A Girl with Stage Fright

It was obviously going to be one of those days. Students were preparing for a singing contest actively. Paul, a music teacher, made comments on the students' performance at the end of a rehearsal（彩排）. A girl named Lisa did the poorest preparation. Paul was very annoyed and entirely frustrated with her. He doesn't recall how he closed the rehearsal, but he's sure the words he chose were not words that would lift the girl's spirits but rather satisfy his selfish need to punish her for the poor performance.

The moment Paul dismissed the students, Lisa, the very reserved freshman girl, made a path straight toward him. She looked him right in the eye and said, "I hate you!" Paul was taken aback and frightened by the passion and honesty in her voice. Though entirely shocked, he was somehow able to collect himself and stay calm. He looked her right in the eye and said, "Well, that's a shame, but it's my duty to remind you and inspire you. " She didn't react, but rather stormed away, her anger unchanged.

Several days later, they had the occasion to speak in private. Lisa asked if Paul remembered the time she told him that she hated him. How could he forget? She went on to admit quite openly and honestly that it was herself, not him, who she hated. The moment got heavy and she began to tell him of her fear and pressure when standing on the stage. She believed that no matter how well she prepared, she would perform terribly on the stage. Paul became aware that she had serious stage fright and also realized that maybe he had done something improper several days ago. Then he talked to her patiently and sincerely, hoping to help her build the confidence.

The day before the contest, she was practising for the singing competition alone.

However, the next morning, when she stood on the stage, her face turned pale.

Our family has had a relationship with Bozo, an ancient desert tortoise（龟）whose life averages 80 to 100 years, for about 50 years. We first met him in the early 1970s in the backyard of an older woman who lived a few houses down from us in our suburb. Our three kids, Sheldon, Detra and Ryan, visited regularly and our neighbor loved to entertain them and teach them about desert tortoises. The kids were ages 10, 8 and 2 at the time. Our neighbor estimated that Bozo was around 60.

In the late 1980s, our neighbor passed away, and her husband gave Bozo to our oldest son. Sheldon. He and Bozo have always shared a special bond. Sheldon is always patting Bozo's shell and head when they are together, which Bozo loves.

Bozo happily lived with Sheldon until 2008, when Sheldon and his family had to move a bit farther north, where the climate was too cold for Bozo. He's lived in our backyard ever since. We feed him vegetables, but he primarily feeds on the grass in our yard. He digs his burrows（洞穴）to hibernate（冬眠）in during late fall and winter, waking up in the spring.

My son-in-law dug a big burrow, about six feet long and 12 inches wide for Bozo, which has since made some expansions and decorations. We now have more than 12 feet of burrows in our yard. with dirt and rocks covering the entrance. Bozo loves his burrows, but he comes out of hiding when he hears our voices. In 1995, someone asked Sheldon if he'd like another desert tortoise, a female named Mindy. Desert tortoises shouldn't be taken out of the wild, but they won't adapt if returned to nature after they've been domesticated（驯养）. She needed a home, so Mindy became Bozo's mate.

In the summer, we will always find eggs in the burrows.

Well protected, Bozo is over 100 and remains energetic.

“Nothing will ever be the same again,” Ally said to herself.

Ally's father died last summer. It wasn't fair, Ally thought. Dad was young and had never been sick. Why had his heart suddenly stopped? Ally sank slow into her father's favorite chair and looked at his picture on the bookcase. Ally smiled. “I miss you, Dad,” she said softly.

At this moment, she felt a hand smoothing her hair and looked up. “Why don't you come outside with me, Ally?” her mother asked. “The birds are nesting in the woods. By this time last year you'd already taken dozens of pictures.”

But her mother must know birdwatching wouldn't be the same this year. How could it be? Ally wondered. Ever since she could remember she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods for the special wood warbler (林柳莺). “I'll be out in while, I promise,” she answered.

After her mother left, Ally reached for the photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover was a photo of a tiny yellow bird with blue-gray wings and black eyes. Dad cut it from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on Dad's face when he showed her the pretty bird.

“I can't believe someone spotted this little guy way up here in New Jersey,” he said. “Wood warblers are usually found in the south, not this far north. I bet if we search really hard, Ally, we'll see this little guy together someday.”

Ally closed her eyes. She loved thinking about the times she and Dad had spent searching the woods for the little bird. They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. He was her best friend.

When they were together, Ally felt comfortable with her favorite blue sweatshirt on.

Just then her mother came to her, carrying the old net.

“No 7, Jobie Nymble, takes the lead,” cried the announcer. “Just one more hurdle (跨栏) and ...” Cheers broke out. “Jobie Nymble from Riverside Middle School takes first place in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles!” The crowd went wild.

“County championships (锦标赛), here we come,” screamed Jobie, patting her green track spikes (钉鞋). They were her lucky shoes and she loved them. “Next Saturday, we’re taking home the gold,” Jobie whispered to her spikes, excitedly retying them.

“Don’t forget, guys,” said Marisol, one of her teammates. “My birthday party is next Friday at Hidden Park.”

Next weekend couldn’t come soon enough. Jobie smiled with excitement all week long. At track practice, she leaped over those hurdles faster than she’d ever leaped before. And it wasn’t long before everything in her path was a hurdle: flowerpots in her front yard, sidewalk cracks on the way to the bus stop and even her little sister, Teka!

The day of Marisol’s party, Jobie put on her favorite outfit: her blue shorts, an old track T-shirt from her dad, and her lucky spikes. “Perfect.” She smiled at herself in the mirror.

The party was under way when Jobie arrived at Hidden Park. She stopped by the track first, planning to do some practice.

“Jobie!” Two of Jobie’s teammates rushed toward her, breathless and barefoot. “Come on,” they yelled. “You have to try the slide.”

Jobie looked toward the party area. Suddenly, she saw it. The biggest slide she had ever seen was on the far side of the park. Smiling kids zoomed down the slide at unspeakable speeds. Without thinking twice, Jobie took off her spikes and dashed (猛冲) toward the slide. Its ladder stretched to the sky, but she reached the top in no time, closed her eyes and let go.

Jobie couldn’t get enough. She tried again and again. When it was finally time to go home, she unwillingly made her way back to the track where she’d left her shoes.

As she eyed the area from a distance, panic set in.

The next day, Jobie turned up in a new pair of spikes for the championships.

This happened with me once while coming back from office late at night. The time was around 11:30 pm and most of the public transport had stopped.

It had been a long busy day. I was annoyed and too eager to reach home and rest. I was on my bike. The traffic signal just before my house turned red and my anger rose.

Then suddenly someone came up from behind me and tied to hand me a piece of paper.I thought it was another one of those people who hand you pages of some sad story and ask you for money. I could feel anger boiling up inside me shirked (避开) the person away with the motion of my hand without even looking at him.

This guy moved over to the next person in traffic and did a similar thing of showing him the paper. The other guy who was not in as bad mood as mine looked at the paper and started giving directions.It was at this moment realized that the person who came to me was asking for directions. He couldn't speak so he had written it down on a piece of paper.He was not some beggar asking for money, and he was dressed as a salesman carrying one of those bully encyclopedias (百科全书). After getting the directions he smiled at the person,bowed his head showing his appreciation and jogged away to the other end of the road.

I felt a sudden tender pity for him.By the time the signal turned green this salesman was standing at the other end of the road signalling people for a lift.I decided to help him out but my house was on a different route than where he was asking for a lift.I moved on but I was still feeling bad fr treating a hard working person that way.

After going about 100 meters, I decided to turn back to offer him a helping hand.

When another bike stopped and he sat on the bike, he noticed me in the distance.

Nowadays, an increasing number of young Chinese spend money because they are “lazy”. According to a report issued in December by China’s e-commerce platform Taobao on China’s “lazy economy”, Chinese people spent 16 billion yuan on products and services online in 2018. The post-1995 generation was the “laziest” as its consumption increased by 82 percent, compared with that in 2017.

The so-called lazy economy refers to a new type of consumption of products and services which are designed to save time and labor. According to the report, many people of the post-1995 generation buy high-tech electronic devices such as floor mopping robots and automatic window cleaners, which save the trouble of doing household chores. Meanwhile, take-out food delivery services are also popular among people born after 1995.

Young people are willing to spend money on such products because they want to enjoy hard-earned leisure time after a busy and stressful day at work or school, reported Global Times. Because they need to focus on their studies or jobs, these so-called lazy people tend to use their leisure time more efficiently. For example, Wei Duo, a 21-year-old college student, is a frequent user of take-out food delivery services. “I once had a birthday cake delivered to my friend who lives far from my home. It cost me 50 yuan but it saved me almost half a day that would have been needed to deliver it myself My friend was also happy because she got to eat the cake instantly.” Wei told the Global Times.

While the “lazy economy” might be convenient for young people, it might also create problems. The lazy economy’ on campus is expressed in things like people buying food or other things without leaving the dormitory. As a result, they stay in their dormitories all day long, playing on computers and smart phones. According to Jinan Daily, this situation could lead to young people becoming less sociable and even developing problems of communicating with others. Young people should be alert (警觉的) to it.

In early November, I told the pupils in my class I taught in Delaware about my plan. “I'd like all of you to do extra jobs around the house to cam some money,” I said. “Then we'll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise.”

I wanted them to understand that religion is more than noble ideas; that people somehow have to make it come alive. I hoped they could experience a sense of their own power to make changes.

Early in Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in class holding their hard-earned money. They had set tables, washed dishes, cared for younger sisters or brothers. And now they couldn't wait to go shopping.

I supervised (监督) while they moved quickly up and down the supermarket. At last we headed toward the checkout, pushing a cart (购物车) filled with turkey and other pieces of food. Then someone spotted a “necessity” that sent them racing.

“Flowers!” Kristine cried. The group ran toward the holiday plants.

It was more meaningful to use any extra money to buy staples (主食) that could be stretched into meals. After all, I pronounced, “You can't eat flowers.”

“But Mrs. Sherlock, we want flowers." Defeated, 1 looked at the collection of purple chrysanthemums (菊花). “She’ll like this one,” the children agreed, and put the purple plant into the cart gently.

An agency had given us the name and address of a needy grandmother who had lived alone for many years.

Soon we were bouncing along a road to her house. The atmosphere in the car was definitely not spiritual. “You're squishing (压扁) me!” one voice announced. “I think I'm scared of strangers,” said another. Between giggling (咯咯地笑) and punching, and those purple flowers, I wasn't sure that any lesson about giving and receiving was getting through.

We finally pulled up in front of a small house.