【推荐1】David, a famous scientist, has made several important medical breakthroughs(突破), a reporter interviewed him asking why he was able to be so much more creative than most people.

David said that it all came from an experience with his mother that happened when he was about four years old. He tried to remove a bottle of milk from the fridge and it fell, spilling the milk all over the kitchen floor - a real sea of milk!

Instead of shouting at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, his mother said, “What a great and wonderful mess you have made! Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “David, whenever you make a mess like this, which do you prefer to use, a sponge, or a mop?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the floor.

His mother then said, “You have a failed experiment in how to successfully carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy then learned that if he held the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it.

This famous scientist said he had learnt a lot from that little accident. It was at that moment that he knew mistakes were not something bad at all. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just chances for learning something new, which is, we still can learn something valuable from it.

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A man found a cocoon (茧) of a butterfly, and he brought it home. He loved butterflies and was crazy about their wonderful colors. In fact, he had spent a lot of time around butterflies. He knew how a butterfly would struggle to change from an ugly worm into a beautiful one.

One day, a very small opening appeared in the cocoon. He sat and watched the cocoon for several hours. The butterfly had been struggling very hard for hours to come out through the opening, but there was no progress. It seemed that the butterfly had tried its best and could not give any more try.

The man was so eager to watch the butterfly fly with its beautiful wings that he decided to help the butterfly. He made a much larger opening so that the butterfly would emerge easily.

The butterfly came out of the cocoon without any more struggles. The man continued to watch the butterfly. He expected that in time the butterfly would be able to fly.

Unluckily, that never happened. The man came to realize that only pushing its way through the small opening the butterfly would have been able to fly as soon as it came out.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. A butterfly must struggle through the small opening to force the fluid (液体) from its body into its wings. Only in this way can the butterfly’s wings be large enough for flight.

If we don’t want to experience any struggle, we won’t be able to fly.

【推荐3】It was a Christmas night. I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on such a beautiful festival. When I was unhappy about it, three people appeared at my desk—a tired woman and two children.

One child said he had a fever, but his temperature was OK. The other child said she had an earache, but she could not tell me which ear hurt. It seemed that the mother was trying to cough I checked their information-no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless while the hospital was warm.

Quietly, I went back to the nurses’ station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses’ station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for “a Christmas emergency (急诊)”.

We took out our meals for our Christmas “patients”. We also put together oranges and apples as presents. We tried to satisfy the needs of a family who only wanted a warm place on Christmas night. Later, the little girl kissed me and said, “Thanks for being our angel.”

【推荐1】I’m Tom. I’m an American boy. I’m thirteen years old. I’m studying in a middle school. I have a good friend. His name’s Jim Green. He is from   (来自)   England. He’s thirteen, too. My sister is Ann Smith. She is ten. She has a round face(圆的脸) and a small nose. She is very nice. She is a student, too. We are in the same school, but we are in different grades. I’m in Class 3, Grade 7.   She’s in Grade 4. Our Chinese teacher is from China. She is Miss Gao .She teaches us Chinese and tells us stories about China .She has big eyes and long hair. She is really beautiful. We all like (喜欢) her very much.

Richard is the unluckiest boy in the world. He hardly ever falls ill(生病), but if he falls ill, it will mostly be on the weekend.     1    His bird sings very well, but when he asks his friends to listen to it, the bird becomes silent (沉默的).

    2    He has wonderful parents and a lovely sister. He has a singing bird. His classmates are friendly. Richard is always happy and he is kind.

One day, Richard’s mother gave him some money to buy some books. When he arrived at the bookstore, he saw an old man outside it. He had old clothes and terrible glasses. Richard thought he was poor and hungry.     3     “Thank you. You are a kind boy. But I’m not poor. Keep your money please. I’m the richest man in town and I sometimes wear old clothes to see what people do,” the man said and gave the money back.

The man took Richard to the biggest shop in town and said, “    4     I can buy you the most expensive one.” Richard asked, “Can I choose two?” “Of course,” answered the man.

Richard chose the newest radio because he wanted to give it to his grandfather and let him feel happy.     5    

【推荐1】It is a fact that people die every moment of every day. However, the deaths of those who have done great work in the public realm (领域) can be especially shocking and heartbreaking — even to those who don’t know them personally

On Jan. 26, Kobe Bryant, one of the most legendary (传奇的) NBA players in history, died in a terrible accident. He was 41 years old when a helicopter he was riding crashed, killing him and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant.

Following Bryant’s death, people have paid tribute (敬意) to the basketball superstar — not just for his achievements on the court, but also for his personality and the inspiration he has given to us.

In the basketball world, Bryant ranks among the top players of all time. He centered the NBA directly from high school as a basketball prodigy (神童) . He played his whole 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and helped the team win five NBA championships. He was fast, skillful and aggressive (进攻性的) , which earned him the nickname Black Mamba, one of the most deadly snakes in the world. That’s why his competitive philosophy (哲学) is known as the “Mamba Mentality”.

“Mamba mentality is you’re going, you’re competing, you’re not worried about the end result.” Bryant said, “It’s all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most.”

Off the court, Bryant was known as a successful businessman, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, and a proud father of four daughters.

The fact that Bryant is no longer with us is sad. We’ll never see him give another interview or play in another game. But the work he has done will keep inspiring us years after his death.

【推荐2】Rick was a young boy who was angry at everything around him. To help with Rick, his mom came home with a canvas (画布) and paint. “Whenever you feel bad about something, paint it instead of getting angry.” Though not that happy, Rick gave it a try. After creating many paintings, he took his artwork to his mom.

“Tell me, Rick. What are these paintings about?”

“The first is about how some kids show off their new clothes. The next is about my teacher who always tells me about how I’m doing things wrong. And the last painting is about how one of my schoolmates said I should change my attitude. They all make me so angry.”

Rick’s mom took Rick by her side and told him, “Don’t you see, Rick? You’re getting so angry but you never try to understand why.” Then she explained carefully, “All the people you were angry at did nothing wrong. The kids were showing off their good clothes but never laughed at you for being poor. Your teacher rebuke you but that was because you caused trouble in class. And your schoolmate was only trying to help you correct your mistakes.”

“Next time you get angry, take a deep breath and walk away for a couple of seconds. And when you come back, talk to the person you’re angry at. You might calm down in this way.”

Rick took his mom’s advice and became less angry. He even started to feel happy around other children.

【推荐3】Martin is my youngest son. He likes staying alone and he seldom laughs. As the boy’s mother, I was worried about him. I took him to see the doctors in many hospitals, but it didn’t work well.

Nothing could make him happy except the recycling truck (垃圾回收车) passing by my house. Every afternoon, he ran to the front of the house, waiting for the truck.

When we were late and missed the truck, Martin would be very despondent. One day, I stopped the truck and introduced myself,

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Vince.” The driver greeted me in a happy voice. After knowing our story, he said, “Could you please give me your phone number? Maybe I can send you a message before I arrive.”

Then began our friendship with Vince.

Recently, I said to him, “It’s my little boy’s birthday tomorrow. Can you do something special for him?”

The next day, as I was standing by the driveway with Martin,we saw the green truck running down the street with a loud beep (嘟啷声). Like a superman in a movie, Vince stopped and walked towards us with a box in his hand.

“Today is your birthday, Martin,and here’s a gift.”

He handed the box to my son. Inside, there was a green model truck like his. My son, surprised, looked up happily and thanked him:

After chatting for several minutes, he was about to leave for work. I tried to give him some money for his help. He kept shaking his head and refused my money, saying “Today you, tomorrow me.”

I was deeply moved by these simple words. And I have been ready to help other whenever I can. You will never know when you’re going to be the one that needs help.

【推荐3】Humans and gorillas (大猩猩) shared evolution (进化) for 23 million years. Their paths separated only six million years ago. New research on how gorillas communicate may help us better understand human language.

Understanding how the brain works helps us see a connection between language development and non-verbal signs. “Gorillas have many kinds of non-verbal communication” said psychologist Sebastian Forrester, from the University of Sussex. He thinks humans may have had the same communication skills.

Non-verbal communication includes the ways we move our bodies and the different expressions on our faces. A new study on gorillas showed that right-handedness may have a connection with communication. The right side of the body is controlled by the left part of the brain, which is also where language develops.

Two cameras were used to watch how one gorilla moved. It was shown that gorillas use their right hands more when they are doing actions with their heads or mouths at the same time. This may show that there is a connection between how our brains work and the reason we use one side of our body more than the other.

Forrester said the results could help us understand how children learn languages. For example, some children have a condition called autism (自闭症) in which they have a hard time communicating with other people. This same kind of study may help doctors find autism in children at an earlier age.