【推荐1】Betty is not traditional American beauty. She is unfashionable, has thick red glasses, untidy hair and large metal braces (牙套) on her teeth. But this hasn’t stopped her from becoming one of American’s favorite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it?

The answer is that charm can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as an office worker at a fashion magazine in New York.

The TV show has just started. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan.

Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA.“ I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it’s about the underdog (弱者)”，says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show.

The program is so popular because of the performance of the 23-year-old actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen.

【推荐2】Every Sunday morning I take a walk around a park near my home. There's a lake in one corner of the park. Each time I walk by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water's edge with a small metal cage beside her.

This Sunday, I stopped walking and went over to her. As I got closer, I realized that there were three turtles(乌龟), unhurt, slowly walking around the base of the metal cage. She had a fourth turtle on her knee that she was carefully wiping with a brush, which made me feel surprised.

"Hello," I said. "If you don't mind my nosiness, I'd love to know what you're doing with these turtles."

"I'm cleaning off their shells," she replied.

"Anything on a turtle's shell weakens the turtle's ability to take in heat and blocks its ability to swim. It can also impair and weaken the shell over time."

She went on, "I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It's my own strange way of making a difference."

"Well then, don't you think your time could be better spent? It's a waste of time. And 99% of these turtles don't have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, how exactly are your efforts here truly making a difference?"

The woman smiled, then looked down at the turtle on her knee, wiped off the last piece of algae(海藻)from its shell, and said, "Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he'd tell you I just made all the difference in the world."

【推荐1】Once, Buddha was walking from one town to another with some of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his followers, “I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake there”.

The follower walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing the lake right at the edge of it. As a result, the water became very muddy, very dirty. The follower thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?!” So he came back and told the Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

So, the Buddha said, let us take a little rest here by the tree. After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same follower to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The follower obediently (顺从地) went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the follower and said, “See, you let the water be and the mud settled down on its own. You got clear water. It didn’t require any effort”.

Our mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. We can judge and best decisions of our life when we stay calm.

【推荐2】An extraordinary new restaurant in Semarang, Indonesia is on a mission (使命) to support locals trapped in poverty, many of whom are earning less than $25 a month, by providing them with an alternative way to pay for their food.

The Methane Gas Canteen, run by husband and wife team Sarimin and Suyatmi, is located in an unexpected place for an eatery — Jatibarang Landfill. The landfill is a mountain of purifying waste, where poor locals spend their days collecting plastic and glass to sell. Meanwhile, the couple, who spent 40 years collecting waste before opening the restaurant, is busy cooking.

What makes the restaurant unusual, aside from its location, is that no cash is required to pay for meals. Poor people have the option to pay for their food with recyclable waste instead of cash. Sarimin weighs the plastic customers bring in, calculates its worth, and then deduct that value from the cost of the meal, giving any extra value back to the customer. The scheme is part of the community’s solution to reduce waste in the landfill and recycle non-degradable plastics.

“I think we recycle 1 ton of plastic waste a day, which is a lot. This way, the plastic waste doesn’t pile up, drift down the river and cause flooding,” said Sarimin in an interview with Channel News Asia. “It benefits everyone.”

The restaurant seats about 30 people and serves meals that cost between $0.40 and $0.80 each. Since opening the canteen Sarimin and Suyatmi have seen their daily income more than double to $15 a day.

“I’m happy to see our customers enjoying their meals,” Sarimin told NHK World. “The poor must also have the right to enjoy healthy eating. I want to give them that chance as much as possible.”

【推荐3】Mary had struggled to find the right words to convey her thoughts and feelings ever since she was a child. She was often told that she was “too quiet” or “too shy”, and as she grew older, she became increasingly self-conscious about her inability. It wasn’t that she didn’t have anything to say — far from it. Mary’s mind was constantly racing with ideas and observations, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t seem to get the words out.

“Mary, I need to talk to you,” Mr. Thompson, the boss of Mary’s new company, said one day, his voice serious. Mary’s heart sank. “Don’t worry,” Mr. Thompson said, noticing Mary’s panic. “It’s not that kind of conversation. I just wanted to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind lately.”

He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been struggling a bit lately. It seems like you’re having a tough time communicating with customers. I hear that you’re proficient at writing. So why not join our Advertising Department? Besides, I have another suggestion…”

Mary kept nodding, unable to find the words to express her gratitude.

Following Mr. Thompson’s suggestion, Mary joined a writing competition. She had always been a talented writer, and she knew that she had the potential to create something truly special. So she set to work, pouring her heart and soul into her essay. The words started flowing, and Mary found herself writing with a newfound sense of clarity and purpose.

The judges of the competition were amazed by Mary’s essay, and they selected it as the winner. Mary was thrilled, and she was grateful to have finally found the right way to do a good job.