One of my most memorable trips took place during the summer vacation about three years ago, when my sister, my aunt and I took a trip to Spain because we were moving. On the day of the trip, I lay in bed thinking about my friends whom I was going to leave behind and thoughts were flooding in. I was not comfortable and cried.

We had to book a van (厢式送货车) to take our luggage to the airport, because it was too much for a taxi. We waited for a long period to find a perfect van that would fit our luggage.

The journey was almost perfect at the beginning, but soon it began to rain. Because of the rain, the drivers could not see far away, which caused a huge traffic jam. I was sitting by the window with a can of Coke. My aunt and sister fell asleep, and during this time, I felt bored and thought about other things that bothered me. My eyes turned to the mountain in front of us.

A bus suddenly appeared in the picture. It was very close to us. Cars sped past us without any speed limit. Beside me was a very deep lake: I wondered to myself what if something or someone fell inside it. Suddenly, a bus in front of our van stopped, and because it was raining heavily and the van was going fast, no one could see what was going to happen. Then, bang, we bumped into each other. Our van overturned, but luckily, it didn’t fall into the lake. People came to help us get out of the van because we were blocked and the driver was half-dead.

We struggled to get out of the van and waited for the emergency aid to come.

I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a bustling mall. I personally have hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place.

Yesterday I had a taste of being stuck in such a desperate situation where your only hope of help would have to come from a total stranger.

I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage. After the purchase in one of the large and expensive shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot and my phone was dead.

I then requested the shop assistant selling me the luggage, which was not cheap at all, if she could ring the number of my driver for me. She replied, still all smiles, “I’m sorry Sir, but it is the shop policy that we cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop.”

As I was wondering what kind of policy that was, I saw a nice-looking teenage boy coming toward me. Remember my wife’s interesting theory that beautiful people are more likely to give you a hand when you’re in trouble, I thought I might have a chance. But before I could say a word, he walked past me. It turned out he simply didn’t see me.

I waited in the mall but it seemed nobody bothered to look at me. Disappointed and tired, I got out of the shop on to the busy street in front. I stood there with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if they will show kindness to me. I began wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the shop girl and the teenager.

That was when I saw a young mother with her two kids.

Finally a man wearing a cheap T-shirt and dirty jeans seemed to notice me.

Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.

One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.

Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.

The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.

Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.

Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.

At the age of 14, I climbed my first mountain, which was a 3,800-foot peak near the city where I live. I was overweight at the time and out of breath when I reached the top. But taking on the challenge of conquering something bigger than myself excited me. Soon I’d climbed nearly 100 peaks. My parents were happy that I’d finally found a hobby.

I often go climbing with my friend Sara, whom I’d met in a climbing club. One year ago when I was 17, Sara and I decided to climb the 11,240-foot Mount Hood.

It’s safer to start winter climbs at night when there’s less risk of the sun melting the snow. That day, we started at 3 a.m., following the path alongside the ski runs. The temperature was about -10 degrees, and we wore layers we could easily remove, knowing the climbing would make us warm. Along the way, we met some other climbers, and all of us continued on together.

After about five hours, we reached a highland at about 10,000 feet, just before the final push to the top. By this point, the wind conditions were bad. My exposed skin felt as though it were burning. Two of the climbers decided to turn back, but the rest of us went ahead. Sara and I had ice axes, helmets and crampons (钉鞋). We were prepared for the climb.

The trail we followed grew narrower and steeper. At around 9 a.m., we reached a big block of ice called an ice step. It was about three or four feet tall. I volunteered to go first. I placed my left foot on the ice step.

I gained a sense of the ice when I stuck my axe and crampons into it, and it felt good. Confident I was safe, I put my full weight on it. Suddenly, I heard a crack, and a whole piece of ice broke off the step, right under my foot.

Suddenly, I fell backwards. Sara tried to reach me but she failed. I fell down and started rolling down the mountain as if I were a character in a video game. I stuck out my arms and legs, grabbing at anything.

That helped stop my rolling down the mountain, but I was still sliding.

Fortunately, hearing my whistle, Sara made her way down with other climbers.

It took place in a teacher’s family. One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room after school, when he accidentally threw the ball at a vase sitting on the shelf. The vase dropped to the floor and a large piece broke off. What made Ben more upset was that the vase was not a common decoration but an antique (古董), which was handed down through generations from the 18th century. It was also his mother’s favourite possession. To cover his terrible action, the terrified boy glued the pieces together hurriedly and put the vase back to its place.

As the mother herself dusted the vase every day, she naturally noticed the cracks (裂纹) that evening. To her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the suddenly inspired boy said that a neighbour’s cat jumped in from the window and he couldn’t drive it away no matter how hard he tried. It raced around the living room and finally knocked the vase off its shelf. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying, for all the windows were closed before she left for work each morning and opened after she returned. However, in the face of her son’s nervous eyes and the suspicious looks of the other family members, Ben’s mother remained calm. She realized she shouldn’t just simply blame and punish her son for lying. She came up with another idea.

Before going to bed, the boy found a note from his mother in his room, asking him to go to the study at once. The boy thought he would now be punished but, as he had already lied, he was determined to deny everything to the end, no matter how angry his mum became.

In the study, calmly bathed in the light, his mothers face showed no sign of anger. On seeing her son push open the door and cautiously enter, she took a chocolate box out of a drawer and gave him one.

The mother said, “This chocolate is a reward for your imagination: a window-opening cat!”

Now with some chocolates in hand, the boy’s bad attitude disappeared.