【推荐1】All left-handed humans have not had it easy in the world. In many cultures and in the dark ages, left-handed people have generally been seen as the devil.

The word “left” in English comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lyft”，which means weak or broken. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “left-handed” as meaning defective, awkward or clumsy.     1     A “left-handed compliment” and a “left-handed marriage” can be set as examples. The former does not mean sincere praise but indicates an insult. The latter, as you may notice, refers to an illegal or informal marriage, which, in particular, involves one side of royal or noble birth and the other of lower rank.

In some certain cultures, things go beyond that.     2     In Nigeria, for instance, taking or giving anything to anyone with your left hand is assumed that you lack home training.

    3     Many people around you in China, if asked, would tell you they were forced by their parents or teachers, to write with their right hand. Strangely enough, none of those elders can say what an actual problem there is with left-handedness. If it has to do with the fear of that child not being prosperous, there are a lot of left-handed personalities doing well and breaking grounds. The possible explanation here maybe lies in their long- held prejudice.     4    

Two-thirds of the world still view left-handedness as a shortcoming but it isn't.     5    That is what C. R. Manske points out, “Life without left-handed people wouldn't be right. ”

【推荐1】Yes, I admit it. I’m a true, incurable book abuser (施虐人). I like to fold dog ears. I like to break my books open so that their backs crack.

I had a friend, who loved rubbing all the pages. I have another friend who is the exact opposite. She needs to keep her books completely new. I understand her. But once I get to know the book, I can’t help but show it some tough love. Because, believe me, although it sounds like I’m an abuser without a heart, that’s what it’s all about. Not hidden aggressions, or a lack of respect; not at all. Let me explain.

I have one book by my favourite author Diana Gabaldon that looks like rubbish. It’s completely wrinkled up from rain, and on its way to falling apart. I brought it like that to have her sign it. I hope she’s realised what an honour it is to her as a writer. It means, basically, that I’ve read the book to bits. I wouldn’t bother to mistreat books that don’t mean anything to me. Only the best books get read well, carried everywhere, worth intense reading where I’m so caught up with words that I will spill coffee over it.

For my further defense, I would like to call in a witness. I have a cook book. Like almost all my other cook books, it’s worn, and there are dirty marks of food in it. The book is called Tex-Mex-Food, Music and the Joy of Life from Texas. Just as the title suggests, this is more than a cook book.

These are the words on the very first page:

Tex-Mex hasn’t been trendy for over 30 years. Considering it’s anything but cheap in calories, it probably never will be, either. Tacos(墨西哥卷) are instead all about such an untrendy things as a love for life. It’s something you enjoy while spending time with your loved ones ...

We hope, therefore, that this cook book will soon be as dirty as a really old and used cook book should be.

Oh, how true! How wonderfully put! And it’s the same thing for books: whether you’re a book preserver or a book abuser, the approach is based on love and a joy for life. Because I believe all who are passionate about books, are passionate people.

【推荐1】One Thursday afternoon, when I was in Grade 9, a new boy came into my classroom. He was short and thin. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me, and then looked away. I didn’t think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn’t the type I would like to make friends with.

During that year, I didn’t talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me.

But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. We made fun of him though I thought it was wrong.

“Haven’t you got any friends?” a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, with his head down.

“No, he hasn’t got any friends. He’s too stupid and shy” I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

That night, I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get Christian’s face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, he never met my eyes in class and never smiled at me. It was really hard for me to decide to write him a note asking him to forgive(原谅) me. But I thought I should.

The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears in his eyes. “You will never realize what your apology(道歉) has meant to me, Jimmy” he said to me. “I hope we can become friends.”

We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends.

When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized, I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was.

Apologies can really change your life, so never miss the chance to tell somebody you are sorry.

【推荐2】It’s a big change from homeless teen to Yale (耶鲁) medical school student, but perseverance paid off for Chelesa Fearce of Clayton County, Georgia.

Fearce was a fourth grader when her mom was diagnosed (诊断) with Lymphoma (淋巴瘤).That began a hard time for the family. They had to move in and out of shelters, hotels and even the family car.

“I know I have been made stronger. I was homeless. My family slept on the floor and we were lucky if we got more than one full meal a day. Getting a shower, food and clean clothes was an everyday struggle,” Fearce said in a speech she gave at her high school graduation ceremony. Fearce overcame her day-to-day struggles by focusing on a better day. “I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore. And that helped me get through,” she told WSBTV.

Fearce was determined to be a good role model for her younger sister. She found inspiration in her late grandmother, struggling with deadly diseases, who gave Fearce emotional support. In her junior and senior year, Fearce took both high school and college courses, missing out on the free meals she depended on so she could get to her college classes. Despite having to use her cellphone to study after the shelter lights were turned off at night, she not only graduated as valedictorian (毕业生代表) of her 2013 class with a 4.5 grade average, but was also given a ride scholarship—including a meal plan to Spelman College in Atlanta.

After graduation, she worked full time for two years at the National Institutes for Health in Bethesda, Maryland, doing research on drugs. Last fall, she entered Yale and set a course to earn both a PhD and medical degree.