31、

Stephen Hawking was born in 1942．He's a world famous scientist and expert on space and time．

Stephen is trying to find the answers to some very big questions, such as：How did the universe begin? How will it end?

Stephen studied math and science when he was a student at university．Then，at the age of twenty, he became very ill. He was so young，but the doctors said to his family, “He has only two more years to live．"The doctors were wrong--he didn't die．He can't walk now but he uses a wheelchair．He talks with the help of a computer．After Oxford，Stephen went to Cambridge University．Three years later, in 1965，he became a doctor of philosophy（哲學(xué)）．

    Because of his health problems，it was difficult for him to draw diagrams or to write, so he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking．he became one of the most famous scientists in the world．In 1981，he met the Pope（教皇）in Rome．They talked about his ideas．Then in l988，he wrote his first important book．A Brief History of Time《時間簡史》．It sold more than 5.5 million copies（冊）in 333 different languages．

1．What did Stephen Hawking study at Oxford University?

2．In which year did he become very ill?

3．How old was Stephen Hawking when he wrote A Brief History of Time?

4．What did the doctors think of his disease?

5．What kind of person do you think Stephen Hawking is?

30、I knocked into a man as he passed by．“Oh，excuse me，please．”I said．He replied，“Please excuse me．too．I didn’t notice where I was going．”

Later that day，while I was cooking，my son stood behind me quietly．When I turned around，I nearly knocked him down．“Move out of the way．”I shouted．He walked away with his little heart broken，

That night while I was lying in bed．a(chǎn) voice came to me，“When saying to that man，you used good manners．But to the child you love，you seemed to act in a bad way．Look at the kitchen floor，and you’ll find some flowers there by the door．Those are the flowers your son brought for you．He picked them himself．He stood quietly to give you a surprise，and you never saw the tears（眼淚）in his eyes．”   

By this time，tears began to run down my face．I took the flowers and went to his bed．I asked him，“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”

He smiled．“I found them by the tree．I picked them because they’re pretty like you．I know you’d like them．”

“Son．I’m sorry for the way I acted today．I shouldn’t have shouted at you that way．”

“Oh，Morn。that’s OK．I love you anyway．”

“Son，I love you too．And I do like the flowers．”

If we die tomorrow．the family we leave behind will feel sad for the rest of their life．Why don’t we spend more time with your family．a(chǎn)nd why aren’t we nice to them?

1．Why did the boy stand quietly behind his mother?

2．Did the writer knock her son down?

3．How did the little boy feel when his mother shouted at him?

4．What did the writer do when she knew the truth?