Many years ago, an earthquake happened suddenly. A lot of buildings collapsed(倒塌)。 It killed over 100,000 people in a few minutes. Shortly after the earthquake, a father rushed to the school where his son studied only to find the building had fallen down. He remembered his promise to his son:“No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you!”The tearful father began to dig to look for his son. Some parents felt hopeless and tried to pull him off. But he asked,“Are you going to help me now?”And then he kept on digging. The fireman came.They tried to pull off and said,“Danger! Leave here!” But the father who loved his son deeply,asked,“Are you going to help me now?”The policeman came up and said,“It's over.Leave here!We'll do it.”Still he asked again and again,“Are you going to help me now?”He went on alone because he needed to know,“Is my boy alive or is he dead?” He dug for 8 hours ...12 hours... 24 hours …36 hours …then, in the 38^th hours, he pulled back a large stone And heard his son's voice. He cried,“Tom!”He heard back,“Dad? It's me, Dad! I told other kids you'd save me. I believe you would keep your promise.”"Get out, boy!”“No dad! Let the other kids out first. Because I know you'll get me out! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me!”

The Man of Many Secrets

    Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers(表演者·演艺人员) in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes－from prison cells(囚室), from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.

    Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had ability to move his toes as well as to move his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.

Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in a New York club. They called themselves the Houdini brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant, but for a long time they were not successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspaperman to watch. It was the publicity(名声) that came from this that started Harry Houdini's success.

    Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐) and toes trained to escape from ankle chains（脚镣）, but his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck－and a small skeleton key（万能钥匙）, which is a key that fits many locks passed quickly from her mouth to his.

    Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local jail of every town he visited. In the afternoon the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame, and a name remembered today.

    Children across the world are taking pictures of their school meals. They are sending these pictures over the Internet to a young girl in Scotland. Then she shares the pictures and stories with people around the world.

    The girl's name is Martha. She likes to write. So Martha decided to start her own blog. Every day, Martha writes on the Internet about the meals she eats at school. She also takes pictures of the food.

    Martha is very honest about the food. She does not just describe the food. She judges (评价) the taste of the food. She also judges how healthy the food is. Sometimes she likes the food, and sometimes she does not. Now, other people send pictures to Martha. Students around the world share their pictures of their school food!

    Martha also started her blog for another important reason. She began to raise money for the organization (组织) Mary's Meals. Mary's Meals works in the East African country of Malawi . It provides food for children in schools. Martha encourages her readers to send money to Mary's Meals to help build a kitchen.

    Martha hoped to raise about 10,000 dollars. But the total reached 100,000 dollars and still keeps on growing!

    Martha's blog has also helped to improve meals at her school. Martha and her school friends found their meals improved since she started writing her blog.

    No one knows what will happen to Martha's blog in future. But already this girl has helped to change the eating experience of many children just by sharing pictures of her school meals.

D

    Huw Thomas fell in love with Megan. But then an accident changed his life, and he had to move to Canada. Megan promised to write to him. But Huw never heard from her … until one day a letter arrived.

    He saw the letter came from where he and his father had lived in their early years. Who was writing to him? He turned the envelope over in his hands several times. Then he took out the letter and read:

Dear Huw,

    I don't know if this letter will reach you, and I don't really know why I'm writing to you after all these years, but …

    Huw turned to the end of the letter and saw:

Best wishes

Megan

    He couldn't believe it. He turned back to the first words of the letter and read:… after all these years, but I've just found your letters to me from Canada. Believe me, this was the first time I'd read them and they made me cry, even after 50 years. I found them in a box of my father's papers. They were never opened.

    Huw, I never knew that you'd written to me. I thought your new life in Canada had made you forget me. Now I realize that my father kept your letters. I can still remember asking him if there was any letter for me, and he always said▲, my girl. I told you he was no good. Finally, after about a year, I believed him.

    But why did he keep the letters? Do you think he wanted me to find them when it was too late? Anyway, he's dead now, so I can't ask him. All I can say is I'm sorry. Sorry for what my father did, sorry that you never heard from me and sorry for… everything.

    I hope that at least this letter reaches you. Of course, I'll understand if you don't want to write back to me, but if you do, I am still Megan Jenkins, and I still live at the same address.

Best wishes,

Megan

    Huw read the letter again. Everything with Megan came back to him. He had never forgotten her. He couldn't. Every day he looked at her face on the wall. He had a drawing of her. It had traveled everywhere with him. But to hear from her again …

    "Are you all right, Dad?" asked Mike, coming into the room.