One day, an 11-year-old girl asked her dad, “What are you going to get me for my 15th birthday?” The father replied, “Don’t worry about that. We still have plenty of time.”

But on a day after her 14th birthday, she passed out (昏倒) and was rushed to the hospital. The family learned that the girl had a serious heart disease and that she might die. At night, she asked her dad, “Daddy, have they told you that I am going to die?” The father replied, “No, you will live as long as anyone else.” She wondered and asked, “How can you be sure?”

He smiled to her and said, “I just know it.”

After the girl turned 15, she had a heart transplant (心脏移植手术). After she came back from the hospital, she found a letter on her bed. It said, “My dearest daughter, one day you asked me what I would give you for your 15th birthday. I wasn’t sure then. But now you know that my present to you is my heart.” The father had given his heart to his daughter.

Parents are selfless (无私的). They even make great sacrifices to make their children grow up happily. Keep this in mind when you feel angry toward your parents. Always, they’re just doing what they think best for you.

A few years ago, my wife and I moved to New York for work. I always loved jogging (慢跑), so I was really ________ when I found out our house was next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go ________ a run before I went to work.

Because a lot of people had told ________ to be careful of thieves (窃贼) in the park, I usually didn’t take anything with me. What could they ________ from me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning my wife asked me to buy some ________ on the way home, so I took $10 out of my wallet.

While I was running through the park, another jogger ________ into me. He said sorry and continued running. I thought it was a bit ________ so I checked my pocket and found that the money was missing. Without thinking twice, I started to run after him right away. I ________ caught him by his arm. I started shouting and told him to give me the $10. I was not usually a hot-headed person but I really got very angry. This seemed to frighten (惊吓) him and he quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ________ as fast as he could.

I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I came back there, I began to tell my wife my story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started. She stopped me, “I know. You left the ________ for the bread on the kitchen table.”

A study showed that three quarters of British people couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.     1     Here are four pieces of advice.

Go to bed and wake up at the same time

This helps set your body’s clock and improve your sleep. Choose a bedtime when you normally feel tired.     2     If you need an alarm clock, you may need an earlier bedtime.

Keep the right temperature

As you become sleepy, your temperature will go down, reach its lowest level around 5:00 a.m. and climb slightly as the morning begins.     3     So keep your room cool and find what temperature makes you most comfortable.

Exercise

    4     In fact, research shows that even exercise before bedtime doesn’t cause sleeping problems for many people and in some cases, it might even be helpful.

Turn your clock the other way

Checking the time at night can be bad as it can lead you to work out how many hours you have slept so far.     5     This kind of brain activity could make you awake at times. So turn your phone and clock away and have a good sleep.

10 . On a farm lived a father and a son. The father always got up early and read books by the stove. One morning, the son came up to him and said, “Dad, I read books at night but forget most of them the next morning. What’s the good of reading? "

The father didn’t reply to his question at once. He passed him a basket that was used to carry coal. He said, “Get some water from the river with the basket and then I’ll tell you the answer.”

The son felt surprised but he did as his father said. He tried many times but every time the water leaked (漏掉) from the basket.

An hour later, the son came back with the empty basket and told his father it was impossible to hold water with the basket. The father said with a smile, “Yes, you are right, my son. The basket can't hold water. But did you notice the basket was different?” The son found the dirty basket had become clean. The father continued, “Reading is like holding water with the basket. Although we can't remember all we read, we have changed while reading.”