A new book, the bestseller, Willpower, says that having strong willpower (意志力) is necessary to a successful life. The book starts by describing a famous experiment: The Marshmallow (软糖) Test. In 1972. a psychology (心理学) professor Mischel tested the willpower of 600 kids. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow on a table in front of them. They were given two choices: they could either eat the marshmallow or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they’d be given a second marshmallow (and then they could eat both).

So, what did the kids do? 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes, but the other 30% showed willpower—they didn’t eat the first one and waited for the second marshmallow quietly.

Twenty years later, Mischel discovered something interesting: He got in touch with the children and found that those with strong willpower were getting better marks at university, were better behaved and were more popular. So, how important it is to have strong willpower!

But don’t worry if you aren’t good at controlling yourself. The authors say that willpower is like a muscle (肌肉). The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. However, just like any muscle, your “willpower muscle” can get tired. So, if you have to do lots of things that need willpower, take a break. That way, you’ll build up your willpower again.

Lastly, the authors mention that if you want to have a lot of willpower, you can learn foreign languages. People who learn foreign languages usually have more willpower.

【推荐3】Remember when you were a little child trying to learn to walk?

First, you had to learn how to balance yourself and stand. You fell down, and then got back up. You laughed sometimes and cried at other times. After much practice, you finally learned how to balance yourself. You got much pleasure from this new feeling of power—you’d stand everywhere you could. It was a happy time—you did it!

Now, the next step—walking. You’d seen others do it. It didn’t look that hard—just move your legs while you were standing. Wrong—more difficult than you ever imagined. But after you tried again and again, you understood how to walk.

If people around you found you walking, they cheered, “Oh, look at what the kid is doing.” This encouraged you! But look back on those days when you were the little child—how many times did you try when no one was watching, or when no one was cheering? You couldn’t wait for someone to encourage you to take the next steps. You learned how to encourage yourself.

So, keep trying and encouraging yourself as you learned to walk if you want to succeed in doing something.

When you look at the map of the Tengger Desert (腾格里沙漠), you will see a “green wall” in the southwest. It prevents Wuwei City of Gansu Province from sandstorms.

With an area of over 8,000 mu, the “green wall” was planted by Wang Tianchang and his family. They have done this great job for over 20 years.

In his seventies now, Wang Tianchang is an ordinary farmer from Gansu Province. He and his family live in a small village close to the Tengger Desert. People there once suffered a lot from sandstorms for a long time. To protect the farms and houses and hold the sand back, Wang Tianchang decided to do something. In 1999, Wang planted his first plant in the desert and started his life of sand control.

It is never easy to bring life on the desert. In the beginning, Wang had no experience with desert plants. The sand covered the holes he dug very soon. The wind rooted out the seedlings he planted even on the second day he had done. It was challenging, but he never gave up.

His family helped him a lot, especially his son Wang Yinji. To plant more trees, the two of them even lived in the desert for about six years. They found grass to sleep on as their beds.

Thanks to Wang’s “green wall”, Wuwei City sees much fewer sandstorms. Wang has brought back not only green to the desert but also hopes to the people there. He is our hero!

Fifteen years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One day I went to pick up a passenger（乘客）at 2:40 am. When I arrived there, I walked to the door and knocked.

After a while, the door opened. A small woman stood before me. She was more than eighty years old. By her side was a big bag.

When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address（地址）, and then asked, “Could you drive through the city?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I know,” she said, “I’m on my way to a hospice（临终关怀医院）. I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly turned off the meter（计程表）. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived. We drove to the address she had given me. “How much do I pay you?” she asked. “None,” I said. “You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.

Almost without thinking, I gave her a hug. She said, “You gave an old woman a moment of happiness.”

By touching a screen in a small room at the Shijia Hutong Museum in Beijing, visitors can hear more than 300 old Beijing sounds that have disappeared in the modern city.

“Families living in hutongs used to buy things from people traveling through streets,” said Colin Siyuan Chinnery, who started the sound project.

Wang Lin is 26 years old, he comes from Hangzhou, a city in eastern China. He was shocked (震惊) when he learned that camels were used to carry coal, silk, rice and other things in Beijing many years ago. “I didn’t believe it until I heard the camel bells in the museum.” Wang said.

“Most sounds of old Beijing have disappeared. That’s why I want to record them. Old sounds can still bring back people’s memories,” Chinnery said.

As an artist living in China, when Chinnery lived in Beijing as a child, the sound of pigeon whistles (鸽哨) from Beijing’s streets left him a deep impression. “I’ve never heard that in other countries.” he said.

However, these sounds were hard to find. It took him a long time to find a 94­year­old man who used to sell things on the streets and record his shouts to advertise (宣传) his goods and services. To recreate (重现) the sound of camel bells, Chinnery went to the desert and recorded the sound there.

Hobbies can be the first teachers for many of life's lessons. If you are collecting something as a hobby, it may be coins, stamps or what else interests you. You learn many things along the way. Kids can learn skills of their future work from hobbies.

So what are the best hobbies for kids?

Reading

If a child can lose himself or herself in a good book, he or she can find a whole new world without ever leaving the house! It is reported that readers do better in schoolwork and exams than people who don't read.

Arts and Crafts (工艺)

Arts and crafts are also a great way for teaching kids the importance of using their own hands to create something from nothing.

Collections

Whether they are stamps, coins, baseball cards, model cars, ships, dolls,or whatever else interests your child, a collection is a great way to learn about people and places. Anything they choose to collect can be turned into an educational experience, important events and even all the social skills.

Music

This may not be ideal for all kids as some people are naturally more musical than others. Yet if your kid enjoys singing or dancing, they can become great hobbies. Even learning a musical instrument is a good way to obey rules.

Sports and Games

Outdoor sports and indoor games are good for the complete development of a child's personality. Speed, skill and teamwork are needed. This is a good hobby for any kid.