Everybody hates rats. But rats may soon be man's new best friends.

    What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue (援救) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small space. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

    How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

    Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. "Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that," says a scientist. Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity.

    The "rat project" is not finished, but a scientist says, "It would be fantastic. A rat could get into space we couldn't get to and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).

    Bill andCathy wanted to go on a holiday. They chose a place called Maldives (马尔代夫). And they decided to1therefor two weeks in spring, because they heard that the weather there would beperfect at that time. They worked very hard for several2.Finally, they made enough money for their dream3.But their trip was more like a nightmare (噩梦)!

    Theproblem4when the flight was put off because ofbad weather. They couldn't leave5night. They finally goton the plane twelve hours later! But they6fly to Maldives becausethere was a storm. They had to fly to the capital city7.There they stayed in a small hotel8the airport.

    The hotelwas next to the sea, but the sea was9dirty that they couldn'tswim in it. And the hotel swimming pool was full of leaves! The food was awful10.For breakfast there was11bread and milk! The worst part was whenthe storm came, they felt really12. Because of the bad weather,they had to stay for13night in the small hotel. And they had14todo. It was so boring. Finally, they15in Maldives three dayslater. And someone told them the weather there had been wonderful all the time!

An artist(画家) went to a beautiful part of the country for a holiday and stayed with a farmer. Every day he went out with his paints(颜料) and brushes (画笔) and painted till evening. When it got dark, he went back to the farm and had a good dinner before he went to bed.

At the end of his holiday, he wanted to pay the farmer, but the farmer said, "No, I don't want money. But give me one of your paintings(画作). What's money? In a week it will run out, but your painting will still be here."

The artist was very happy and thanked the farmer for saying such kind words about his paintings. The farmer smiled and answered,"It's not that. I have

a son in London. He wants to become an artist. When he comes home next month,I'll show him your painting, and he will not want to be an artist any more, I think."

Give Directions in Different Places

If you ask people of different countries "Could you tell me the way to the post office?", you will get different answers.

In Japan, people use landmarks(路标) instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, "Go straight down to the corner. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The post office is across from the bus stop.

In Kansas, America, there are no towns or buildings within miles. So instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. For example, people will say,"Go north two miles. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} "

People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions. They will often say, "Follow me." {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Sometimes if a person doesn't know the answer to your question, he or she,like a New Yorker,might say,"Sorry,I have no idea."But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers "I don't know." {#blank#}4{#/blank#}They usually give an answer, but often a wrong one. A visitor can often get lost in Yucatan!

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} You might not understand a person's words, but maybe you can understand his or her body language. He or she will usually point to the right direction, Go on in that direction and you may find the post office!

Brian looked at the ugly gray walls of his bedroom. Soon the hated walls would be covered, but not with paint as he had first planned. Brian had been disappointed to learn that the house owner would not allow painting. For weeks he was unable to understand: without using paint, how could he cover the walls? But, as Grandmother always said, "Necessity is the mother of invention." So Brian did some thinking, and with a little help from his mother, he came up with a great plan.

This morning, Mom had needed to stop at the mall to buy a book and Brian went along. There, Brian noticed a large poster of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts School on the wall. Next to it was a poster showing the cover of No Arm in Left Field, a baseball novel that Brian had read several times. "This is it," Brian thought excitedly. "I'll cover the walls with posters!"

When he left the mall, Brian had an armful of posters and a box of tacks (大头钉). At home, he headed straight to his room. First he took out the posters and spread them out on his bed, his desk, and most of the floor. Next he found out the size of each poster, and then the walls. He wanted to cover as much of those ugly walls as possible! It took all afternoon to work out the best preparation. He drew it on paper, making changes until it was just right. When Dad came home at dinnertime, Brian was ready to tack up the posters.

"Come see my room, Dad," called Brian. "It's going to be great!" But when Dad came into the bedroom, he looked worried. "The house owner said we could not put any holes in the walls. You can't use tacks, Brian. I am sorry."

Brian's joy slowly disappeared. He would stay with the boring gray walls forever. Maybe there was no way to solve this problem after all. How could you hang posters without using tacks? After all, posters would not stick to the walls by themselves!

"What would stick to the walls?" Brian wondered. Then he smiled. Tape, that's what! Brian took a piece of tape and made it into a circle. He made sure the sticky part of the tape was on the outside. This would work, for sure!

A man was1 because he tried hard but always failed. He went to the 2 and met a wise hermit(隐士). The man asked, "Why should I keep trying?"

"Look," the hermit said, pointing towards3 plants. "Do you see that fern(蕨) and bamboo there?"

"Yes," the man nodded.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. Within a short period of time the fern 4 grew from the earth," the hermit continued. "But even though the bamboo seed was cared for years, there was no sign of 5 . But I did not give up on the bamboo seed and continued to water and take care of it. By the fifth year,a very small sprout(芽) came out from the earth. And within six months, the tree grew 6 tall. It was as tall as a seven-storey building."

"Did the bamboo stay still for four years and then grow a lot in the fifth?" asked the hermit. The man didn' t know what to say.

"It's simple," said the hermit. "It was making 7 roots underground. These roots helped it grow big in the fifth year and keep growing."

"Did you know that all the times you had been struggling(挣扎), you were growing strong 8 ?" said the hermit.

 The man learned his9 that day. He understood that persistence and hard work can10 , even if it takes time. The fern and the bamboo stood right in front of him as he walked towards his life to continue to work on his dreams.