—I went to Ningxia and ________ there for one year, teaching as a volunteer.
My father was a highly educated, intelligent gentleman. He could debate or discuss for hours on almost any topic and hold your 1 in the process. I thought there was nothing he wasn't 2 to do.
A few days before my younger brother's 7th birthday, Dad planned to assemble (装配) a new 3 as a special birthday surprise. After nearly an hour of 4 the instructions, Dad was still unable to 5 the new bike together. Later he 6 the paper of instructions, 7 up his tool box, and decided to take the bike back to the local toy store and pay extra 8 to have it correctly assembled there. 9 an idea came to him, as he called out to Lovett, the quiet little man who cut our grassland.
"Lovett, have you ever assembled a boy's bicycle?"
As Lovett walked towards the bike, Dad handed him the 10 Lovett handed it back to him, saying, "No, thanks. I can't read. When you can't read, you have to 11 " Less than 15 minutes later, the new bicycle was 12 assembled, with no 13 parts remaining. Dad shook Lovett's hand, patted him on the back, thanked him, and hid the bike.
On the night after my brother received his shiny new gift, Dad announced at the family dinner table what had happened several days earlier. He took great 14 in telling it over and over again — he used it as an example of thinking.
He did not refer to illiteracy (文盲), but strongly taught us to use our 15 The joke was on my father, 16 he was able to turn it into a learning tool, and I liked him even more after that incident. I also gained a new 17 for Lovett. To me he had 18 been the old yard man who didn't 19 much, but after that day, he seemed to smile 20 , even walk taller. It's amazing what a real nod of approval can do to lift people up.
Dear Sharon Draper,
A lot of books have flashes of insight, but only few of them can open the readers' mind and make them realize something new. Your book, Out of My Mind, filled me with those sparks. I enjoyed getting to know Melody. Despite the fact that she had cerebral palsy(脑瘫), Melody had an amazing character that shone brightly. Out of My Mind helped me learn a life-long lesson.
Your book has changed my point of view. I never teased those who had special needs, but I never really felt comfortable around them either. When I started reading your novel, I saw how Melody was a smart and talented girl. At the beginning of the book, I asked myself, "Would I be Melody's friend?" The voice in my stomach told me the sad truth: no. I carried on with your book from start to finish, and when I closed it, I asked myself the same question, "Would I be Melody's friend?" I realized, with a smile, that the answer was right in front of me. Throughout Out of My Mind, I had become Melody's friend.
Last year, there was a boy in my class who had Asperger's syndrome(阿斯伯格综合症). I didn't really know him; he just seemed different to me. This was around the time that I read your novel. Melody showed me how she was just as good as anyone else in her classroom and how the same goes for anyone else with disabilities. The boy in my class amazed me by what he was capable of doing. As the days went by, I started helping him instead of avoiding him.
Melody opened my eyes and cleared the world around me. She showed me how a girl with cerebral palsy was the same as a girl like me. Now it is time for me to thank you for writing this amazing novel. I will never forget your fantastic book.
Sincerely,
Margaret Lim
Ashok Gadgil has spent the past three decades helping people in need—and he has no plans to stop .On May 2, Gadgil won the$100. 000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation. Each year, the honor is given to an inventor who has improved the lives of people in developing countries. Gadgil's inventions have helped more than 100 million people around the world.
Gadgil is a professor and physicist at the University of California. When he's not teaching, he works to find solutions to global problems such as energy efficiency and water safety. "I chose to focus on problems where my knowledge of science could help, "he said.
In the 1980s he came up with a program to make energy-efficient light bulbs more affordable for people in developing countries. Then in the 1990s, Gadgil designed his first life—saving invention, UV Waterworks .The device kills deadly disease —carrying germs(病菌)from drinking water. It costs just one cent to clean five liters of water .Gadgil was inspired to find an inexpensive solution to the clean water crisis after more than 10, 000 people in his home country of India died from an outbreak of Bengal cholera, in 1993 The disease is spread through contaminated food and drinking water .So far, the invention has provided safe drinking water to more than five million people in poor areas.
As a professor, Gadgil encourages his students to stay positive about finding solutions to hard problems." Be optimistic when you try a hard problem." he says. "It's when you solve a large problem that you can have a big impact on the world"
Not all vegetables need lots of sunshine. Mark Hoffman and his wife own a bed-and -breakfast guesthouse in rural Kempton, Illinois. They often serve their guests fresh products from the garden.
The Hoffmans have been growing food and flowers for twenty-five years. For almost ten of those years, Mr. Hoffman has been experimenting and working with shade (阴凉) plantings. He says, "The bottom line here is that most plants will produce more in full sun. But if you do not have full sun, there are other choices."
For example, he grows tomatoes near oak trees. Oak trees can produce a lot of shade. But Mr. Hoffman says his tomato plants grow as long as they get five hours a day of direct sunshine, especially morning sun. Not only does this go against the traditional advice that tomatoes need six，eight，even twelve hours a day of full sun, it also shows how plants and trees roots can share nutrients and water．Mr. Hoffman also planted asparagus（芦笋）around a tree at its drip line，the area below the outer limit of the branches. So when it rains，all the rain drips down right on the asparagus．Mr. Hoffman says plants with wider leaves seem to do better in shady environments. He also found that his potatoes did better partly in shade than in full sun.
Moving them out of the sun helped control an insect problem. Mr. Hoffman does not use pesticide (农药). Instead, he planted the potatoes in the shade, especially on the east side of the tree. The potatoes get morning sun, but they are shaded during the hottest part of the day. Some insects dislike shade, and the hottest part day is when they do the worst of their damage.
Time of day, sun intensity (强度), shadows from trees, walls and buildings all influence how much sunlight falls on plants. And people interested in shade planting should also remember something else. The term "shade" can describe different amounts of darkness. It can even mean different things in different parts of the world.
Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self- respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized as "honor" help you create this life of good feelings.
Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate that we cannot lie trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.
The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. His poor jacket, patched (打补丁) trousers, and worn-out shoes made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Unforgettable were his pale blue eyes that sparkled (闪耀) like diamonds, large rosy cheeks, and thin lips that held a steady smile.
With the help of his trusty cane (拐杖), he walked toward a table by the window. A young waitress watched him and ran over to him, saying, "Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair. "
Without a word, he smiled and nodded a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table. Supporting him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she pushed the table up close to him, and leaned his cane against the table where he could reach it.
In a soft, clear voice he said, "Thank you, Miss."
"You're welcome, Sir." She replied. "My name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment. If you need anything, just wave at me. "
After he had finished a hearty meal of pancakes, bacon, and hot lemon tea, Mary brought him the change, helping him up from his chair and out from behind the table. She handed him his cane, and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, "Come back and see us, Sir!"
He nodded a thank you and said softly with a smile, "You are very kind!"
When Mary went to clean his table, she was shocked. Under his plate she found a business card and a note written on the napkin, under which was a $ 100bill.
The note on the napkin read, "Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself, too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you. "
The man she had served was the owner of the restaurant. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees, had seen him in person.
