【推荐1】In dreaming up the programme Tennis and Literacy for Youth, as a mother, I had hoped to share two of my passions, tennis and reading, with children. Throughout the year, I had advertised for participants at local elementary schools and recruited (招收) volunteers at local high schools. With the help of kind people, I applied for money. I was even able to secure a site for the program.

But on the first day of camp, in spite of my careful planning, things did not go the way I had hoped. Hector and Adrian exchanged blows with their racquet (球拍). Hector struggled to his feet moments later, covering a bloody nose with one hand. Georgie and Eduardo threw balls at each other. Then during reading time, I raced from joyless child to demanding child, unable to convince even one to open a book. They would rather be watching Nickelodeon at home, Eli told me, than “learning stupid tennis and reading boring books.”

I dragged myself home that afternoon. That evening, I called my volunteers together for a meeting, and redesigned the entire curriculum. We created a good-fellow system, where each volunteer paired with a camper to help him or her during reading time. To emphasize praise and progress, we established weekly prize ceremonies, presenting awards for most improved reading, tennis and behavior.

Then Mylea shut the book and asked me, “Can I take this to read it to my mom tonight?” Peering up at her eager face, I couldn’t help myself. I jumped to my feet and wrapped her in a hug, lifting her right off the ground. “It’s all yours!” I said.

Somehow, in the midst of the chaos and the schedule changes and the meetings, these children, in bad mood during reading time, untouched books in their laps, began to find joy in reading a story.

【推荐3】Maria Belon was lying by the pool, reading a novel at the Orchid Resort Hotel in Khao Lak, Thailand. Her children, Lucas, Tomas and Simon, played in the water with their dad nearby.

Belon and her husband, Enrique Alvarez, had taken their children overseas for the Christmas holidays.

“We started to hear a horrible sound. I was looking around, thinking this was just in my mind. It felt like the earth was coming apart (分崩离析), but everything looked perfect,” Belon told The Mirror.

Moments later, however, the Belon-Alvarez family was hit by the fierce force of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Belon was separated from her husband and sons who were in the swimming pool. But as she held onto a palm (棕榈树), she saw her oldest son floating nearby. “When I saw Lucas, I thought. ‘Okay. I have an incredible reason to be alive,’ she said. ‘We were in the water struggling, and Lucas was screaming.’ I said to myself, ‘We need to be brave, we need to take care of each other, but we will not die.’” she said.

While Belon held on for her son, her injuries were slowly killing her. “I was dying. I could feel it happening to me. When I was up in the tree, bleeding very heavily with deep wounds. I could feel the dying process.” she told The Mirror.

Luckily, Belon and her eldest son were then rescued by a Thai man and taken to hospital. “The man wouldn’t allow me to die. He dragged me through the mud for a long time until he was sure I was safe,” she said.

After the tsunami struck the area, Enrique Alvarez lost his two youngest sons, who had been in his arms, after a wave tore them apart. He got washed and later grabbed onto a palm tree, feeling sad about the loss of his children. Minutes later, he heard a voice. “Papa! Mama! Lucas! Simon!” Thomas shouted, according to The Mirror.

The family reunited two days later. While Belon and her family survived the natural disaster, she insisted it was their fortune.

“There is no difference between me and thousands of mums who are under the sea. I feel pain and compassion for so many others who didn’t come back up or lost their loved ones.” she told The Mirror.

【推荐1】When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player. I tried out for the teams at school, but I was never given a chance.

As I got older, I did grow a little bigger, but not a lot bigger. On my 12th birthday, I decided to try a new sport: running. I told Grandpa. “I’m going to be an athlete.”

“Dave.” Grandpa began gently, “if you can’t be big, you can do something big.”

I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile. On my 14th birthday, I ran 14 miles. 15 on my 15th, 16 on my 16th, and you guessed it—17 miles on my 17th birthday.

All this running inspired (激发) another big dream. Someday, I’d run the Boston Marathon (波士顿马拉松赛). I told Grandpa about my decision.

“But, Dave, you haven’t trained for the marathon. Are you sure you’re ready?” Grandpa asked. But he still promised to walk over and cheer me on.

I ran fast that day. But I fell at Mile 18 and was driven to the hospital. Later that night, I called Grandpa and told him I failed.

“No,” he said calmly, “you didn’t fail. You discovered something.”

“I did?” I asked.

“Yes, you discovered that big dreams don’t just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on.”

I trained every day, running miles and miles. Sadly, just two months into my training, Grandpa died. He wouldn’t be waiting for my second Boston Marathon. I decided I’d run for him.

That day, I ran fast. “Keep going! You can do it!” His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step. As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and cried, “Grandpa, we did it!”

【推荐1】The day before we met, Juliette Binoche was in the French Alps. Today , she’s sitting in her room in Berlin’s Hotel Marriott.“We arrived last night at 12,”she says, casually brushing off her tight schedule. It ‘s been this way for four decades now , ever since she became a real hit at the Cannes FilmFestival as a 21-year-old , starring in 1985’s Rendez-vous. The film was well received and“La Binochas the French call her , was born.

Almost immediately, people were deeply attracted by this charming young lady. “After Rendez-vous,when I started , somebody asked me about doing an autobiography of my life… when I was 21 !”she reveals , quite shocked at this absurd(荒唐的)idea.”Some people actually thought about it.”

Instead , Binoche concentrated on a constant rise through the ranks of world cinema. Rather than addicted to the fame and wealth brought by Hollywood,Binoche simply continued working with celebrated filmmakers from-around the globe ,developing a reputation as a risk-taker.“For me, the risk is to repeat myself or get into a comfort zone that is not opening my horizons(视野),”she says.

Now 58, there isn’t much this extraordinary artist hasn ‘t done. On stage, she starred with Akram Khan at London ‘s National Theatre in dance piece In-i.”When you’re not a dancer , then you see that you need courage , you need trust and you need magic that is inside you that is going to take place,”she says. She also sang in the show It ‘s Almost Nothing and would love to film a musical. Which one? “I would never answer that,”she smiles.“ A film is a connection of different people.”In other words,about creative magic.