A young painter had just completed a beautiful painting. To get people's opinions about his painting skills, he put his 1at a crossing on a busy street. And below it a board read, "Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. 2 I'm new, I might have made some mistakes in my work. Please put a cross  3you see a mistake."

    When he came back in the evening to 4his painting, he was completely shocked to see that the whole painting was filled 5 crosses. And some people had even written their opinions on the painting. 6 , he ran to his master and said to him, "I'm 7and if this is what I have learned to paint, I'm not worth teaching. "

    The master 8and suggested, "I'll let you know that you are a great 9. Now go to paint the same painting once again and give it to 10."

Then they went to the same street the next morning and put the same painting exactly at the same place. Now the master  11another board which read, "Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. I might have made some mistakes in my painting. I have put a box with colors and 12 just below. Please give me a hand. If you see a 13, pick up the brush and correct it." The master and the young painter went back home. Two days later, they came back to the place. The young painter was  14to see that actually there was not a single correction done!

    It's easier to criticize(批评) but difficult to improve. If you want to help people  15 their behavior, you'd better learn how to help people change their attitudes or skills. Also, always remember not to judge yourself by someone else's criticism and feel upset.

    Bruce likes playing1a river（河）. But there2a river near his new house. He is not very happy.

    One day, he asks3mother,“4a river near here?”“No, there5”,his mother says, “But6new house has a garden.” “I don't like7”says Bruce.

    One morning, his mother says “8is a beautiful park near here. Bruce, and there9two pools(池塘) in it. We'll go there this afternoon.” Bruce is very happy.

    After lunch, Bruce and his mother10the park, and he plays in one of the pools. He has a very good time.

    It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window of facing the blue ocean. And a Coo gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.

    Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning

    But not here. Before we left, I had told my, 10-year-old son the rule-no e-mails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all' Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.

    ____________I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.

    On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells(贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected .shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.

    The next few days passed in peace.

    On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was somethingshining.in his eyes, I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly, without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mails.

    A week away from all the electronics and life is good.

Grace lives in Oklahoma. She is only six years old, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she already has big ideas for helping other kids!

One Saturday morning when Grace was five, she {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (pass) a lemonade stand (柠檬水摊). Some teenagers were selling lemonade. Their purpose was to raise money for some of their {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (friend). Grace wanted to have a try, so her mother explained to her {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to start a lemonade stand.

Grace wanted to help kids too, especially foster (寄养的) kids! That was because she and her brother were foster children. She thought that maybe she could help {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (they) by starting a lemonade stand!

{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (luck), Grace's first lemonade stand made $ 132! She was very excited {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (buy) things for the foster kids with her mother. She helped 24 children for {#blank#}8{#/blank#} first time. Grace wanted to help {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (many) kids so her mum helped her start a project called Grace's Lemonade for Love. So far, she {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (raise) over $ 17, 000! Someday maybe she will be able to send toys to all foster kids in her country.

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in a town of Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It was a small coffee shop that cooked its own coffee beans. The coffee shop's business did well, and by 1981 there were three more Starbucks stores in Seattle and they joined into a small company. 

Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year. Howard Schultz met the three men who run （经营） Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen instrument. He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, and he was interested in the company. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did and he liked what he saw. He wanted to become part of the company. In 1982, the original (原先的)Starbucks owners chose Schultz as the company's head of marketing. 

In 1983, Schultz travelled to Italy. The special atmosphere(氛围) of the coffee bars there caught his eye. To Schultz, it seemed that Italians spent their daily lives in three places: home, work, and coffee bars. His experience in Italy gave Schultz a new idea for Starbucks back in Seattle. 

Schultz created an atmosphere for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Between 1987 and 1992, Starbucks opened 150 new stores - and that was only the beginning. In fact, by the year 2000, three new Starbucks stores opened somewhere around the world every day!

Today, Starbucks has thousands of stores, including stores in twenty - six countries. One thing that helps make Starbucks succeed in cities outside the United States is the way Starbucks works with local stores and restaurants. By working together with a store already in the city, Starbucks gets an understanding of customers in the city. This understanding helps Starbucks open stores in the right places for their customers. 

My uncle Harry's birthday was coming. I hadn't seen him or his1 Carl for long, so I decided to visit both of them. However, days before, they had had a serious argument.2 recently they realized it was just a misunderstanding, both of them didn't want to say sorry first. They were still a little 3 with each other. I decided not to mention the other after seeing one of them." As time goes by, they will 4 naturally,"I thought.

One day they both wanted to stay with me to have a chat. So I decided to be with Uncle Harry during the afternoon and promised Uncle Carl I'd visit him for a 5 . I made my plan secret.

That afternoon, Uncle Harry first gave me a tour of the town. At 4:00 pm, he said,"I'm a little hungry. Let's have dinner!"6 taking no for an answer, he took me to a restaurant called Montana Mike's, which is known for its beef, burgers and pizza in town.7 I'd soon have dinner with Uncle Carl,I hoped to get by with salad. But he ordered me a lot of beef.

After dinner, we said goodbye and I 8 made my way to Uncle Carl's place. When I arrived, Uncle Carl gave 9 almost the same tour. Then, I stopped before Montana Mike's again. I hoped not to be 10 to eat much beef again and not to meet the same waitress.

11 , I saw the same friendly waitress coming towards us. She12 me doubtfully. When Uncle Carl looked at the menu, I put my finger before my mouth, using the international sign to tell her to13 . But she seemed to be more interested in who I really was.

" Haven't you just come?" the waitress asked." It might be my twin brother,"I joked cleverly. Then,I tried once again to order 14 . But Uncle Carl, like his brother, didn't agree. He also ordered some beef for me. When I went back, I felt like my stomach was about to burst(爆炸). Later, both uncles knew the truth and couldn't help laughing, which quickened their getting along. And after that, I 15 had to have two beef dinners in two hours again.