Clark and Dale were staying in the same room in hospital. Clark was so _______ that he could not even move his body. He _______ all his time lying on his back. Dale could sit up in his bed for _______ hour each afternoon. His bed was next to the _______ only window.

Over time, Clark and Dale _______ good friends. Every afternoon, Dale would look out of the window, describing the scenery outside for his friend. He told Clark _______ the flowers in a park outside the window, the people walking by, the green trees beside the roads—anything interesting.

One morning, when a nurse came _______ the two men, she found that Dale had died in his sleep. Clark asked if he could move to the bed next to the window _______ he wanted to look out of the window himself. _______ nurse agreed. Slowly, he took his first look at the world outside. To his ________, he could see nothing but a wall of another building.

The nurse explained that Dale had been blind. He described beautiful scenes to help his friend feel better. He had never seen anything outside the window at all.

Nicanor Quinteros, a 12-year-old boy from Argentina, is just like any boy of his age. The only thing that makes him ________ is that he has his own school!

Nicanor came up with the idea of starting a ________ when he saw some of his classmates drop out of school because they didn’t have the money for the bus ride or the shoes to wear to school. Nicanor asked his grandma if he could ________ a school next to their house. She ________ agreed to his idea and together they began to carry it out. In the backyard of his house, Nicanor and his grandmother used canvases (帆布) and sticks to build the classrooms and fruit boxes to be as chairs.

Nicanor’s ________ did not end there. He travels 4 kilometers by bicycle every day from school to teach the children in his own school. Sometimes he even has classes at night for those who cannot ________ in the daytime.

Four years has passed since then, and with the help of neighbors and kind people, Nicanor has been able to build two more ________ and a small library. He even has his own headmaster’s office. This community school now has 36 ________. All of them love it and study very hard. The city leader also came to help when he ________ what Nicanor did. He said, “I am so ________ that we have a hero of our own!” And he is right. Nicanor has encouraged (鼓舞) many people, not just in Argentina, but around the world.

No one knows when the first kite was made. The first record of a kite was more than 2,000 years ago in China. Han Xin, the leader of an army, wanted to bring down（使垮台） a king. He decided to dig a tunnel（隧道） into the king’s palace. He flew a kite over the wall of the palace to get the length of its string（线）. In this way, he could determine how long the tunnel should be. His men in the tunnel took the kite string with them. When they reached the end of the string, they knew how to dig up.

Japanese have flown kites for hundreds of years. In the 1700s, they flew kites in autumn to give thanks for a good harvest（丰收）. They also flew them to send good wishes to couples who had their first son. Today Japanese often fly kites as part of a celebration, such as the beginning of a new year. And there are kite festivals each year in many parts of the country.

People have used kites for scientific purposes in the western world. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin tied a key to a kite and flew it in a storm to find out that lightening was a form of electricity（电）. In the 1890s, Lawrence Hargrave invented the box kite to test ideas about flight. From 1898 until 1933, the US government used box kites for weather reports. The Wright brothers also did tests with kites! The tests helped them make the first airplane flight in 1903.

In 1901, Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian scientist, discovered that there are four types of blood（血）. These four blood types are named A, B, AB and O. People have one of these four types. Blood type O is the most common around the world. Blood type A is the second most common, and type AB is the least common. If people with type A blood are given type B blood, or people with type B blood are given type A blood, they will probably die.

In 1927, a Japanese doctor, Furukawa Takeji, did a research and found that people with different blood types also have different personalities（性格）. He said that people with type A blood are usually calm and serious; people with type B blood are curious（好奇的）, cheerful, and outgoing; people with type O blood are generous（慷慨的） and honest; while those with type AB blood are often caring, creative and careful.

More recently, Dr. Peter D’ Adamo in the United States wrote a book that connects blood types with what people eat. For example, his book suggests people with type O blood should eat more meat and less bread and people with type A blood should eat more vegetables. His book, Eat Right for Your Type, has been popular with people who want to lose weight. Peter believes that if a person wants to lose weight easily, he had better eat food that matches his blood type. He thinks it will make the person healthier in other ways, too.

All through grade school, I got extra help with schoolwork. If I got a D, I was very happy. If I got a C-minus (C-), I had achieved greatness. A’s and B’s were a kingdom I could never enter.

Once my teacher, Miss Mills, had given me a list of ten spelling words. My mother and I went over the list until I knew those words. I felt great. I thought, “Wow! This time, I’m going to pass.” The next day, I went into the classroom and began to write down the words. The first word was carpet. I wrote that one down: c-a-r-p-e-t. I was feeling pretty confident. Then came neighbor-I wrote down the letter n. Then rhythm-I knew there was an r. Suburban-I wrote s-u-b. My confidence failed me. I had gone from 100 percent to maybe a D-minus. Where did the words go?

Some people talk about information sliding off your brain. That was my life. I was an underachiever (未能充分发挥学习潜力者).

Now I know I have dyslexia (诵读困难症). A person with dyslexia might see the as teh, and bird as brid. My brain learns differently. A learning disability can really change the way you feel about yourself. Now I know that even if I learn differently, I can still be filled with greatness.

Today when I visit schools as an actor, director, and co-author of children’s books, I tell children that everyone has something special inside. It’s our job to find out what that is and get it out, and give it to the world as a gift.

Say the word shark to someone on the beach and you are sure to get a reaction(反应). Sharks have been the most dangerous predator(捕猎者) of ocean. Sharks are fish.     51     They can be found in oceans all over the world, and they have also been found in some rivers and lakes.

One difference between most other fish and a shark is that most fish have bones(骨头) and a shark has cartilage(软骨).     52     Another difference is that the shark is only able to swim forward, while most fish can swim forwards and backwards. Fish also generally have slippery scales(滑溜的鱼鳞), while a shark has rough scales that feel like sandpaper.

    53     In fact, there are about 368 different types. The differences include color, habitat, behavior, and size. Sharks are also known for their very sharp teeth.     54     But they swallow large chunks of food. They have five rows of teeth. If a tooth is broken, a new one grows.

Sharks are carnivores, meaning that they eat meat.     55     In fact, chances of getting stung by a bee or getting hit by lightning are greater. Even so, experts say it is important to keep an eye out for sharks when swimming in the ocean.