When I was 14, I left school with learning disabilities and decided to surf the biggest waves in the world, first in California and then in Hawaii. One morning, I met an old man, a bum（流浪汉）, on the street comer. He asked me if I was running away from home. I told him, “Not exactly, sir. ” After talking a while, he told me that he had something to show me and share with me. We walked several blocks until we came upon the downtown Public Library. The bum asked me to sit down and wait a moment. Later he returned with some books, and then said, “I want to teach you two things. Number one is never to judge a book by its cover, for a cover fools you. I’ll bet you think I’m a bum, don’t you?” I said, “I guess so, sir.” “Well, young man, I've got a little surprise for you. I am one of the wealthiest（富有的）men in the world. But a year ago, when my wife passed away, I realized there were certain things I had not yet experienced in life, one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on the streets. For the past year I have been going from city to city doing just that. Number two is to learn how to read, for there is only one thing that people can’t take away from you, and that is your wisdom（智慧）. ”At that moment, he gave me the books he’d pulled from the shelves. His parting request（请求）was for me to never forget what he taught me. I have remembered until today. 小题1:The boy when he was 14.
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