The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost.

    Some people have a great fear of losing. In fact, fear is not the best description of what they have. It is more like a crazy phobia(恐惧症) that they cannot keep away from. Day after day, these people allow their fear of losing to control everything in their lives. They are so afraid of losing that they try to keep away from losing without considering the cost of doing so.

    When things start to get out of control, fear begins to come in. As the fear of losing or getting hurt overwhelms(充溢) them, they quickly look for excuses, rather than fight back or find a way to deal with their fear. They never realize that losing is just as common as eating and breathing.

    If one is given a choice, who wouldn't prefer winning over losing? After all, winning is exciting and winning is what living is all about. Although we might try hard all the time, we're not going to win every time. In fact, most of us are going to lose a lot more often than we win and, believe it or not, it's not all bad.

    In order to make the most of our abilities ，we have to take risks every now and then. When we take risks, we might get knocked down, or even knocked flat, but with each failure and each loss, we have an opportunity to get better and get closer to the life we expect.

    He must have had that nice window seat all the way from London. An Indian, he looked under 40, medium height, slim and wore a suit. I got an aisle seat next to him. I looked at him and tried to smile as I sat down. But there was a blank, distant look that made me stop mid-smile. One of those, I thought.

    Each time I take a flight, I try to chat with a fellow passenger. Most people are responsive when they're alone at 40,000 feet. But the man wearing the suit on my left was a puzzle. One of those non-resident Indians, I thought. What do you lose if you just smiled at a fellow human being? Most of the time, he stared fixedly at the seat in front of him. Why are some people so full of themselves?

    When the stewardess brought lunch, the unfriendly man had his eyes shut. She gave me a should-I-wake-him-up look. I didn't say anything, and he didn't get his lunch. Serves him right. He soon woke up and saw me eat. But he didn't ask for his meal. He could just have pressed a button. That's his problem.

    We still have almost two hours of flying left. I read a magazine. I try to play a video game. I listen to music. He does nothing. At times our eyes meet, but he isn't all there. He's like no other passenger I've ever sat next to. By the time our jet lands in Mumbai, I find his presence almost uncomfortable. As we taxi down the runway, I hear the man speak for the first time—on his mobile phone. He seems to be discussing his connecting flight. About somebody receiving him… Just before the aircraft comes to a halt, he's the first to stand up. “Excuse me,” he says to me. “May I leave? I can't miss my connecting flight.”

    Hmm…! I get up to make way for him when he goes on mechanically, “My wife and child died in a road accident in Delhi.” I'm shocked by his words. Suddenly, everything falls in place.

    Despite his terrible loss and the sufferings he has been enduring, he was calm, controlled throughout. And, maybe, in the midst of his soul-crushing sorrow, he didn't want to burden a stranger with his pain.

    A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces(熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

    The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

    After the explosion, gravity pulls in what's left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so solid that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

    The more the star shrinks(收缩), the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

    That's what we know about black holes. What we don't know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

    But if the black hole doesn't keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a "white hole" in a different universe. As the black hole swallows(吞噬) light, the white hole shines brightly--somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time--many years in the past or future.

    Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed(挤压). So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

    Black holes are a mystery--but that hasn't stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth's energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste--a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!

    When I was about 4 years old, I decided to go to Disney World. For most young kids, it's a normal request, but I had cerebral palsy(脑瘫).Walking into anywhere, let alone a crowded place like Disney World was, to put it lightly, a tall order. Luckily, I had people in my corner to help me. Over the next three years, I worked with physical doctors, acquired a walker, and practiced walking, standing, and balance—all skills that I would need to turn my goal into a reality.

    I remember the feeling when my legs would protest doing any more work. Despite this, everyone else told me I could do it, so I kept it up. It was all because of people like my parents, brothers, teachers, and doctors that I was able to grow so much, both physically and mentally. Constantly pushing me to “walk on,” yet encouraging me whenever I needed it.

    On June 9, 2008, as I stood in the tunnel leading into Main Street, My dad asked me if I wanted any help. I instantly replied, “No!” and situated myself facing the end of the tunnel, feet planted firmly, heart most likely beating out of my chest. Then I went, walking ever so slowly at first, then gradually speeding up. Step, step, step, step, bump. Holding fast onto the handlebars, I gathered up all my strength, picked up my walker and straightened out, picking up my pace once again. It wasn't too long before the cheering increased because I had made it to the end, where my mom was waiting with tears in her eyes and arms open wide ready to hug her son and tell him how proud she was.

    Looking back on that experience, I realize something pretty thoughtful. Every once in a while, life will throw a few bumps in the road. Though it may set you back for a bit, don't let it stop you. Pick yourself back up and finish. It's worth it. Besides, there just might be someone there cheering you on along the way.

    18-year-old Kayla Perkins explains what is in her bedroom, "I throw something on the floor and I know right where it is." However, her parents, Steve and Deborah Perkins, of McKinney, Texas, haven't caught on. Even Kayla admits that, at the worst, her room is a mess.

    Most families at some point have at least one child whose room looks like a landfill(垃圾堆). The mess can disturb the whole household. Dirty clothes pile up; dirty dishes get lost in the mess and smell bad; homework is lost; and valuable things are ruined.

    Some parents let it go, believing that a bedroom is private space for children to manage as they wish. Others lecture their children, offer rewards for cleaning, or punish them when they don't. What doesn't work, parenting experts say, is constant lectures, verbal(口头的,言语的) threats or getting very angry. Mrs. Perkins says they picked up all the clothes on Kayla's floor and hid them. They cleaned everything up. When Kayla came back to a bare bedroom, there was screaming and shouting, "How can I live without my clothes?" Mrs. Perkins asked Kayla to earn her clothes back by doing housework. These days, she keeps her room clean.

    Humour can help, too. For example, since Jessica, the 14-year-old daughter wasn't bothered by the dirty clothes all over her floor, the whole family started using her room as a place to store dirty clothes. Her attitude changed after her family did that. By the time she gave in and cleaned up her room a few days later, even she was laughing.

Parenting expert, Jim Fay, also recommends that parents first ask children in a nice way to clean up and agree on a reasonable time limit. Children often behave better if you treat them in the way you would want to be treated by your boss at work—with respect and high expectations.