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　　A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle(/JC^C)between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet．He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened．It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of it．When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived．

　　He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered．As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water．Susie tripped(绊倒)in front of the teacher and dumped(倒)the bowl of water in the boy's lap．The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you．Lord!"

　　Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy．The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out．All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk．The sympathy was wonderful．But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred to someone else－Susie．She tried to help, but they told her to get out．

　　When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"

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　　A study published Monday found that people who sleep less tend to be fat, and experts said it’s time to find out if more sleep will fight fatness．

　　“We’ve put so much emphasis on diet and exercise that we've failed to recognize the value of good sleep,” said Fred Turek, a physician at Northwestern University．

　　Monday’s study from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk covered 1,000 people and found that total sleep time decreased as body mass index - a measure of weight based on height - increased．

　　Men slept an average of 27 minutes less than women and overweight and fat patients slept less than patients with normal weights, it said．In general the fatter subjects slept about 1.8 hours a week less than those with normal weights．

　　“Americans experience insufficient sleep and fat bodies．Clinicians are aware of the burden of fatness on patients,” the study said．

　　“Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary, as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index,” it added．

　　“We caution that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between restricted sleep and fatness(but)investigations indicating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to set up such a relationship．”

　　The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine along with an editorial by Turek and Northwestern colleague Joseph Bass commenting on it and related research．

　　In an interview, Turek said some studies have shown sleep causes declines in an appetite(胃口)suppressing protein hormone, and increases in another hormone that causes a longing for food．In addition neuropathies(神经疗法)in the brain governing sleep and fatness appear to overlap(重叠), he said．

　　Fatness has been rising dramatically in developed countries and reached epidemic(流行病)levels in the United States, it added, leading to a variety of health problems．

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　　Book 1 Elixir

　　written by Eric Walters

　　Twelve-year-old Roth becomes a friend of Dr．Banting and his assistant, Mr．Best, who are in search of a cure for diabetes(糖尿病)．She finds herself torn between her sympathy for the animals being experimented on and her friendship with Banting and Best．

　　Book 2 George Washington Carver

　　written by Elizabeth Macleod

　　Meet the “Peanut(花生)Specialist”, George Washington Carver, the inventor and professor who made over 325 products out of peanuts．Through his agricultural research, he also greatly improved the lives of countless black farmers in the southern United States．See also Macleod's Albert Einstein：A Life of Genius．

　　Book 3 The Inuit Thought of It：Amazing Arctic Innovations

　　written by Alootook Ipellie & David MacDonald

　　Explore more than 40 ideas necessary to Inuit survival．From ideas familiar to us today to inventive concepts that shaped their lives, celebrate the creativity of a remarkably intelligent people．Also see other books; The Chinese Thought of It by Tingxing Ye and A Native American Thought of It by Rocky Landon and David MacDonald．

　　Book 4 Made in Canada：101 Amazing Achievements

　　written by Bev Spencer

　　What things do we use daily that have a Canadian connection? Here are 101 common things that were invented in Canada or by a Canadian, including the Blackberry, alkaline(碱性)batteries and the Blue Box recycling program．

　　Book 5 Newtonand the Time Machine

　　written by Michael McGowan

　　Ten-year-old boy Newton has invented a time machine to see dinosaurs up close．But it disappears on a test run with his two huge friends, King Herbert and Queen Certrude, can he save them before time runs out?

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　　For years I wanted a flower garden．I’d spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．

　　But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．

　　Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”

　　Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about having a garden．I wasn't sure, though．I mean, gardens do cost money, and after all these years I was used to living on a pretty lean, no-frills budget．

　　Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen．Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by．I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on - and I couldn't believe what I saw．There was a money tree in my yard!

　　I went outside to look．It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached：“I still do something for you．Love, Marvin．”

　　Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me．And my other children bought me tools, ornaments, a trellis(棚架), a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books．

　　That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they're right there with me．

　　I live up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short．But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out of my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes - every time．

　　I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!

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　　“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton(骨骼)in the closet(衣橱)?” Jessica asked．“A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully．“Well, it's something that you would rather not have anyone else know about．For example, if in the past, someone in Dad's family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be 'a skeleton in his family's closet'．He really wouldn't want any neighbor to know about it．”

　　“Why pick on my family?” Jessica's father said with anger．“Your family history isn't so good, you know．Wasn't your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners．” “Gosh, sorry I asked．I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse．

　　After dinner, the house was very quiet．Jessica's parents were still quite angry with each other．Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read．When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica's closet．Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor．Jessica's mother sank in a faint(晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead．She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter．

　　“What happened? Where am I?” she asked．“You just destroyed the school's skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica．“I brought it home to help me with my health project．I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad．” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly．“They're both crazy,” she thought．

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We Americans are wasteful people, not used to saving．Early settlers, our forefathers set us an example of wasting everything, for they thought nature’s resources were so plentiful that none of them ever imagined that natural materials would be used up in time．Within a few years of the first Virginia settlement, for example, pioneers burned down their house when they were ready to move west．They burned down their house with only one aim to get the nails(钉子)for future use．No one ever gave a thought to the priceless hard woods that went up in smoke．As a people we destroy many valuable things that other people save．I noticed this when I was living in Britain．I received a letter from one England’s largest banks．It was enclosed in a used envelope that had been readdressed to me．Such a practice would be unthinkable in the United States．American banks, even the smallest, always use expensive stationery(信笺)with the names of all twenty-eight vice-presidents lists on side of the page．

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　　Today, no one thinks of Bill Gates as a failed entrepreneur or a college dropout yet．Both of these things are true of Gates, American richest man and the pioneering genius who leads the computer software industry．

　　Gates was born in Seattle in 1955．Young Gates’ grades weren’t always great．Although he did well in science and maths, he was something of an underachiever．But in the eighth grade he found his passion．In the 1960’s, the mothers’ club at Gates’ school bought a computer for the students．

　　Gates discovered it and soon became computer crazy．He spent every evening and weekend trying to master computer technology．His computer usage fees were so high that he hide from his parents the amount he spent．It wasn’t long, though until his programming passion turned toward real goals．He and his friend Paul Allen started a company called Traf-0-Data．Their goal was to use new computer technology to count passing cars．The company went broke．After all he was only in the eighth grade．And it didn’t discourage his interest in technology．In fact, it was because of his passion for programming that he later dropped out of Harvard．He spent two dissatisfying years at the university before he left to form another company with Allen．Gates and Allen called their software company Microsoft．In the 1970s it was only a small operation running out of loaned office in Arizona．Gates would work late into the night and sometimes sleep under his desk．Today, Microsoft is the software industry giant．As chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, Gates operates as the prince of programmers．

　　Despite his wealth and recent marriage, Gates hasn’t slowed down．He is still a workaholic, putting in long hours at the office．

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　　What could be simpler than shaking fruit from a tree? Well, the job is a lot more difficult than you might think．There is a right way and a wrong way to shake a fruit tree．And a person who is a good apple tree shaker may not be a good cherry tree shaker．Different fruits take different shakes．

　　As a rule, a slow hard shake is best．This makes the fruit fall much faster than a light; quick jiggle．Most fruits have a set number of shakes per minute that will do the best job of getting them out of the tree and onto the ground．To shake down plums, try shaking the tree four hundred times per minute, moving the tree two inches at each shake．Experts say you'll get three times more fruit from the tree than you will if you shake eleven hundred times per minute at one inch per shake．Cherries, because they are smaller, need more shaking．A good rate of shaking seems to be about twelve hundred shakes per minute．Apples, like plums, need four hundred shakes．

　　Of course, some people may choose to take no notice of all these expert directions for shaking fruit．Keeping track of all the numbers can be enough to drive some people up a tree．

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　　I was on a train the other day, in an empty compartment, and I wanted to read the last part of a detective story．Then the door opened and a mother with two small children asked me, “may we sit here, Madam?” at first I wanted to say, “well, actually, I’m reading an exciting book and I’d like to finish it．Could you find another compartment?”

　　But of course I said, “yes, certainly,” I still had not finished that book．Unfortunately, I found it very difficult to say “No” to those magic words “May I…” or “would you mind if…”

　　Of course people usually ask permission to do quite harmless things, like using the telephone, turning the light on, opening the window and things like that．But then there are some funny requests．Some people even ask if they may wash their hands or take their coats off．On the other hand, very few smokers will bother to ask permission to smoke!

　　But what about those difficult requests like, “Do you mind if I come round for a cup of coffee?” or “Is it all right if I bring the children to the party? They are very good really．” The trouble is, I just don’t have the nerve to refuse．Well, do you?

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　　Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched?You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

　　Parapsychologists(灵学家)say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them．To research whether such a “sixth sense” really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist(心理学家)at the University of Kentucky, did two experiments．

　　In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes．The subjects(受试者)were eating, drinking, reading, studying, watching TV, or working at a computer．Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods．Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost　all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them．

　　For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind in a laboratory setting．The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren't．Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren't．

　　Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they're being stared at．If people doubt the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker, “I suggest they repeat the experiments and see for themselves．”