As a teenager, I was pretty lazy when it came to doing things for my family. I worked hard at school and I found I was usually not glad to1out at home with even the simplest things.

Every Wednesday afternoon, for example, my mother2me to another town for a piano lesson.

During my two-hour lesson, she rushed to the nearby market and bought a week's3. Knowing my mom had driven me twelve miles there, and twelve miles back, you might think I'd be very4to help her bring the food into the house.5I wasn't. I generally just brought my schoolbag and left the rest for Mom as I ran to my room, and then started studying.

Back in my room, I felt6not helping my mother more. Deep inside, I wanted to change my7. But I also realized that once I took on more housework, my parents would start8more of me. At the age of fifteen, I realized that this one small change would9something much bigger: my personal change from a cared-for child to a more10young man.

I'll never forget the Wednesday when I made a decision to change11. Returning home from the lesson, I rushed into my room, as usual. But once inside, I felt that deep and burning12again.

Throwing my school books on the bed, I suddenly opened my door and ran back to the gate to help my mother. How 13I looked at my mother when I finished it that day!

Surely, from then on, I continued to help outwith more housework. The clear thing was, the more I helped out, the14I felt about myself and my place in my family, as Mom and Dad realized they could live on me more.

Sometimes the little things we put off doing can be15easily. And then the feeling of being happy beats the feeling of being sorry any day.

You don't need to speak French to understand the Parisians（people living in Paris）. You just need to know to make gestures. A new guide has come out by （France）tourism officials, which is to help foreign visitors （understand）the Parisians with a list of common gestures like" Shut up "and" Wait a minute". These gestures are easy and vivid. "If you use （they）in Paris, people will start to suppose that you are a native, "says the online guide at www. cestsoparis. com.

Since some native people in Paris are impolite, the tourism authorities in Paris have made great efforts to ask them to be （friendly）to foreigners. At the same time, they have decided to show visitors some basic gestures at www. cestsoparis. com. Visitors （allow）to enter and get help there.

The website includes the common gestures such as "Bof "and" Camembert". "Bof "means" I don't know" or "I disagree", and "Camembert" is to tell someone to stop （talk）.

And it also includes a note warns visitors to avoid using the gestures too freely. "Wrong （gesture）may make others go mad （easy）, "says the online guide.

Natalie Doan, a teenager in America, has always felt lucky to live in Rockaway, New York.

Living just a few blocks from the beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the waves from her house. "It's the ocean that makes Rockaway so special, "she says.

On October 29, 2012, the ocean turned extremely terrible. That night, Hurricane（飓风）Sandy hit the East Coast, and Rockaway was hit especially hard. The next day, Natalie and her family found their neighborhood in ruins. Many of Natalie's friends had lost their homes and people were having the most difficult time, especially the elderly.

To help others, teenagers climbed stairs to send water and food to elderly people trapped in powerless high buildings. Natalie was deeply moved by all these things and decided to do something.

"My mom tells me that I can't control what happens to me, "Natalie says, "but I can always choose how I deal with it." Natalie's choice was to help. She created a website page, matching people in need with people who wanted to offer help.

Natalie posted information about a boy named Patrick, who lost his baseball card collection when his house burned down. Within days, Patrick got anew collection. In the coming months, her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball；Charlie, who got a new keyboard.

Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring much-needed things to Rockaway. Her efforts made her a famous person. She was later invited to the White House and honored as a Hurricane Sandy Champion of Change.

Today, the streets are clear and many homes have been rebuilt. "I can't imagine living anywhere but Rockaway, "Natalie says, "Because of everyone's efforts in making a better home, Rockaway will even be stronger than before. "