C

    Rajib Roy comes from a poor family in India. He likes playing football, and he dreams of being a football star one day.

    “I often use the money for food to buy football shoes and clothes. I often feel hungry and it is a little difficult, but I don't care,” he said.

    Now he has a chance to train（训练）with Manchester United (曼联) in England. This makes him come closer(接近的) to his dream. With 11 other talented young players from India, Rajib is going to have a 15-day training.

    Rajib wants to be a great football player. So he can help his younger brother learn in a better school. This is also one of his dreams.

    Life is full of surprises and you never know how things will turn out.

    Sir John Gurdon is a good example of this. As a boy, he was told he was hopeless at science and was at bottom of his class. Now, aged 79，the very same Gurdon shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Japanese stem cell (干细胞) researcher Shinya Yamanaka.

    Like so many scientists, Gurdon shows us where the power of curiosity and perseverance(坚持) can lead.

    When he was 15 in 1948，Gurdon ranked last out of the 250 boys at his high school in biology and every other science subject. Gurdon's high school science teacher even said that his dream of becoming a scientist was "quite ridiculous".

In spite of his teacher's criticisms(批评), Gurdon followed his curiosity and kept working hard. He went to the lab early and left later than anyone else. He experienced thousands of failures.

     "My own belief is that we will, in the end，understand everything about how cells actually work，"Gurdon said.

    In 1962, Gurdon took a cell from an adult frog and moved its genetic (基因的) information into an egg cell. The egg cell then grew into a clone of the adult frog. This technique later helped to create the sheep Dolly in 1996，the first cloned mammal(哺乳动物) in the world.In 2006，Gurdon's work was developed by Yamanaka to show that a sample(样本) of a person's skin can be used to create stem cells. Using this technique, doctors can repair a patient's heart after a heart attack."Luck favors the prepared mind," Gurdon told the Nobel Prize Organization. "Ninety percent of the time things don't work, but when they do, you have to seize(抓住) the chance.

TO DO: Let go of the list

Dear Disappointed,

    I know how you feel! For spring break, my family visited my cousins Sam and Kate. It was a long drive, so I had lots of time to make plans for the world's best vacation.

   "You have been writing for a while!" said my dad." Are you working on the next great American novel?" "Maybe tomorrow!" I joked. "Now, I'm making a list of things to do with Sam this week." Because Sam is my age. We usually hang out when we all get together, while Tex and Indi play with Kate.

    When we finally arrived, I went to find Sam." How about checking out the lake?" I said. "Nah, "said Sam." I have something more fun for us to do." "Awesome" I said, prepared to start checking off activities on my list. Sam turned on his computer." Which bat do you want to be?" Which bat?" I repeated." I got the best new computer game called Bat Adventure." Sam explained," Bats are the coolest creatures, you can learn all interesting facts about bats."

   "Um, this looks fun" I said, "but it's not exactly on my to-do list." "All the things I want to do this week." I explained, "are all outside." "Oh, that's cool." Sam said." You do your thing. And I'll just restart the game in one player mode."

    I wandered out of the room. And Kate called. "Zona, are you coming to play soccer with us?" "Sure, I guess for a minute," I said. Kicking the ball gently in Kate's direction. Kate gave the ball a huge kick. Pow! Tex ran after it.

   "Shhh," whispered Tex, pointing at a hole. We saw two little fuzzy bats! They had mousy ears and their wings were spread." Goodness!" I laughed." Let's show Sam. He knows all about bats." Sure enough. Sam was really excited about our discovery. Later that day. We all looked up bat facts on Sam's computer.

    I managed to do only a couple of things on my list that week. But I had some other great experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. So dear Disappointed, even though it's helpful to have lists, it's also good to stay open-minded. Life almost never goes exactly the way you plan. So if you are open to the possibilities, something even better can pop up out of nowhere and totally make your day.

Arizona

    Mr. Brown has got a dog. Its name is Ben. And the dog is very good to Mr. Brown.

    One hot day, Mr. Brown returned home from work and said to himself, "I want to know where the water jar (罐子) is." Then he found the water jar with clean water. Mr. Brown wanted to drink some water. But the dog barked (吠叫).

    "Oh, Ben! Please be quiet! I will give you some water," said Mr. Brown. But the dog didn't stop barking and even jumped up to him. "What? Let me drink some water first. Then I will give you something to eat," said Mr. Brown. But the dog still didn't stop barking. And the dog still jumped up and even broke the jar at last. Mr. Brown got very angry (生气的). But soon, he found a snake (蛇) in the pieces of the jar. He knew about the snake. It was poisonous. It could be very dangerous for him if he drank the water. Mr. Brown thanked the dog a lot.

    "Three apples have changed the world. One is for Eve, one is for Newton. The third is in the hands of Steve Jobs." said someone.

    Steve Jobs was the former CEO of the Apple computer company in his parents' garage(车库) on April Fool's Day, 1976. Through many years' hard work, Jobs and his Apple products were a great success. People believe he has made the world a better place. Many young people also think of Apple products as a fashion icon.

    Because of his great achievements in this area, he was honored with a number of awards, including the National Medal of Technology in 1985, the Times cover character (封面人物) and the Most Successful Manager in 1997.

    Jobs' road to success wasn't an easy one. He experienced several ups and downs, but he was still standing. Just as Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea said, "A man can be destroyed, but not be defeated(打败)." So he was considered as an American hero.

    What did Jobs' workers and family members think of him?

    On one hand, some workers described him as a strange, bad-tempered(坏脾气的) boss. They said he was impatient with those who disagreed with him or didn't understand his ideas. On the other hand, his family members thought of him as a home-loving dad with each of his four children. He worried about all the things of them, such as their boyfriends, travel, safety and even skirt length. Though he was quite busy, he still attended his daughter's graduation party.