John is a very strong man. He gets a job of cutting(砍) trees in a forest. His boss gives him an axe and showed him the area where he should work.

    The first day, John cuts down 18 trees. "Good," the boss says, "keep it up!" happily, John  tries harder the next day, but he only cuts down 15 trees. The third day he tries even harder, but he can only cut down 10 trees. Day after day he cuts down fewer and fewer trees.

    "I must be losing my strength(力气)," John thinks. He goes to the boss to say sorry and says that he can not know what is going on. "When is the last time you sharpen(锋利) your axe?"  the boss asks. "I'm busy cutting trees, so I have no time to do it. "

    The moral of this story: While John is working hard, he doesn't work “smart”. He doesn't think about the best way to do his job.

    Mr. Jenkins liked all kinds of delicious food. As an important officer, he was often asked to dinner. The shopkeepers tried their best to fawn on(巴结) him. They knew it was good for their business. Now the officer got fatter and fatter. He could hardly go upstairs（楼上） at home and had to sleep downstairs. He often felt tired if he walked or did some housework. He was worried about it and had to go to a doctor. "Stop eating much fat(脂肪) and sugar, Mr. Jenkins," said the doctor, "or it will be worse for your health!" It was difficult for the officer to do it. He didn't do as the doctor said. He found something was wrong with his heart a few months later. Now he thought the doctor was right. And he had to be in hospital. "You must lose weight(减肥), sir," said the doctor, " unless you want to die soon!" "Could you tell me a way to lose weight, please?" "You must do some exercise first." "Which exercise?" "To move your head from side to side when you are invited to dinner!"

    It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he passed by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind, "I'll send mom some roses（玫瑰）."While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. "How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?" he asked. The assistant（店员） was trying to tell him roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen（一打）. Maybe he would be happy with carnations（康乃馨）.

    "No, I have to have red roses, "he said. "My mom was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, for roses are her favorite."

    After hearing it, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the assistant said, "Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars that John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the assistant to send them to his mother.

    As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon John realized it was not a park but a cemetery（墓地）. Crying, the young man carefully put down the roses, "Mom, oh, Mom, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mom and tell her I love her."

    Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

    Megan and Mia are sisters. They are the same age, have the same last name, and live in the same house. You might think the sisters are twins, but they aren't. They started their lives in very different places.

    Before Mia was born, her parents decided to adopt(收获)a little girl from China. Their plan was to adopt a girl: she would be an age in between their son, Michael, and the new baby. But that's not how it worked out. Mia was born, and soon. Their parents learned they could go to China to adopt Megan She was three months younger than baby Mia.

    The girls are in the same grade, but not in the same class. They don't share clothes or toys or even hobbies. But they share some of the same friends. And when the sisters fight, it's usually about friends. "Sometimes one of us thinks that the other is stealing(偷)friends, so we fight," Megan says.

    The girls have their own rooms. "If I have a bad dream or see a scary（恐怖的）movie, Mia will let me sleep in her room, "Megan says. "We can give each other help and advice," Mia says." And we keep each other's secrets."

    Megan says she is so thankful for her family, but sometimes she feels sad. "I feel sad when people say, "You don't look like them!" she says. "Maybe you can't see it right away, but it's so clear that Mia and I are sisters. We'll always be there for each other."