Anthony was born in a beautiful town. The local environment was particularly good and the people were caring and attached importance to hygiene (卫生). In the blink of an eye, Anthony was in high school. For more than a decade, he developed the habit as the other people in the town.

Then he went on to university. He got along with his classmates because he had a kind heart and was always ready to help others. He even set up an organization aimed at guiding people to pay attention to the hygiene in the campus. He received an award from the school for this.

After graduating from university, Anthony came to New York to attend an interview for a job. He wanted to work for a software design company. But it would be difficult for him because the company was very famous and there were many people going for the interview. But Anthony did not feel discouraged and wanted to give it a try. He prepared a lot in advance, including the history, the culture and the current situation of the company.

The day of the interview came quickly. As he had expected, there were many interviewees. He was told that there were only 10 positions available, but he still felt confident. The interviewees were all waiting on the ground floor and the office where the interview took place was located on the third floor. The interviewees went to the interview in turn. One by one, they went upstairs but came down quickly. Anthony thought to himself that the interviews were too fast and felt worried.

Finally it was Anthony’s turn. He stood up and headed upstairs. At the corner of the second floor stairs were an empty bucket and two mops (拖把). One of them was dry and the other one was wet. The wet one was on the floor, slowly dripping (滴落) down with dirty water.

As Hurricane Lan bore down on Florida, many residents who stayed put found themselves unable to leave even if they tried. For hours they were forced to fight heavy winds and attempt to escape flooding inside long-loved homes that had become frightening, deadly traps. Within days, around 100 deaths in the state would be attributed to the hurricane, many of them were older residents who drowned.

When the water slipped in under the door of their home, it was just a glimmer on the floor, a sign that it was time to go. It was Wednesday, Sept.28, around noon, and Bishop woke up her two brothers, who had been resting after lunch. She pulled the wheelchair up to the oldest, Russell, 67. Her other brother, Todd, 63, could manage with a walker.

Both men had been born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), and their mental development was like that of a young child. About 10 years ago, they started showing signs of Parkinson’s disease. But they found joy in their surroundings. Todd liked collecting cans at the beach. Russell loved riding the bus and going to parks. Bishop, 61, was their lifeline, their little sister who had long felt an obligation to keep them safe.

“We’ve got to get going!” she shouted to them. She went to open the front door. It would not move. The weight of the water on the other side had made it shut. She rushed to try the door to the garage. It, too, was stuck. That’s when the house began to flood. It went from ankle-deep to knee-deep in less than five minutes. Bishop knew that there was no way out.

Now Bishop and her brothers were trapped. At 12:34 p.m., she called 911 but couldn’t get through. There was no one she could get in touch with. To try her fortune, she texted a neighbor, Walters, who was always there when neighbors were in need, “Water’s coming in.” Around her, she could hear the dining room hutch (餐具柜) tipping and crashing, the china breaking, the refrigerator toppling over.

The only way to go was up, so Bishop guided her two bothers to the stairs.

Bishop sank into despair, but she noticed it seemed water stopped coming in.

Jean’s dream was to be a great chef, so when she was 20, she travelled to France, which has the most famous cuisine in the world, to learn to cook. After twelve years, she was among the best.

Her father, Bob, was getting old, and she wanted to be near him. Jean accepted an offer from one of Washington’s top restaurants. The manager offered her a handsome salary, and 30% ownership of the restaurant. The next day, Jean went to sign the contract. As she got out of the car, she caught sight of a green sunshade. Instead of going to meet the manager, she crossed the street towards the old restaurant, Fargonetti’s. She pushed open the door and the memories came flooding back.

Jean’s mum died when she was just 11, and her father lost his job and was forced to freelance (从事自由职业). Money was very short. When Jean turned thirteen, Bob had made a reservation at Fargonetti’s, the capital’s best restaurant.

“I’m not hungry, baby girl. I had a huge breakfast,” Bob said. “This is all for you!” “Oh,” Jean cried. “Daddy was so silly! He’s been saving to come here for lunch for MONTHS and now he ruined his appetite with breakfast!” The waiter, Carl Bader, immediately realised what was going on and went to Mr Fargonetti, the restaurant owner, and told him about Jean and Bob.

An hour later, surprisingly, the waiter brought wonderful dishes and set them before the father and daughter. “Lunch is on the house with Mr Fargoneti’s compliments (致意),” Carl said. For Bob and Jean, it was a free but magical meal. They were on cloud nine when they walked out. “Jean,“ said Bob happily. “I feel our luck has changed!” And it did! The next day, one of Bob’s old friends called and offered him a job at a new magazine, and Jean believed Fargonetti’s had made it all happen. That was when she decided to become a chef!

Twenty years later, the old restaurant looked run-down and sad, but Jean recognised the waiter immediately. “Carl?” she asked delightedly.

The man looked surprised.

Jean was staring at Carl and a brilliant idea was taking shape in her mind.

I’m smaller than everyone else my age. When I walk in the halls at school, I have to squeeze in between the bigger kids to get by. At the playground, sometimes even little kids try to boss me around. Mia, my best friend, is so tall that when she walks, I have to jog to keep up with her.

I used to try to make myself taller whenever I could. My posture was perfect, straight as an arrow. I hung from the tree in our backyard to stretch out my arms and legs. I even ate all my vegetables. Every day I measured myself, but I was the same height every time. Frustrating!

“Don’t worry,” Mom always said. “Being small has its advantages.” “Really? I could never notice any.”

One day, Mrs. Alvarez announced to the class that we’d be putting on a spring play. I practiced all the lines. But at the audition (试演), when I walked up to the stage, Mrs. Alvarez cried, “You’ll be perfect as the elf (小精灵)! You’re just the right size for the costume.” I even never got a chance to deliver the practiced lines. Back home I grumbled (咕哝) to mum that I was made an elf. But she bet I would be the best elf. To please her, I went to rehearsals (排练), though I only had two lines.

Mia got the lead role-a girl wandering through a magical fairy forest in search of her lost dog. In the last scene, she finds a box under a giant mushroom, and when she opens it, her dog jumps out. Mrs. Alvarez’s dog, Prince, played the dog role. She brought him to all the rehearsals, and when he wasn’t onstage, we got to play with him, but he seemed to like me best.

The night of the show, my first line came early, “Let’s ask the Fairy Queen!” Since my only other line was toward the end, I waited offstage, playing with Prince.

Finally, the grand end came, and Prince was brought onstage inside the box.

“How can we get Prince out from beneath the stage?” Mrs. Alvarez asked.

Larry had butterflies in his stomach. Today was the day for him to meet his girlfriend Kate’s parents. He was planning to leave them a good impression, so he was in his finest suit. On the way, he secretly recited a few jokes he picked up online the previous night. His weird behavior caught Kate’s attention.

“What are you doing, honey?” she asked. Blushing, Larry told her what he was doing. She, on the other hand, actually found his eagerness to please her family quite cute. “Well, let’s hear your jokes.” she said teasingly.

They were so immersed in their chatter and laughter that before they knew it, they had arrived at the house of Kate’s parents, who gave them a warm welcome. As an orphan, that night, Larry felt the love and warmth he had always longed for since childhood.

The next day, they drove downtown to pick their engagement ring. Everything was working out just perfectly. However, on their way home, a truck driven by a drunk driver smashed into their car, sending it flying off the roadside down a steep hill before it got stuck between several trees.

Larry struggled out of his seat to save the then unconscious Kate. As he made every effort to wake her up, the car began to slip down again. With only seconds to act, he hastily removed her seat belt and pushed her out of the car before it fell downhill again with him trapped inside.

A rescue team finally arrived and drove them to a nearby hospital. Under the doctors’ treatment, Kate woke up the next day. She was only slightly injured, but Larry remained unconscious due to severe damage done to his brain caused by the heavy impact.

10 . A huge crowd has gathered to watch China’s new scientific research ship enter the water for the first time. This ship, equipped with on-board labs and the latest scientific kit, will eventually explore the world’s oceans. But it is also going to help China plunge beneath the waves: it will serve as a launch-pad for submarines that can dive to the deepest parts of the ocean. “Humans know much less about the deep oceans than we know about the surface of the Moon and Mars. That’s why I want to develop the facility for ocean scientists to reach the deep seas,” says Prof. Cui Weicheng.

He is the dean of deep sea science at Shanghai Ocean University but he has also set up a private company called Rainbow Fish, which built the new research ship and is busy developing submersibles. One of its unmanned subs reached a depth of 4,000m (13,000ft) in its most recent trial. But Rainbow Fish’s ultimate goal is manned exploration and it plans to take humans to the very bottom of the ocean the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific, at a depth of nearly 11,000m (36,000ft). He shows me around a life-size model of the submarine and explains that there is room inside for a crew of three, who will be protected by a thick metal sphere.”At the moment, we are in the design stage, so we are testing several extremely high-strength materials for it.” It will have to bear immense pressures from the crushing weight of water above. If there are any weaknesses, the submarine will implode. The deepest ocean is a place few people have ever experienced first-hand. The first dive to the Mariana Trench was carried out in 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Picard. Their vessel, the Bathyscaphe Trieste, creaked and groaned as it made the descent, taking nearly five hours.

The only other manned expedition was carried out by Hollywood director James Cameron, who took a solo plunge in a bright green submarine in 2012. Rainbow Fish wants its sub to be next. The team insists its venture isn’t about politics and that it is looking to collaborate with American, Russian and European scientists. It is, though, a commercial operation. The company plans to charge people to use its research ship and submarines, and is targeting three groups, says managing director Dr. Wu Xin. “The first is definitely the scientists who are interested in studying deep-sea science and technology. The second group is offshore companies and oil companies. The last one is tourists and adventurers [who] want to go down themselves to have a look at what’s going on there,” he says. This kind of entrepreneurial approach may be a new model for science in China. Deep-sea research is a difficult, high-risk activity — and much of the ocean remains unexplored. But Cui, who hopes to be the first Chinese person to reach the Mariana Trench, believes that China could be the nation to truly open up this final frontier.