（1）There were once three sons of a wealthy businessman. whenever they met, the two eldest, who were twins, used to quarrel about which of them should be his father’s heir（继承人）. The youngest, who was not in the least ambitious （野心勃勃的）, took no part in their argument. As soon as they left home, the father arranged for an adequate income to be provided for each of them, but insisted that apart from this they were to be financially self-supporting. The elder twin, who had the advantage of good looks and a striking personality, decided that he would take up the stage as a career. He joined a small repertory company, acted in minor parts, was always unpunctual （不准时）at rehearsals and was accordingly unpopular with his fellow-actors. He earned little and so had to live mainly on his allowance. He occasionally thought of changing his profession, but always put off making a decision, and he became increasingly bored and disillusioned. （2） One day when Jamie came home after school, his mother had on her “worry” face. He knew she was thinking of the weather . “It’s bad out there. Black clouds are coming from the sea,” Jamie said.“Yes, I’m thinking of those fishing boats at sea,” she said.At that moment, the lights went out. Jamie and his mother were in the dark.“The coastline（海岸）will be in the dark,” Jamie’s mother said. She got more worried, “ Troubles always come in threes. I broke my best glasses this morning, and my sister has the cold.”“Now, don’t worry, mum. They’re sure to come through this all right.”But Jamie really worried about those fishing boats himself. The fishing boats would miss the cove（海湾）in the dark.Jamie took flares （火焰信号弹）and rushed into the wind. There was a cliff（峭壁）by the sea. He started to climb. He pulled himself up hand over hand. At last he reached the top.He failed three times. On the fourth try he fired off（发射）one of the flares. It rose and cut into the black sky in bright light. Then he saw an answering flare up at sea. Jamie fired off two more. He saw another answering flare up, then another, then another. The answering flares from the fishing boats showed they had passed the entrance to the cove but then changed course（路线）and were now sailing（航行）into the cove. They were almost home.Jamie helped save the fishermen of the village