A man in Pakistan is now working to help children get an education. When he was a child, he did not go to school because he was too poor.

    It is reported that Pakistan has 25 million children who do not go to school. That is the second ­highest number in the world. Only Nigeria has more. Many Pakistani children must work to support their families.

    Mohammad Ayub was once one of those children. He is now a firefighter. He also manages a small school. VOA recently visited the school in the capital Islamabad.

    Ayub started with just one student in 1982. He saw a boy cleaning cars for days. He asked him, "Why don't you go to school?" The boy answered that his parents were dead and he had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters.

    Ayub was also an orphan and he, too, had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters. He said, "When my father died, everyone who came to the funeral said they were sorry, but no one helped." He sold newspapers and did other work to earn enough money to pay school fees for his brothers and sisters.

    Ayub wanted to help the young boy who washed cars, but he did not have enough money to pay the boy's school fees.

    Today, Ayub teaches many children at his school in a public park. Some of the children attend other schools in the morning, but come to Ayub in the afternoon to get help with their homework.

    Ayub has helped a large number of poor children since he began teaching. Many of them come from very poor areas near the park.

    Ayub said," I used to argue with kids who worked ' Why are you washing someone's dishes or their clothes? Why don't you study? ' "

    One of the children he advised to attend classes was Farhat Abbas. Ayub found him working with his friends about 12 years ago. "He followed us back home. He told our parents he wanted to teach us and asked them to send us to his school, "Abbas said.

    Today, Abbas is taking classes at a college and is helping Ayub.

    Many children are out of school, and those who do attend classes often get a poor education. Information gathered by an organization shows half of all Pakistani children in the 5th grade do not understand basic mathematics and cannot read a story in their language.

    A group in Islamabad reports Pakistan spends less on education than any other country in South Asia.

The greatest source of inspiration for me has always been my father. Though he's been gone for 17 years, his 1 still resonate (产生共鸣). He taught me how to run my own race in life. But the most inspiring thing he taught me was to 2.

One incident is 3 in my mind. It happened when I was a teenager. My sister and I weren't very fond of a so-called friend of 4. Dad was a very generous man, and as he'd done with so many people, he'd given this fellow great help. But when he asked for a favor 5, the guy didn't deliver.

Dad's outlook (人生观) on most things was "Live and let live." In this case, however, his calmness 6 Terre and me, and we let him know it.

"How can you be nice to that man?" we said to him. "You've been so kind to him, and he's not being kind back. Why would you want to give him the time of day again?"

My father shrugged (耸肩) and said to us, " I do not bend my back with 7." I didn't get it at first, but over the years I came to understand the 8. Holding a grudge (怨恨) doesn't 9 the person you're angry with, but it changes you. It makes you heavier and gives you more weight to drag around.

After my father died in 1991, a (n) 10 came from a fellow I'd had a quarrel with years before to 11 his sympathy. He wrote: " I thought I'd tell you how sorry I am 12 the loss of your father. I know he 13 the world to you. I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts."

Much moved, I wrote back. I thanked him for his 14. And then, because he'd 15 our disagreement, I recalled Dad's inspiring words. "I am my father's daughter," I wrote. "And like him, I do not bend my back with yesterday."

More than Just a Scientist

What would life be like if you were a rocker, a soccer player, a teacher at Stanford University, and a Nobel Prize winner? Carolyn Bertozzi from the US lives such a cool life!

Bertozzi shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry(化学) with Barry Sharpless(US) and Morten Meldal(Denmark). She became that year's only woman winner in science and the eighth woman to receive the chemistry prize in history. 

Bertozzi won the prize for studying the sugar coats of cells(细胞). She has found a smart way to connect cells by connecting their sugar coats. The cells then have a green colour so that scientists can see clearly where they are and how they move. According to the University of California, Berkeley, this finding made lots of research possible and easier, such as developing better tests for infectious diseases(传染病) and new treatments for cancer(癌症治疗). 

Although she is successful now, Bertozzi said she was not very interested in chemistry until her second year at Harvard University. "The professors made the class very difficult on purpose, "she told Chemistry World magazine. "My classmates felt really hard and have words with them, but it matched my brain. "Apart from doing science studies, Bertozzi has lived a colourful life. She was a keyboarder(键盘手) in a rock band. "I even used to think about studying music, "she said. She also played soccer, and won an athletic scholarship(体育奖学金) from Harvard. 

As a woman scientist, Bertozzi tries to improve gender equality(性别平等). "In the late 1980s, maybe 10 percent of the students were girls, "she told news magazine Chemical & Engineering News. "There were maybe one or two women in a lab, so we tried to support each other by starting a monthly get-together for all the women students in the department. "And Bertozzi won a prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work to increase diversity(多样化) in science. 

I love my grandparents very much. Every weekend, I go to visit them after {#blank#}1{#/blank#} my homework. The house is small, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} it is very clean and tidy. I often help them sweep the floor and water the flowers. Grandpa always reads me funny {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. He makes me laugh a lot. Also, grandma {#blank#}4{#/blank#} cakes for me. We often sit in the garden and chat（聊天）together. Grandma always has something for me in {#blank#}5{#/blank#} bag, like a cookie（曲奇饼）or a small candy. She says, "This is for my sweet grandchild!"

I love my grandparents and we have so much fun. I can't wait to visit them again.