Why do you remember Hello Kitty, Snoopy and all the other playful animals? What makes you love them? Well, maybe because they're like the people around you. Think about it! You may just find a friend or classmate who is like them. Is he or she:

    As sweet as Hello Kitty: She likes to eat cakes. She loves to make new friends. She asks friends to her tea parties. She is warm and sunny and will always help you.

    As clever as Snoopy: He went to school when he was nine. He learned to use a typewriter in two years! He thinks a lot. He is so clever that you like to be with him.

    As sarcastic (讽刺的) as Garfield: He sits happily in the seat and says sharp words to you. Sometimes he is not nice. He doesn't really like you? He thinks you're a fool? No, in his heart, he loves you. He is a friend with hard words but a warm heart.

    As naughty as Mashimaro: He doesn't look like a good boy. He has sleepy eyes and looks naughty. He always plays tricks on people. So you get angry with him and don't like him very much. His mind is active and full of ideas. He tries to be big and catch your eye. But, he's still a child.

    Tom walked into a shop. It bad a sign outside: "Second-hand clothes bought and sold. "He was carrying an old pair of trousers and asked the owner of the shop, "How much will you give me for these?" The man looked at them and then said: "Two dollars."

    "What!" said Tom. "I had guessed they were worth at least five dollars."

    "No," said the man, "they aren't worth a cent more than two dollars."

    "Well," said Tom, taking two dollars out of his pocket. "Here's your money. These trousers were hanging outside your shop. The list price of them was six dollars and a half. But I thought that was too much money, so I wanted to find out how much they were really worth."

    Then he walked out of the shop with the pair of trousers and disappeared before the shop owner could think of anything to say.

    Six years ago, Shilagh Mirgain decided to achieve the goal she'd had on her bucket list (目标清单) for twenty years: to reach the top of Mount Kilimjanjaro. Four years ago, she bought her hiking shoes and started to hike. Two years after that she began to imitate the difficulties of the nine-day hike with a weighted backpack. Last summer, she booked her tour. In February, she climbed to the very top of the mountain.

    If it wasn't for her bucket list, Mirgain says she might never have known the pleasure of standing at top of one of the world's most famous mountains. "Bucket lists are helpful in that they are a way of listening to your inner wisdom (智慧)." She say," It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day jobs, to-do lists, doing chores and the like—you may not see your inner need."

    One study found that participants who wrote down their goals finished more than those who didn't. Other positive psychology research suggests that finishing goals like that is important for a satisfying life.

    For Mirgain, who added Kilimanjaro to her list after receiving a postcard sent from the mountain by a group of women she had met who were climbing it, it wasn't so much the act of writing down her bucket list that helped her stick to it, as it was keeping it someplace noticeable. "I keep pictures of my top bucket list things on my fridge," she says, "When I finish something I take that photo down and put it on another board in my home, along with a photo of myself at that place."

    Mirgain said excitedly. "It's great to finish your bucket list." she says, "To work toward something you wanted to experience or achieve gives you a confidence and can change your opinion of the world.”

A Day at the Nature Center

    Emma stared(凝视) sadly out of the window of the bus. Only 50 miles outside town was the farm. She thought about the farm all the time, especially the animals.

When her family sold the farm and moved to nearby town, Emma was excited. But when she got to the new school, she felt very lonely.

    With a sigh(叹气), Emma turned her attention back to the present. The bus came to a stop. "Welcome to the Leinweber Nature Center," her teacher said. "A guide will give us a presentation about animals, and then you'll help to feed the baby squirrels, now, I want everyone to find a partner."

    Emma didn't have any friends yet—who would be her partner? Emma got close to Julia, a talkative and outgoing girl. "Could I be your partner?" Emma asked uncertainly.

    "Sure," said Julia warmly.

    Together, the girls walked into the center. After the presentation, a keeper showed them how to hold the bottle of milk for baby squirrels. Then the girls started to feed their own baby squirrels.

    After the babies finished eating, the keeper asked, "Would you like to help feed the adult squirrels, too?"

    Emma was quick to volunteer, but when the keeper opened the first cage, the squirrel inside jumped out. Emma remained calm(镇静的), held out her hand, made quiet sounds, and then quickly got it.

    "Wow!" Julia said. "You're always so quiet, I thought you were afraid of everything, but you were brave."

    "I know that when animals are frightened or excited, you have to stay calm."

The keeper nodded in agreement and asked Emma, "Would you be interested in volunteering to help out with the animals at the center?"

    "Interested? I would love to work here! What an opportunity!" Emma was excited.

    That afternoon, in the bus on the way back to school, Emma sat next to Julia, her new friend. A rush of newfound happiness washed over her.

    "Miss Smith! What rough (粗糙的) hands Mary Jessup has! "said Daisy Marvin, as she walked home from school with her teacher.

    "In my opinion, Daisy, Mary's hands are the prettiest in our class"

    "Why? Miss Smith, they are as red and hard as they can be. How they would look if she tried to play on a piano! "Daisy said.

    Miss Smith took Daisy's hands in hers, and said, "Your hands are very soft and white, just the hands to look beautiful on a piano; yet they don't have one beauty that Mary's hands do .Shall I tell you what the difference is?”

    "Yes, please, Miss Smith." Daisy looked at Miss Smith, with eyes wide open.

    "Will, Daisy, Mary's hands are very busy. They wash dishes; they make fires; they hang out clothes, and help to wash them, too; they are always trying to help her poor, hard-working mother."

    Miss Smith continued, "Besides, they wash and dress the children; they mend their toys and dress their dolls; yet, they find time to bathe the head of the little girl who is so sick in the next house to theirs."

    "They do good deeds (行为) to every living thing. I have seen them patting the tired horse and the homeless dog in the street. They are always ready to help those who need help."

    "I shall never think Mary's hands are ugly any more, Miss Smith." Daisy said that with tears in eyes.

    "I am glad to hear you say that, Daisy; and I must tell you that they are beautiful because they help others gladly and cheerfully."

    "Oh, Miss Smith! I feel so ashamed of myself and so sorry, "said Daisy, looking into her teacher's face with shining eyes.

    “My dear, beauty doesn't lie in how one looks but what he does."

    When Chinese people talk about Chinese tea culture today, they won't miss an important person in Chinese history-Lu Yu, respected as a "Sage of Tea (茶圣)" for his achievements in the Chinese tea culture. He is best-known for The Classic of Tea, the first work on growing, making and drinking tea.

    Lu was born in Jingling in 733 A.D.As a child, he became a student of Zou Fuzi. Thanks to his teacher's guidance, he learnt a lot. He often made tea for his teacher. He also took care of his fellow students' health using his knowledge on tea and herbs (草药) .

    Lu Yu often went to the countryside to gather tea leaves and herbs. On one of those trips, Lu Yu found a spring. The water was quite clear and clean. When Lu made tea with this spring water, he found the tea tasted better than usual. From then on, he realized the importance of water quality in making tea.

    In 752 A.D, Lu Yu finished his studies and returned to Jingling, where he met Cui Guofu. Both men shared the same interests in tea, literature (文学) and poetry. They soon became good friends. Since then, the two spent much time travelling, drinking tea and writing poems together.

    This period was important to Lu Yu as a man of literature. Culi, with his rich experience and skills in writing, became a coach of Lu. He provided necessary help with Lu's writing. It was during this time that Lu finally wrote the amazing work, The Classic of Tea.

    People say laughter is the best medicine, but sometimes too much of a good thing may not be so good. What happened to me last night made me deeply understand the meaning of that.

    Last night I was alone at home. When I was watching a funny movie, I suddenly started laughing and couldn't stop myself.

    At first, I was feeling good.

    But after about 5 minutes, I came to know I wasn't going to stop at all. I began to feel a little worried.

    Time for bed. But I couldn't sleep because I kept laughing. So I got up and started doing some housework. I cleaned my apartment, laughing hard. I washed all the dishes left over from dinner, still laughing crazily. I tried to hold my cat in my arms, but it ran away from me in fear. I spent the rest of the night in front of my computer, of course, still laughing.

    When time finally came to get ready for work, I realized that I simply couldn't go to the office like that. I decided to call my boss for leave, but laughing was the only thing I could do on the phone.

    After listening to my "lovely" laughter for a few minutes, my boss couldn't help shouting angrily, "Are you mad? You're fired (解雇 ) !"

    Suddenly I woke up. Thank God! I just had a dream.

    In 1972, Richard Sears, a young American began learning Chinese because of his interest in traditional Chinese culture.

    Drawn to the ancient language, he went to China to study Chinese in the 1990s.

    In 1994, Richard Sears decided to put the ancient Chinese characters online. Then, in 2002, he did it That is the beginning of the Chinese Etymology (汉字字源) website. "My website did not get much attention for the next few years. Until one day in 2011, it suddenly got a lot of attention.

    I got a few thousand emails, and a few million visitors and people started calling me 'Uncle Hanzi', " Sears said with a smile. Hanzi means Chinese characters. He has put more than 96, 000 ancient Chinese characters onto the website. "When I study each character, I wonder what the ancient Chinese thought," said Sears.

    After visiting many Chinese cities, Sears learned more about China and ancient Chinese culture, He said when he came to China in the last century, few Chinese could speak good English "However, you can hear English in many places in China now. Chinese language and culture were mysterious and not known by people in most countries then, but now, more and more people in the world are learning Chinese, even Chinese history, traditional Chinese medicine and so on, "Sears added.

    At present, the 70-year-old American has made his home in China. "When I die, I hope my website will live on, and I'm planning to write a book about my research. This will be my gift to China, "he said.

    Do you know a saying about the swan feather (天鹅羽毛)?

    This saying comes from a historic book called Lu Shi. According to the story, a Tang Dynasty official (唐朝官员) in Yunnan wanted to show his respect to the emperor. He sent a man named

    Mian Bogao to bring some gifts to the emperor. One of the gifts was a beautiful swan, and it was a very valuable gift at the time.

    Mian took good care of the swan on his way to the emperor. One day he passed by a lake and wanted to let the swan drink some water. But as soon as he set the swan free, the swan flew away, leaving only some feathers on the ground. Mian was very worried, but he didn't run away. He decided to tell the emperor what happened. He picked up a feather and kept going on his trip.

    When Mian met the emperor, he told him what happened and said, "This swan feather is light, but it carries my deep respect for you. "The emperor was happy with Mian's honesty and sincerity (真诚). He forgave Mian. People now use the saying to show that a good gift doesn't have to be expensive. What matters is the sincerity it carries.

    Li Shijin, 30, didn't expect to make a living through his voice.

    Li began to work as a company salesman in Liaoning Province in 2012. He tried to find a part-time job as a wedding host to improve his confidence.

    Around the spring festival in 2014, he started listening to audiobooks (音频书). After being a listener for two years, he decided to record himself reading books. Then, he posted his first audio book Youth Will Not Return on Qingting in 2016. It was broadcast(广播) and listened to about 20 million times.

    A year later, after he had read three audiobooks, he was signed up as a voice performer by Qingting. However, he was under great pressure (压力) when he was signed up by Qingting. "To improve my ability, I didn't sleep for more than five hours a day during that year. I had better results the following year." Also, to improve his performance, Li attended a training course at Communication University of China to learn dubbing (配音) and how to write a play in 2018. So far, he has completed nearly 30 works on Qingting.

    On the road to success, Li put a lot of effort. Many people tried to get a foothold (立足地) but failed, while he made it!

    When talking about the secret of his success, he said, "Many people have good abilities and many work very hard, but they may fail. Early birds get worms. I believe they will get chances and succeed sooner or later if they hold on to their dreams and keep on trying."