How a Hunter Captures a Monkey
Few animals other than monkeys have hand like paws．The monkey，like man，has an opposable thumb—that is，it can place its thumb opposite its other fingers．
By pressing its first finger against its thumb a monkey can pick up things as tiny as a flea．Because other animals lack this thumb，it is difficult for them to pick up small things and carry them．
The monkey’s ability to grasp rice with its paw often leads to its capture．Hunters bait a coconut with a handful of rice，leaving a hole in the shell of the nut．The monkey has no trouble sliding its paw through the hole．But it can’t draw the paw out while it is holding a fistful of rice．
Since it is often too stupid or greedy to open its hand，the monkey is unable to free itself from this simple trap．
猎人是怎样逮住猴子的
除了猴子以外，极少有动物长着像人的手一样的爪子。像人类一样，猴子长着可与其他手指相对的大拇指——就是说，它可以把大拇指放到其他几个手指的对面。用其第一指压其拇指，猴子便可拾起像跳蚤一样小的东西。由于其他动物缺少这个大拇指，它们便很难拾起小的东西并把它们带走。
猴子用爪子抓米的本领常导致自己被擒。猎人们在一个椰子里放上一把米作为诱饵，在椰壳上留一个洞口。猴子偷偷地把爪子伸进洞去是没有什么困难的。但它抓满一把米后，爪子却抽不出来了。
由于猴子常常太愚蠢或贪婪得不肯把手张开，它便逃脱不了这一简单的陷阱。
The United States in About 23Million Years
The ordinary raindrop is a mighty earth mover with sufficient strength to cut rock．When rainwater collects on the surface of the ground，some of it evaporates and some of it sinks into the earth．The remainder begins to flow downhill，commencing its lengthy journey from brook to stream to lake，or to a river that will carry it to the sea．
As water flows along the ground，it picks up sand，pebbles，even boulders．It uses them to gnaw at the sides and bottom of its channel，gradually loosening more earth．
By this process enormous amounts of mud and rock are moved from the land to the sea．Each year the Mississippi River carries 730million of solid matter into the Gulf of Mexico．
This constant hauling of land into the sea is lowering the United States’average height above sea level at a rate of about one foot every 9，000years．If erosion continues at the same rate，the United States will be worn completely down to sea level in about 23million years.
2300万年后的美国
普通的雨珠力能移地，其力之大足以切割岩石。当雨水在地面集结时，一部分蒸发掉，一部分渗入地下，剩下的部分则向低处流动，开始其漫长的旅程，由小溪注入小川，再注入湖泊或江河，然后由江河送入大海。
雨水沿着地面流动时，夹带了泥沙、卵石，甚至大圆石。雨水利用它们啮噬着水道的两边和底部，逐渐使更多的土壤松动。
通过这一过程，巨量的泥沙和石块从陆地移入海洋。每年，密西西比河要把7.3亿吨的固体物质送入墨西哥湾。
这种不断的移地填海，正在使美国海拔以上的平均高度，以每9000年减少1英尺的速度下降。如果土壤流失以同样的速度持续下去，那么，在大约2300万年以后，美国就会完全被磨蚀而下降到海平面一般高了。
The Best Season for Thinking
If you are like most people，your intelligence varies from season to season．You are probably a lot sharper in the spring than you are at any other time of year．A noted scientist，Ellsworth Huntington（1876-1947），concluded from other mens work and his own among peoples in different climates that climate and temperature have a definite effect on our mental abilities．
He found that cool weather is much more favorable for creative thinking than is summer heat．This does not mean that all people are less intelligent in the summer than they are during the rest of the year．It does mean，however，that the mental abilities of large numbers of people tend to be lowest in the summer．
Spring appears to be the best period of the year for thinking．One reason may be that in the spring man’s mental abilities are affected by the same factors that bring about great changes in all nature．
Fall is the nextbest season，then winter．As for summer，it seems to be a good time to take a long vacation from thinking！
思考的最佳季节
如果你和大多数人没有什么两样，那么，你的智力也是随着季节的更替而变化的。你在春天可能要比一年中的其他时间敏锐得多。著名科学家埃尔斯沃思·亨廷顿（1876-1947），根据自己和别人在不同气候条件下的工作情况，断定气候和气温对我们的智能确有影响。
他发现，凉爽的天气比酷暑远远有利于创造性的思考。这并不是说所有的人在夏天比一年中的其他时间都要愚钝些。然而，这确实意味着，相当多的人的智能在夏天趋向于最低点。
春天似乎是一年中最利于人们思考的一段时间，其原因可能是，春天给整个大自然带来巨大变化的因素，同样也给人类智能带来影响。
秋天是第二个最好的季节，其次是冬天，至于夏天，它似乎是一段人们不动脑筋、休长假的好时光。
A Stamp Worth of＄16，800
How can a single postage stamp be worth＄16，800？
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors．A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value．
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius，a small island in the Indian Ocean．In 1847an order for stamps was sent to a London printer—Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps．
Before the order was filled and delivered，a ball was planned at Mauritius’Government House，and stamps were needed to send out the invitations．A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps．He accidentally inscribed the words “Post Office”instead of “Post Paid”on the several hundred stamps that he printed．
Today there are only twentysix of these misprinted stamps left－fourteen One Penny OrangeReds and twelve Twopenny Blues．Because of the Twopenny Blue’s rareness and age，collectors have paid as much as＄16，800for it．
一枚价值1.68万美元的邮票
一张邮票为什么会值1.68万美元呢？
一张邮票在印制中出现的任何错误，都会使它的价值在集邮家面前提高。一张价格低廉的邮票，有了一个错，就使它的价格达到原价的150万倍。
这个错是100多年前在英国殖民地毛里求斯——印度洋中的一个小岛闹出来的。1847年，一份邮票定货单送到了伦敦一家印刷商那里——毛里求斯将成为世界上第4个发行邮票的国家。
在订货单填写并交付前，毛里求斯政府大厦里准备举行一场舞会，可是发请帖需要贴邮票。一位当地的印刷商受命照图案仿制邮票。在他印制的几百张邮票上，没有刻上“PostPaid”（邮资已付）的字样，却无意中刻上了“Post Office”（邮局）两个字。
今天，这批印错的邮票只剩下26张：14张1便士橘红色邮票和12张2便士蓝色邮票。因为2便士蓝色邮票年代久远，物稀为贵，集邮家们为它付出的钱遂高达1.68万美元。
Is a Silver Dollar Worth a Dollar
A silver dollar is not worth a dollar—nor is any other sliver coin really worth its face value．Silver coins are made of an alloy—a mixture of 10per cent copper and 90per cent silver—which lasts much longer in circulation than pure silver would．A silver dollar contains 90cents worth of silver and a dime has 9cents worth．It takes only a pennyworth of silver to make a nickel．
This was not the case in 1792，when the United States began minting coins of pure gold and silver．Citizens were welcome to stop in anytime with gold or silver in any form—cups，vases，or even gold fillings from their teeth—and have it melted down for spending money．