My dad, over ninety years old now, sat weakly on the bench. He didn't move and just sat with his head down staring at (盯着看）his hands. I sat down beside him. He didn't realize it and the longer I sat, the more I wondered if he was okay. Finally, not really wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him, I asked him if he was okay. He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. “Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking,” he said in a clear strong voice. I said, didn't mean to disturb (打扰）you, Dad, but you were just sitting there staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were alright.” “Have you ever looked at your hands?” he asked. “I mean really looked at your hands?” I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over again and again.

    Dad smiled and said, “Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have. How have they served (服务）you well throughout your years? Though these hands are thin and weak, they have been the tools I have used all my life.”

  “That's right! They caught my fall when as a baby I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. When I was a little girl, my mother taught me to fold them to pray. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They dried the tears of my children. They wiped my tears when my son went off（离开） to war,” I said.

    After that day, I never looked at my hands the same again.

    Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable(一次性) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposable things. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.

    Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources(资源) and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19, 000 tons of plastic bags and 1, 320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.

    Back at home and at school, you can also do something, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen(食堂), use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.

    To protect our environment and our home, it is very necessary and important for us to save natural resources(资源).

— There are so many things. For example, we are able to learn about the world with it.

— I can't agree with you more.

— Yes, of course. He is always an honest man.

    Mark Twain was a famous American writer. One day he went to a city by train. He was a busy man. He usually 1 something. When he was in the train, the conductor asked him for his 2. Mark Twain looked for it here and there, but he could not find it. The conductor knew Mark Twain. She said, “If you can't find it, it doesn't matter.” “Oh, but it does,” said Mark Twain. “I must find it. If I can't find it, how can I 3 where I'm going?” Another day, he went to Dijon by train. He was very 4 and wanted to sleep. He asked the conductor to wake him up before the train 5 Dijon. But first he explained that he was a heavy sleeper. “I would probably protest (抗议）6 when you try to wake me up. But do not 7. Just put me off the train anyway.” Then Mark Twain went to sleep. By the time he woke up, the train had already been in Paris. He 8 that the conductor had forgotten his words. He was very 9. He ran up to the conductor and began 10 him, “I never was so angry in all my life.” The conductor looked hard at him and said “I just put a man off the train at Dijon. You were not half as angry as him!”

— That's true. Nobody can learn it well _______ he works hard at it.