A horse fair is an interesting place. There were young horses from the country, little Welsh ponies and many beautiful horses too. But there were also a lot of poor, thin horses, tired from hard work. I was very sad to see them.

    At the horse fair there was a man with a gentle voice and kind grey eyes. He offered 23 pounds for me, but they refused. Then a man with a very loud voice came. I was afraid he was going to buy me, but he walked off. Then the grey-eyed man came back again and said:

    "I'll give 24 for him."

    "Done," said the salesman. "He's a quality horse and if you want him for cab (出租马车) work, he's a bargain."

Half an hour later we set off for London, along country roads, until we came to that great city. There were streets to the right, and streets to the left. We went into one of the small streets, and then into a very narrow street, with small, old houses.

    My owner stopped at a house. The door opened, and a woman, a little girl and boy, came out.

    "Is he gentle, father?"

    "Yes, Dolly, as gentle as a kitten; you can pat him."

    Dolly, the little girl, patted my shoulder without fear. It felt so good! They led me into a comfortable, clean stable, and after a delicious meal I lay down to sleep, thinking "I'm going to very happy here".

    My new owner's name was Jerry. His wife was called Polly and they had two children, Harry and Dolly. The next morning they came to see me. I loved it when they patted me and spoke in gentle voices.

    "Let's call him 'Jack', after the old horse, shall we, Harry?" said Dolly.

    "Yes, let's," said Harry.

    The first week of my life as Jack, the London cab horse was very hard. The noise and the people and the traffic on the streets scared me. But Jerry was a very good driver, and that helped a lot Jerry soon found that I was ready to work hard and do my best, and he didn't whip (鞭打) me.

    He kept us very clean, and gave us as much food as we wanted. But the best thing was that we had Sundays off.

Mr Smith works at the Lost and Found Office in No. 1 Middle School. He works very 1 and he likes to help others. Every day when he2 a lost thing, he takes detailed notes about it. When students are in a3 , they often lose things. They4 things in the playground, in the dining hall or in the library. That's5 Mr Smith usually gets lots of things in a school year. Students often come to the Lost and Found Office to6 their things, such as books, crayons, erasers, wallets, watches7 many other things. If you lose your things, it's easy8 you to ask Mr Smith for help. But you must9 him what the lost thing is, its colour and the time you lost it. 

When the new school year10 , Mr Smith would like to remind(提醒）everyone like this : First of all,11 and have a look at the lost and found box. Are these things12 ? Or do you13 whose things they are? From now on, please be14 with your things. If you are busy and can't come here, please15 us at 8311 ****, We can also help you.

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One time in the middle of the night, an old lady in her 80s1 my taxi. She gave me an address, and then asked: "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't2 ," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice (临终关怀医院).

I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long."

I  3  shut off the meter (里程表).

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She  4  me the building where she had worked, the neighborhood where she and her husband had once lived, the place where she danced as

a girl. As the sun was rising, we got to the hospice.

"How much should I pay you?" she asked, reaching into her purse (钱包).

"5 ," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other6 ."

"You gave an old woman a little moment of7 ," she said. "Thank you."

I drove into the fine morning light. 8  me, a door shut. It was the sound of the9  of a life. I drove aimlessly (漫无目的地), lost in thought. For the rest of the day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had got a(n) 10  driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift (换班)? What if I had refused to take the run?

Fleming saw many soldiers die from infections (感染) in their wounds as he worked in a hospital during World War I. This made Fleming decide to find a way to help the body fight infections. 

In September 1928, Fleming left some glass dishes on a bench in his laboratory for two weeks. When he came back, he noticed something puzzling. Bacteria (细菌) were growing on all the glass dishes except one. On this dish mould (霉菌) had started to grow—the kind found on old bread. The mould seemed to be giving off something that stopped the bacteria from growing. Fleming called it "mould juice". He tried it on other bacteria, and it killed them, too. Fleming became wild with joy and named it penicillin. 

Unfortunately, Fleming's boss thought he was wasting his time and it was impossible to kill bacteria at that time. Fleming did a few more experiments with penicillin, and he also wrote about it so other scientists could learn about it. However, because no one seemed interested in his discovery, he forgot about penicillin and started to work on other things. 

In 1939, Ernest Chain, a scientist, and his boss, Howard Florey, were looking for medicines that could kill bacteria. They discovered Fleming's notes and decided to test penicillin. In 1940, they gave penicillin to some sick mice, who survived later. But those who didn't get it died. Florey declared: "It looks like a miracle!" By 1943, the final tests on humans were finished successfully and the world had its first antibiotic (抗生素) medicine.