Henry is carried out to sea by a strong wind but  (spot) by a ship, on which he earns his passage by working without pay. As a result, he is brought to London. Feeling hungry, he  (wander) alone on the streets, hoping for  job.

    Then unexpectedly he is  (invite) to a large and beautiful house by two rich brothers, Roderick and Oliver. They give a(n) envelope  a bank note in it to him.

    They have made a(secretly) bet on whether a man can  (survival) a month in the city with a million-pound bank note. Henry is the person they want.

    He feels surprised at first and doesn't want (accept) it, for he just wants an honest job from them, not (they) charity. The two brothers persuade him to take it at last, however. Though feeling very (surprise) about the matter, Henry promises them not to open the letter until one and a half hours later.

    Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humor. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.

    One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he'd better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, ＂It doesn't matter. The mosquitoes are not relatives of mine. I don't think they will come to visit me.＂

    After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. ＂I'm very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.＂ One of them said to him.

    Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, ＂The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn't come into the wrong room.＂ What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.

    But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.

    Tips to Increase Your Productivity

    Want to get more done in your day? Of course you do. The good news is that everyone can increase the amount of tasks they accomplish in a day. Here are some tips to help you have a more productive day.

    Make a plan for your day. Make sure you know how you want your day to go in advance, even before you start.  To work best, create the next day's plan the night before so that every morning you spend time performing, not planning.

    Break large tasks down into bits accomplished easily. Do you have a large project that's just so big that you keep putting it off? Or maybe you're just unsure of where to begin, so you put it off. Therefore, you will feel a sense of accomplishment as you check the items of your list.

    Always set your priorities (优先事项). Figure out what must be done, do that first and rank the rest of your work according to importance. If you don't get to the items at the end of your list, it won't be a big problem, and you can do them another time.

     If you are the most productive in the morning, that's when you should hit it hard and do as much as you can. If you work better in the afternoon, take care of some things like emails in the morning and then accomplish the important projects in the afternoon. Keep on top of your work habits, and you'll be more productive.

A. Reward yourself if you are productive.

B. This can provide you a roadmap for the day.

C. Be aware of when you are the most productive.

D. It's tough to meet depressed people who are productive.

E. It's important to accomplish the most important tasks first.

F. A good way is to break the project down into more manageable ones.

G. To stay competitive in any industry, you need to improve your productivity.

    If you are given only 1 yuan, could you live in a city for one day? It seems this may be a little difficult. But students from Xi'an did it.

    On April 10, more than 60 students from the Middle School Attached to Northwestern Polytechnic University took part in the One Yuan Metropolis Survival. The charitable organization for teenagers called Imperceptible Education held this activity. Students not only have to live, but they also have to deal with a lot of hard tasks. It has happened in eight cities and is going to four others, including Beijing, in June.

    To make money, many students looked for part-time jobs and saw how hard life was. Zhang Queue, 14, asked more than 10 restaurants for a job and finally got one chance. “We were sad when they said no. But gradually (逐渐地), we got used to it,” he said. After being a waiter for an hour, he got 25 yuan.

    Some made use of their talents by singing and dancing in parks or shopping malls. Many people who walked by took notice and helped them. Zhao Jincheng, 14, drew pictures and made paper crafts(手工). “This showed it's important to learn a special skill,” he said.

    Living was hard, but finishing the tasks wasn't any easier. They went to different places to finish tasks in a short time. The most amazing one was when they had to exchange things worth thousands yuan with only a piece of paper in half an hour. “We learned how to persuade others. From a balloon to a cake to a bottle of yogurt (酸乳) … after almost 20 tries, we got an expensive necklace,” he said. They will give all of the money they made to poor schools in Tibet.