There was a king who loved art very much. One day a(n)1came and said, "Please let me2a picture on a wall." The king happened to have a big new hall3. So he4the artist to work on one of the walls.
At the same time, another artist came and asked to work on the5wall. He promised he would make the same picture as the first artist's6looking at the first artist's work. The second artist asked to have a thick curtain7between the two walls8neither of them could see each other.
The following day they began to work. The first artist brought in 9supply of paint, oil, water and so on. The second one came with a10and a bucket (桶).
A month later, the first artist's work was completed, and the second artist said, “My wall is 11 too!”
The king went to 12the first artist's wall. He was pleased with it and gave the artist a large 13of money. He then asked people to open the curtain.
14! Each line was 15the same as that on the opposite wall. The king was quite satisfied and gave him double money. However, he 16how the second man had made it. “I just17the wall with the cloth,” the man said18.The wall was made of white marble (大理石). He made it shine like a mirror. The reflection (倒影) of the first painting19up on it!
The 20is a reflection of you too. If you are sad, the world will be sad. If you are happy, the world will be happy.
I lifted my wet woollen gloves to my face and wiped the snowflakes from my eyes. I could not feel my nose and my 1 formed a thick fog in the air. The biting wind was making me2. I was fed up! I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go home. But Mum and Dad had 3me to go for a Sunday afternoon walk in the park. I could see my 4 in the snowy path, like a trail of breadcrumbs (一串面包屑) in the forest showing me the way 5.
I stopped and listened to my 6. I could 7 the wind crying like a homeless dog hungry for a delicious 8. The once-green tree 9, which used to wave gently in the breeze, had become bare, and the grass was covered with a 10 blanket of fresh snow. Then I saw a broken spider's web shining golden beneath a pale sun. My breath was like silky soft 11 floating up into the freezing cold air.
Suddenly there was Mum, 12 handing me a big cup of hot chocolate. Her big smile immediately 13 my heart.
"Here you are, Jo. This will keep you 14," she said as she placed a comforting arm around my shoulders and 15 her cheek against mine.
I slowly took a mouthful of the hot 16 and felt it slowly dripping down my throat like lava (熔岩) 17 down a mountainside. My wet woollen gloves were now warm, not 18. My breath warmed, and I was 19 fed up or cold. I was happy and 20.
If we redouble our efforts, our dream will come true. Chen zuobin had1for 13 years already. Finally, he decided to become a2again. Born in a mountain village in Anhui province, Chen Zuobin walked out of the3 for study when he was 19. Though he had a4life as a creative director of an international agency in Shanghai, he couldn't5the anxiety appearing in his dreams. "I6about countless branch roads several times a year, I didn't know which one leads to7. It made me feel terrible." One day, Chen Zuobin woke up and said to his wife," I want to go home."8being surprised, his wife said, "9your heart. Don't worry about me. "
The young couple returned to their hometown and10the Real Food Farm just to lead a real and simple life. Chen Zuobin shook off the11and tiredness from too much12in the city. Only in the mountains can they enjoy the13air. There isn't the smell of tail gas, but the smell of14when it shines over the woods. They live a life of "eating healthily and15well."
In a time when eating 16 becomes a luxury (奢侈)in the 17 life, it's truly a right way to return to the 18. "Life is a journey of19the proper way. " said Chen Zuobin.
Those dreams about branch roads have 20 because he has found his own path.
Many years ago, I was working in an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had large 1 that look out over a busy street. I was standing by one of those windows one day when a woman in a 2 car looked up and made eye contact. Naturally I 3. As she turned and tried to identify me, a quiet laugh4my lips. My co-workers began taking an interest, and stood back watching the 5 I received, and laughing happily. Then the stress of work was 6 away.
Christmas approached, and job 7 were announced. Several of my co-workers were losing their jobs, and everyone was 8. While I was working a night shift, a red jacket , a box of foam packing and strips of tape in the corner caught my 9. They could be Santa's jacket and beard! Then I folded a red file into a hat and tied the 10 to it. With the red jacket , a Santa's Costume appeared.
The next day I walked 11down into the office in the costume. My co-workers 12around me and laughed for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, my boss came to me, 13, shook his head and then left. I feared14. Then the phone rang.
With a bead of sweat 15 my forehead, I entered the boss' office . 16, he laughed: "Thanks, Mike! It's been hard to enjoy the Christmas season. Thanks for the laugh. I 17it."
That evening, I stood 18 by the window and waved at my fans, with my heart 19 with joy. For a few minutes of that day, we'd been able to forget our 20.
的最佳选项。
In Germany, it's normal to wear your own clothes at school, since there are no rules about uniform. So why did a few schoolmates and I spend two days 1around the school in uniform? In fact, during these two days, a rather 2event took place: our MUN （Model United Nations） Conference.
It is a conference 3for students from all German schools who want to see how the United Nations really works. They get an opportunity to 4a country, maybe one they don't know much about, and 5debate with other students from different 6on real problems the world is facing now. The aim is to write a 7at the end, which will help deal with them.
The 8of our conference was "Transcend Borders: Discover Peace", which 9that the students would be looking at what caused 10among countries and how to overcome it. "Transcend" is just a longer for 11"cross".
However, the students 12breaking down not only physical national boundaries, but also those 13different nationalities. Of course, this included how to help others who are forced to flee their homeland, for the people 14all students.
Not only was the conference a 15of thinking about difficult global problems, but also everyone had to speak in English while using correct debating language too.16job! But of course this was a brilliant 17for everyone there, and after a while, you couldn't even 18the students weren't speaking in their first language!
I'd really 19joining in a conference if you get the chance, and sharing your 20. It's the best way to meet new people and to think about how to make the world a better place.
When I was nine years old, I loved to go fishing with my dad. But the only thing 1wasn't very fun about it was that he could catch many fish2I couldn't catch3. I usually got pretty4and kept asking him why. He always answered, "Son, if you want to catch a fish, you have to think5a fish", I remember being even more upset then because, "I'm not a fish!" I didn't know how to think like a fish. Besides, I6, how could what I think7what a fish does?
As I got a little older I began to understand what my dad really meant. So, I read some books8fish. And I even9the local fishing club and started attending the monthly meetings. I learned that a fish is a cold-blooded animal and therefore is very10to water temperature. That is why fish prefer 11water to deep water because12is warmer. Besides, water is usually warmer in direct sunlight than in the shade. Yet, fish don't have any eyelids(眼皮) and the sun13their eyes, The more I understood fish, the more I became effective at finding and catching them.
When I grew up and14the business world, I remember 15my first boss say, "We all need to think like sales people." But it didn't Completely16. My dad never once said, "If you want to catch a fish you need to think like a17." What he said was, "You need to think like a fish." Years later, with great efforts to18long-term services to people much older and richer than me, I 19learned what we all need is to think more like customers. It is not an easy job. I will show you how in the 20 chapters.
I fell in love with Yosemite National Park the first time I saw it, when I was 13. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to E1 Capitan, a 1 rock of 3,300 feet straight up. I touched that giant rock and knew 2 I wanted to climb it. That has been my life's passion (钟爱) ever since--3 the rocks and mountains of Yosemite. I've long made Yosemite my 4.
About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of 5, like toilet paper, beer cans, and empty boxes, around the area. It's 6 me why visitors started respecting the place less and treated such a 7 home-like place this way.
I tried 8 trash(垃圾)myself, but the job was too big. I would 9an hour or two on the job, only to find the area trashed all over again weeks later. Finally, I got so 10 it that I decided something had to 11.
As a rock-climbing guide, I knew 12about organizing any big event. But in 2004, together with some climbers, I set a date for a 13. On that day, more than 300 people 14. Over three days we collected about 6,000 pounds of trash. It was 15how much we were able to accomplish. I couldn't believe the 16 we made --the park looked clean!
Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash and 17 132 miles of roadway.
I often hear people 18about their surroundings. If you are one of them, I would say the only way to change things is by 19 rather than complaining. We need to teach by 20. You can't blame others unless you start with yourself.
I was out for my usual morning run and found myself in the late summer heat, thirsty. If only I had taken a 1 bottle. After I stopped under a bridge to shelter myself from the sun for a moment of 2, I saw two young, 3 men standing next to their sleeping bags. One smiled and gently 4 his hand as if he were about to say hello, but he didn't say a word. He wasn't asking for 5. I smiled and raised my hand, too.
As I started back on my 6, I thought about how much we all 7 to connect with other people. At that moment, this homeless man seemed to want to connect with someone else 8food or money.
We have all had 9of feeling separate and lonely. I once felt lonely being in a relationship that 10 an emotional connection. Feeling separated doesn't have anything to do with being alone, 11 is about the human desire to feel 12by being seen and valued by another person.
We all 13from connection. That homeless man affected my day. After meeting him, I felt more grateful and it made me 14all that I have. He made me feel concerned for him. I had the choice to move toward 15or connection. Separation is looking at the homeless person and focusing on how 16he looks. Connection is understanding that he influenced my day by 17to me. I can 18times in my life when, like him, I was in a situation I had never expected. There have been times when I felt down, and times when I needed someone to 19what he was doing and say hello to me.
Pay attention today and notice whether you tend to move toward separation or toward connection. If your tendency is to spend time alone, 20saying "yes" to invitations. Practice moving toward rather than away from people.
My phone rang and it was a number I didn't recognize. When I 1 it, I heard my son's 2 voice on the other end saying, "Mama, I got on the wrong 3." This was his first year in the middle school. I knew my little boy was very 4. After all, it was only his second time to 5 home. Since he normally had football classes, I would met him.
The phone wasn't hung up, I could hear my 6 was speaking with the bus driver. I could feel his frustration (挫败). The tone of his 7 when he told the bus driver "I'm so sorry" was 8. Then on the other end of the line, I 9 a calming response. The woman driver said, "Oh, honey, you don't have to 10. It's my job to get you home 11. And this is what I'm going to do.” I'm grateful, 12 she was comforting (安慰) my son. I couldn't help but think of the many other responses he could have 13. She told me not to worry. We appointed (约定) a place and then she went out of her way to comfort him.
When I arrived at the location we 14 on, the woman driver came over with my son and explained how she noticed he felt terrible and 15. My son had even asked her if he messed everything up. She tried her best to make him 16
Every day, I pray that there are people in our 17 and in the right places to watch over my 18 when I'm not there. And today it did happen. This 19 truly showed the love in her behaviors and care for my son. I won't let her behaviors go unnoticed, so this story will be 20 with everyone on the Internet.
Sudha Chandran, a classical dancer from India, had to have her right leg cut after a car accident. She was also1on her career road.
Though the accident brought her bright career to a2, she didn't give up. In the3 months that followed, Sudha met a doctor who developed an artificial (人造的)4made from rubber filled with sponge (海绵). So5she wanted to go back to6after she had been fitted with an artificial leg. Sudha knew that she believed in7and could realize her dream,8 she began her courageous journey back to the world of dancing —9to balance, bend, stretch, walk, turn, twist and twirl.
After every public recital (个人表演), she10ask her dad about her performance." You11have a long way to go" was the answer she used to get12. In January 1984, Sudha made a historic13by giving a public recital in Bombay. She performed in such a great manner that it14everyone to tears and this15pushed her to the number one position again. That evening when she asked her dad the16question, he didn't say anything. He just touched her feet as a praise.
Sudha's comeback was17moving an event that a film producer18to make the story into a hit film.
When someone asked Sudha how she had19to dance again, she said quite simply, "YOU DON'T NEED FEET TO DANCE."20is impossible in this world. If you have the will to win, you can achieve anything.
It's not easy to achieve success. I deeply believe that it is worth taking time and 1 to prepare for big tasks, especially after my first experience of giving a 2.
I will never forget how difficult it is to give my first speech. It 3 me a whole day to prepare for the topic and write a suitable speech. I searched for information online for a long time so I could 4 that my manuscript (手稿)was perfect. I tried to recite it, but I soon found that it was even 5 than I thought it would be.
Asking for help is a useful way to deal with a hard task. I turned to my teacher, who gave me lots of 6 that were of great help to me.
On the day of my speech, the microphone was broken. I was so 7 that I forgot my speech. 8, the host helped me calm down so that I was able to go on, though I didn't feel like the speech was very successful.
But I learned a lot from this 9. It showed me that I hadn't prepared well enough, I hadn't practiced enough and that my “roots” had not grown deeply enough. 10 in the world follows natural rules, like the growth of bamboo-the more time we spend preparing, the deeper our roots grow, and the greater success we will have.
As night approached, we sat around the campfire laughing and teasing one another. Suddenly there came a strange sound. We1 beyond the fire, into the darkness. My heart began to pound 2. Maybe the cougar (美洲狮) spotted a few days earlier had returned.
Silence took over as we were3 to see anything beyond the edge of firelight. There was a plopping sound, then a grey 4 moved across the gravel (碎石) , just beyond the lights.
What was it? We held our breath as the thing again dropped onto the gravel and moved quickly out of 5 .
"Maybe it's a flying squirrel." someone said.
There was another plop and6 near our car. Something seemed odd. What was it?
A friend7 his camera and waited for the creature to return. It landed again and just as quickly vanished. "It seemed to be 8 too fast," said our camera fan, "and I was unable to get a 9 of the strange animal."
He moved to the edge of the firelight, 10 himself for a better shot, and then began to laugh. There was a crunching of gravel and from 11 the car's darkened end emerged Rogers, who camped with us every summer. He carried a fishing rod. On the end of the fishing line was a grey sock, giving it a head and 12. We had all been 13 by a flying grey sock.
All the people burst into laughter. We sat long into the evening 14 past years and other funny stories. Yes, the camping 15 differed every summer but the friendship remained the same as a chosen summer family.
When you are stuck on a problem, sometimes it is best to stop thinking about it—consciously, anyway. Research has shown that taking a break or a nap can help the brain create1to a solution. Now a new study2on the effect of this so-called incubation（潜伏期）by using sound cues to focus the sleeping mind on a targeted problem.
When humans sleep, parts of the brain replay certain memories, strengthening and transforming them. About a decade ago researchers developed a technique, called targeted memory reactivation（TMR）, aimed at further enhancing3memories: when a sound becomes associated with a memory and is later played during sleep, that memory gets4. In a study published last November in Psychological Science, scientists tested whether5the memory of a puzzle during sleep might also improve problem-solving.
About 60 participants visited the laboratory before and after a night of6. First, they7spatial, verbal and conceptual puzzles, with a distinct music clip repeating in the background for each, until they had worked on six puzzles they could not solve. Overnight they wore electrodes（电极）to detect slow-wave sleep, which may be important for memory enhancement—and a device played the sounds 8to three of the six unsolved puzzles. The next day, back at the lab, the participants attempted the six puzzles again. (Each repeated the experiment with a different set of puzzles the following night.) All told, the subjects solved 32 percent of the sound-stimulated puzzles compared with 21 percent of the 9puzzles.
The researchers "very bravely went for quite complex tasks that involved a lot of complex processing, and remarkably they found these really strong effects in all of their 10." says Penny Lewis, a psychologist at Cardiff University, who was not involved in the research. "These are supercool results. Now we need to go out and try to understand them by firstly replicating（复制）them and secondly trying to 11the component processes that are actually being influenced."
Beyond providing new evidence that humans restructure memories while sleeping the research may have 12implications. "In a futuristic world, maybe TMR could help us use sleep to work on our problems," says lead author Kristin Sanders, who was a graduate student at Northwestern University during the study. Sleep-monitoring technology is increasingly accessible—and even without devices, prospective solvers can focus on important problems before 13.
Still, sleep is not 14; people need to do their homework and load their heads with the puzzle pieces involved. "I'm not going to solve cancer with this technique," Sanders says, "because I am totally 15cancer research."
We have all heard how time is more valuable than money, but is it1 to have too much time?
I2back in high school I spent most of my day at school since I also3a team sport. By the time I got home, I only had a few hours to do my homework, and I had to do it 4 .
When I got into college, things5. I suddenly found myself out of class before noon time. Because of all this6time there was no sense of7to do my school work immediately. I was performing this action of waiting until it later became a 8. Once that happened, I just kept9my studying further and further back in my day. Then I got to the point where I was10really late at night to get my work done.
One day I11a former classmate of mine who was12a lot of money running a sideline (副业). Since his regular job was13, I asked him why he just didn't do his sideline full-time. He said without the job, he would14have too much time and would just do what I did back in15. He said that if he16the job, he would lose his 17 to work and succeed.
So, try18your time with other work. This is why there is a19 that if you want something done, ask a20person to do it.
I burst out laughing when I read the rejection letter (回绝信). I'd sent a TV news station a cover letter, a video of my 1work, and a photo of myself with Gerald Ford. The letter began: "Dear Mr. Siegel."
I hadn't been mistaken for 2since I was 5. That time, I was in the park and a woman instructed my elder sister： "Tell the little boy to stop picking the leaves. "I've 3short haircuts (短发) ever since.
In this case, it was obvious no one at the station had 4 to look at my 5. This was a6. It reminded me rejection isn't personal.
Getting into college also came with a lot of noes. I clearly remember opening three rejection letters in one day. It was crushing. But my dad's7was to open a bottle of champagne. Always the8, he told me： "You will get into college, and we need to 9today." A few days later, when an 10arrived from the University of Southern California, it couldn't have been any sweeter.
Years later I was working for a small TV station, and I had big ideas. But they differed from my boss's worldview, and he showed me the door. That 11, but it also motivated me to 12what I really wanted: to work in broadcast news in New York.
I moved from Arizona with no job, no contacts and no money. I slept on a friend's sofa in Hoboken, N. J. , for a few months while working 13jobs and trying to find a way into the14. It wasn't easy, but soon I worked as a field producer for two networks covering the presidential election and later worked for CNN, Fox News Channel and CBS News over the next decade.
When something doesn't 15, my dad always asks, "What's 16?" That's his word of 17: "Next." His positivity has shaped my own thinking.
Recently a friend lost his job. My response was "Congratulations."
He was 18: "Did you just congratulate me？"
"Absolutely," I replied. "You've been treated terribly. They don't 19 you. This is the push you need to get you to 20you want to be instead of being stuck in a situation that makes you extremely unhappy."
I devoted myself to music because of my grandmother. My mum and I lived with my grandparents from the time I was two until I was eight. And even then, I was at their house before and after school every day while my mother was1.
Grandma loved music. It was she that first2me to Elvis Presley as a very young child, and once I heard his music, I was truly in3with it. Most five-year-olds ask for toys for birthdays, but I wanted Elvis' albums. I would play them non-stop and4to the music in my grandma's family room though my movements didn't look5.
Grandma played the piano and6me to sing "America the Beautiful"and "Somewhere over the Rainbow". I finally started playing music on the piano, and soon grandma was paying for me to take piano lessons from a lady living in the7. I would come home from8and walk there for my lesson. I9took about nine months of lessons, but it was enough to give me a foundation and allow me to continue to teach myself.
Last month when I came home to visit grandma in the hospital, I brought along my guitar with me.
She was in great pain, but the music seemed to10her soul. She had me sing some songs and when I started to sing "Somewhere over the Rainbow", her weakened voice11in with mine for a few lines. That experience was one of the most12of my lifetime and one I will certainly value forever. I told her of my music career and she was very13and said, "That's wonderful!" I14to play for her throughout the week I was home.
My grandma passed away two days ago. In my opinion, part of her will live on through every15I write or sing for her in my life.
There were times when I wanted to be a fashion designer, a model, or a rock star but I gave up all of them halfway. The one thing I stuck with was drawing. That's why this "100 Days of Self Love" project was both a joy and a 1.
The rule I 2 for myself was simple: one self- portrait (自画像) a day for 100 days. 3 my own advice, I wanted to achieve something outside of my job. In our culture of selfie (自拍) 4, we take pictures of our faces all the time without a second 5. I wanted to 6 the meaning of "self " and see what I could learn. I quickly 7 that I never looked at my face so 8.
By about Day 20, I had got a good 9 of what I look like—I could draw myself pretty well. My face was familiar to me — instead of just being the 10 in the mirror. I also got tired of looking at myself and I wanted to draw something else other than my face. The last 40 days were very hard. All I could do was tell myself never to give up. Finally I carried on to the last day and I 11 to myself that I could do it.
Drawing my face every day for 100 days was difficult, but I made it! I'm proud that I finished this 12. This experience served as a good 13: If I set my mind on something—and if I'm 14 crazy about it—I can do it. And if I can do this, what else can't I 15?
The beautiful gleaming sewing-machine sitting in the corner was one of my most1possessions. Every time I dust it, it2me of the lesson I learned from my grandpa and my dad.
The first time I saw it, I was3in home economics (家政学) at college and4my very own sewing machine. The local Sewing Machine center would sell those with flaws (瑕疵) for fifty cents to the first customer on a certain day of the month. The machines were5to work and it was a real6. One day, Grandpa called, so proud, saying he d gotten one and it was gorgeous. When grandpa7 the driveway, I8out to greet him, followed by my dad.9, I watched as Grandpa opened the back of his wagon. My heart10. The machine was dirty and marked with cracks on the surface. My dad grandpa kept admiring its beauty, saying what a steal it was. Thinking they were11, I still politely and thanked my grandpa,12my disappointment.
Weeks later, my dad said he had something special for me. I13him to the garage, and there sat the most stunning sewing machine I had14seen! The wood was a dark, rich walnut, smooth and shining. It looked15. Dad had cleaned and polished that old machine. Dad and Grandpa weren't crazy at all. They had seen beyond the dirt and16. From the very17, they knew what the machine could look like.
I can still see the18 in my mind like it was yesterday — the day I learned even when life looks hopeless we must look19 the negative, and see the potential20side.
I wandered in the park. The park bench was1as I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly (蔓延的) branches of an old willow tree. I was disappointed by life with2 reason to frown, for the world was intent on dragging me down.
As if that weren't enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of 3approached me, all tired from play. He stood right before me and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"
In his hand was a flower, and what a 4 sight, with its petals(花瓣) all worn — not enough rain, or too little light. I 5a small smile, wanting him to take his dead flower and leave, and then.
But instead of leaving he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with surprise, "It surely smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."
The weed before me was dying or dead. Not brilliant colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need."
But 6 him placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without 7 or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time, that young boy could not see: he was blind.
My voice8, and tears shone like the sun as I thanked him for picking the very best one. "You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, not 9 of the impact he'd had on my day.
I sat there and wondered how he 10 to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he 11 my difficult situation? 12from his heart, he'd been blessed with true 13.
At last I could see, through the eyes of a blind child, the problem was not with the 14; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been 15, I vowed(发誓) to see beauty, and appreciate every second that's mine.
I held that wilted(枯萎) flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose and smiled as that young boy.
I never went to university but always thought about it. The only way I 1 it was listening to my children talk about the interesting classes they were taking. University was just a lifelong 2 of mine. I just turned sixtyfour years old. I still thought about that old dream 3 one day when there was an AdvancedAge 4 at the local university. I decided to 5.
My first day of school finally arrived. As I drove there, my mind was filled with 6 thoughts, "What am I doing？The 7 will laugh when they see me in class. I probably won't live long enough to get a 8. Maybe I should just turn the car around and go home. "
Then, suddenly, I saw it！A large billboard on the side of the road with a picture of Kermit the Frog. I slowed down a little and read the words，"Live your dreams. "Was Kermit talking about me？I didn't turn the car around.
I drove a little 9 on up the highway and there was another 10. This one had a picture of Albert Einstein with his tongue 11 out. A line read, "As a student, he was no Einstein. "And there was a word in red, "Confidence". A new attitude was 12 inside me.
13 the gate of the university, I found there 14 still another billboard. This one showed a photograph of a proud woman. Under the picture was her name, Nola Otis, aged 95, the oldest university graduate. Below it were the words, "Live Life". At that moment, my outlook changed 15.
