There are many respectable people around us

5 . What makes a sense of humour is a difficult thing to tell. Different people find different things funny, and what may seem hilarious to some might be highly rude to others. However, having a good sense of humour is important for reducing stress and getting along with others. Therefore, it’s important to think about ways to improve your sense of humour.

Look for the funny side of situations. While it can be difficult at times to find the funny side in unfortunate events when you’re having a bad day, try to think about how the situation might look like to other people, and attempt not to get too angry. Laughing over minor accidents, trips and falls will help you in preventing the loss of temper that you will regret later.

Learn some basic jokes. Some people find it hard to remember jokes, and feel left out when others are telling them. It’s worth trying to learn a few jokes that you can pull out of the bag when you need to, or regularly think about how you can turn a funny situation that occurs in daily life into an entertaining anecdote (趣闻) for later.

Look at jokes or funny cards. There are many different kinds of funny cards available, which can be a great inspiration for finding ways to improve your sense of humour. Giving an appropriate funny card to friends and family on the right occasion will show that you have a good sense of humour and are thinking about them.

Learn from friends. Look at friends that you think have a great sense of humour.   How do they deal with situations, and what kind of jokes do they make? Is there anything you can take away from their actions?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Yours,

Li Hua

7 . Every weekend, my father would go to the park to feed the homeless with other volunteers. I really didn’t understand my father’s _____   into it. But I was glad I didn’t have to _____   him, because I knew how much trouble my father had just getting everything ready.

Then, one Friday night I was   _____ a whole wonderful weekend by myself again when my dad came in.

“I need your help tomorrow. Some _____ won’t make it.”

“Dad, I can’t.” I protested (抗议), but _____.

When we arrived, people were already there _____us. I was _____   that my dad knew most of them by name and even what each one needed. While my father was feeding them, I started handing out some _____. It was at that time that I _____a girl about my age was barefoot (光脚). I looked into her clear eyes for a moment, ______   believing someone of my age could live like this. It was lucky that we took some ______. “Thank you!” she cried happily when I ______her the shoes. I felt very ______inside as I watched her leave.

Now I ______why my father did so much to help the homeless. I could ______   he loved seeing their smiles of happiness. I did too.

8 . When young, my parents often told me that it was time to teach a man everything. I didn’t understand and wondered why time had such a big influence ______ a person. I thought I could grow up quickly to find it out as a (n) ______. But now, ______ I come to knock at the door of adulthood, I feel ______ to express my own ______ on this saying. I know that I’m just a high school student with very ______ experiences. There are still many things ______ me in the future, yet I would like to express myself in a childish voice.

I once read this sentence, “To make this world a happy place to live in, you’d better change yourself and your heart, instead of the whole world.” I was ______. It made me think about life ______. There are so many things around us that ______ our will We can’t force life to ______ our wishes. The earth won’t stop turning no matter whether we accept it or not. What we can do is just to make ourselves ______ the world. I think we learn to accept ______ life gives us, no matter whether it’s the spring sunlight or the winter snowfall, and try to be ______.

Deeply moved by the pop song Grandmother (by Jay Chou), I always try to catch every pleasant thing in my life, but now I see I can’t catch most of the pleasant moments. It is more ______ that they slip by and leave you feeling ______ that I’m not just living ______ myself and that there are the others around me I ______ think of. They all pay attention to my growing up, even if it’s just a little progress.

Everyone has his or her own attitude towards life, positive or ______. It doesn’t matter, I think. There is one ______ that should be obeyed—and that’s to make this world a better place to live in.

10 . “Have you checked the oil in the car?” my father used to say to me, his version of “Hello, hope you are well.” Sometimes our phone calls would begin with an inquiry about the oil and end with one about the oil.

Fathers have a lot of love to give, but it’s often supplied through the medium of practical advice. In my experience: it’s mostly about my motor vehicle. My student car — an old green Toyota bought for $500 — was the vehicle for which my father carved his paternal (父亲的) affections. I bet it’s always been so.

Why can’t fathers just say “I love you” or “It’s great to see you”? The point is: You just have to translate from the language that is Fatherlish. Listen closely enough and the phrase “love you” can be heard in the slightly lengthier “I could come around Saturday and replace the seal around the base of your toilet because I assume that thing is getting really smelly.” The affectionate phrase “You made my life better from the moment you were born” may be rarely heard, but there is the more common “I’ll hold the ladder while you get the leaves off the roof.”

When I was 17, I went on my first road trip in that Toyota. My father stood on the corner. “Highways are dangerous,” he said, “so don’t try overtaking anything faster than a horse and carriage. And take a break every two hours. And every time you stop for gas, you really should check the oil.” At that time we thought his speech was pretty funny and would repeat “horse-and-carriage” every time I sped up to overtake some other speeding vehicles.

Dad’s long gone now. But after all these years, I realize that had I owned a copy of the Fatherlish-to-English dictionary, I’d have understood that the speech my friend and I so laughed at was simply dad’s attempt at affection.