Internet to be free for everyone to use．Maybe he is the most important but least famous inventor in the world today!

    I graduated from a college recently and moved to Washington by myself.  While I was in college, it was really easy to meet new people. But “out in the real world”, I was finding it really hard. I live in a big city, and it seems like everyone around me is busy or already has all the friends they want. I was feeling so discouraged (沮丧的) and I didn't know what to do, so I called my sister for some advice.

    My sister is five years older than I am, so she's been though all this already. She's been helping me with my problems all my life. When I explained my problem, she understood completely. She said, “Why don't you try meeting people online?”

  “Online? Are you kidding? ” I asked, “A friend of mine chatted with a guy online, and when she finally met him face to face, he was nothing like what he said.”

    My sister laughed, “You don't have to look for dates online,” she said, “But you can find other people like you—people who have just moved to town and want make some new friends. When I first moved to New York after college, I found a book club and a football team online. I met a lot of people that way. ”

    “But you don't even like football!” I said. 

    “I know,” she replied, “But that didn't matter. I still had a lot of fun. You played volleyball in college. Why don't you look for a volleyball team to join?  Or an art class? ”

    “Yeah! I saw a website about volunteering the other day,” I said, “I could volunteer for an organization here in Washington. I bet I could meet a lot of really nice people that way. ”

    “Good idea!” my sister answered excitedly. “Hey, you might even meet the perfect guy.”

    “OK, now you're starting to sound like Mom,” I said. “Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm going online right now. I'll let you know what happens. Will you be home tonight?”

    “No, but I'll be here all day tomorrow, so give me a call,” my sister replied. “Good luck!”