【推荐1】There were three young girls in a small town. They were best friends and each girl had a dream.

The girl whose family was rich said she would never be happy until she was beautiful. The second girl was beautiful, but she said she wouldn’t be happy until she was rich. The third girl, who wasn’t good-looking and was quite poor, said she was happy even though she had nothing. But she said she would be happier if all the people around her were happy. The other two laughed at the girl for her simple way of thinking.

To pursue their dreams, the first two girls went to big cities, trying to find happiness. The third girl stayed in town, helping disabled children. She met a nice man and after getting married, they worked with disabled kids.

Years later, the girl received a call from her old friends. When they met, the rich girl explained that she had surgery（手术）on her face to make her beautiful, but the surgery wasn’t successful. She was terribly unhappy. The second girl had married a rich man, but his business failed. So she left him and then she was alone and unhappy.

Then, the third girl told them about her simple life. She was not only smart but also kind. She helped them learn to be happy with what they had. They finally learned that happiness didn’t come from the outside but from somewhere deep inside a person’s heart.

【推荐2】Mr. Smith has a cat. He likes her very much. When he has dinner, the cat always sits at the table with him. The man eats with a knife and a fork, but the cat eats from her plate. Sometimes, when she finishes her dishes, Mr. Smith will give her a little of his own food. He always shares his food with his lovely cat. Today the cat is not at the table at the dinner time. “Ah, where is my cat?” asks Mr. Smith. His wife says: “You can’t eat without her?”

So the dinner begins without the cat. Before dinner is over, the cat runs into the room and jumps into the chair quickly. She has two mice in her mouth, and before Mr. and Mrs. can stop her, she drops(扔下) one into her own plate, and the other into Mr. Smith’s plate. “Dear me!” cries Mrs. Smith, “A mouse is in your plate!” “Hush!” says Mr. Smith, “This shows that she is really a nice cat. She knows what friendship(友谊) is. She wishes me to share her dinner just like I often share mine with her.”

【推荐3】In a small village there was a postman. When he was twenty years old, he started sending all kinds of happy or sad stories to the villagers’ homes fifty kilometers away day after day. Twenty years flew by, and many changes took place, but there were still no trees along the road, only flying dust (尘土).

“How long shall I go along this dusty road?”

As soon as he thought he had to spend his life riding the bike on the road with no flowers or trees, he felt very sad.

One day when he finished sending the letters and was ready to return, he passed by a flower shop. “Right, that’s it!” He walked into the shop, bought some wild flower seeds (种子), and the next day he began to drop these seeds along the road. After one day, two days, one month, two months... he always kept dropping the wild flower seeds.

After long, a lot of little flowers came out along the road, blooming (开花) in all seasons. For the villagers, the flowers and the sweet smell were more pleasant than any letters the postman sent in all his life.

On the road without dust but full of petals (花瓣), the postman rode his bike happily. He never felt lonely or anxious any more.

【推荐1】As time goes by, are you still the same person you used to be? Many of you would think you are. But according to a new study, your personality can change greatly. You could be a completely different person at 77, compared to when you were a 14-year-old, reported The Huffington Post.

An expert in the UK did the study on a group of English people. The research found that almost everyone’s personality changed when they grew old. The findings came out in a magazine called Psychology and Aging.

The research was based on a study that began in 1950. A group of teachers gave more than 1,200 14-year-old students personality tests. They tested six basic personality traits(特点): self-confidence, sense of responsibility(责任感), patience, a strong wish to win, creativity and self-control.

In 2012, researchers successfully found 174 of the 1,200 students, who were 77 years old on average at the time. They agreed to take a personality test. That was similar to the one they had completed 63 years ago.

Researchers then compared the then-and-now test results. They were surprised to find great changes to all six personality traits of these people. Self-control and sense of responsibility had changed less. But there were still not many similarities between the two results.

The younger and older self seemed to be completely different for each person. “It was as if the second test had been given to different people,” the study’s authors noted.

In the past, personality was widely believed to stay the same. However, this new study may bring some fresh ideas.

LIFE is AWKWARD. What should you do when your parents are embarrassing (使尴尬) you in front of your friends? Or what if you see what looks like a classmate stealing someone else’s headphones? In our social Q’s column (专栏), the teenager Harper Ediger and the adult Philip Glances give their best advice to kids looking for help navigating real-life situations. Now it’s your turn: Do you have a question about an uncomfortable social situation at school, at home, on social media or among friends? Email it to us at Kjdsqs@njpost. com and Harper and Philip may answer it in a future issue. Please include your age and hometown. C’mon, we know you have one.

To inspire (激励) you, here are reader-submitted questions we’ve published in previous issues:

My mom signs me up for camps and activities without asking what I want to do. I only learn what I’m doing at the last minute. I don’t like that it’s a surprise, and I feel that I should be able to help plan my time. How can I have more of a say?

At my school, fourth graders need to learn different dances, then dress up for a fancy party where we ask partners to dance with us. This makes me nervous, and I’m not looking forward to it. How should I handle this situation?

My sister is home for college break, and lucky me, she’s my roommate. As I’m 12 and she’s almost 19, we both want our own space. I know she doesn’t mean it personally, but she always complains that she doesn’t have a home, which makes me feel as if I’m intruding in my own room. Do I tell her how I feel or let it go?

【推荐3】A lion was getting tired of hunting. He called all animals and passed an order. "Every day one of you should come by yourself as my food." All animals started to obey this order.

It was the rabbit's day. The rabbit was very sad. As he was going to the lion's den (兽穴), he came across an old well (井). He looked into it. It was very deep and dangerous. He made a plan in his mind.

The lion was very angry that no animal had come that day. The rabbit slowly came towards the lion. The lion shouted, "Why are you late?" The rabbit humbly (低声下气地) replied, "On my way another lion chased me. I got away with much difficulty to give my life to you."

The lion was pleased with the rabbit. But the thought of another lion in the jungle made him angry. The lion shouted, "Do you know where he lives?" The rabbit replied, "Yes, sir. Please come with me."

The rabbit took the lion to the old well. He said, "Sir, that lion lives in this well." The lion looked into the well. He mistook his reflection (倒影) for another lion. He shouted and there was an echo.

He thought that the other lion was shouting too and jumped into the well. That was the end of the lion.

A．the rabbit

B．the lion's den

C．the old well

D．the plan

A．pleased

B．angry

C．excited

D．bored