On a snowy and windy afternoon, Ann, a ten-year-old girl, went out to play. She was walking along the sands when she was blown into a ditch (壕沟) by the seashore. She was frightened and tried her best to climb out. But the ditch was too deep and she was too weak to get out of it. So Ann cried at the top of her voice for help. But what she could hear over the snow ditch was nothing but the terrible noise of the wind. Nobody came to her and nobody knew where she was. She struggled again and again. Her face was struck by the strong wind, snow and sand, and was almost frozen. Her hands were stiff. She also felt that she was worn out. She started to cry hopelessly. Just at the moment Ann saw a black dog appearing through the heavy snow. It was Victor, her true friend. He was glad to see the sign of life. And the dog set out to work as soon as he got to Ann. He cleaned away the snow around her with his own paws and hind legs, and then reached out his big strong fur head to Ann. The little girl closed her arms round Victor's neck. The dog backed away slowly, pulling her out of the ditch little by little.

    Successfully, Ann got out of the ditch at last. Then she struggled to her feet. With great difficulty, led by her true friend Victor, she was rescued. Victor, the black dog, was given a gold medal and was honoured as Brave Hero Dog of America.

    My friend BJ Gallagher told me a great story recently, about her own experience with resentment (愤恨). She once worked as the training manager for a large newspaper, where she found the corporate culture extremely frustrating. The company was a hundred years old and their past success ha d blinded them to the need for change. Finally, after butting heads with several senior executives (主管) many times, she left the company. But she found that she hadn't left her resentment, frustration, and anger behind when she resigned.

    “I finally decided to write about my experiences and my feelings at the newspaper. I wanted to be rid of that company and those people, once and for all. So I wrote and I wrote. It wasn't just a story that poured out; it was a whole book! We called it A peacock in the Land of Penguins. I was the peacock and those newspaper executives were the penguins.”

    “It took me several more years to finally get over my negative emotions. Through a lot of soul-searching and reflection, I finally was able to let go of my resentment. I came to see that there was nothing personal in the way they treated me, and they were good people doing what they thought best for the company. I was the one who had made it personal. I thought they were making my life miserable on purpose.”

    “Finally, the time came when I decided to make amends (弥补) for the sharp, angry things I had said about the company. I invited my former boss to dinner and made my apology. It was a great healing process for me. I finally felt free of the resentment that had been eating me up.”

    “What was the final outcome?” I asked her.

    “Gratitude,” she replied. “Not only wasn't I resentful any more, I was grateful to the company. If I hadn't had those painful experiences, I would never have written a book. And the book became hugely successful – now published in 21 languages; it transformed my business.”

    “I like photography because it captures amazing things that you might not see again,” Timmy Walsh says. He takes pictures of flowers, sunsets and road signs. But those photos don't usually end up in a scrapbook(剪贴簿) or on his bedroom walls.

    When Timmy was five, he found out that his aunt Bev had lung cancer. He wanted to do something to help her. His first idea was to sell his photos from a lemonade--type stand in front of his house in Pennsylvania. “My mom said it wouldn't work because we were not on a busy street,” Timmy explains.

    His next idea was to have an art show. Timmy decorated his home with candles, flowers, and white lights. Then he arranged his photos. Timmy's mom, Sheila, remembers: “Our dining-room table was filled, the living room—everything was filled with photos.” Friends, family, and Timmy's teachers came to the show. He raised more than $300 for cancer research that night. Aunt Bev was “very happy and excited,” he says.

    After a local newspaper wrote a story about Timmy's photos, a volunteer offered to help him set up a website. As people learned about his cause, called Camera for a Cure, Timmy began receiving invitations to sell his pictures at art galleries and fund-raisers. Since then, his work has appeared in more than 20 shows.

    When Timmy is at a show, he greets each customer and talks about what he was thinking when he took his photos. And he always shares facts about lung cancer. Sometimes donations and sales are slow, but that doesn't bother him. “It doesn't matter how much money we made because we just raised awareness,” he says. Timmy knows that finding a cure for lung cancer will take time and effort. So Timmy will keep doing his part by shooting and selling photos of the things he sees.

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    Every person has their own way of saying things, their own special expressions. Many everyday American expression are based on colors.

    Red is a hot colour. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their colour and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixicland jazz.

    Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they're in the pink when they're in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the 20th century. It probably came from many babies who were born with a nice pink colour showing good health.

Blue is a cool colour. The traditional blues music in t he United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song—Mood Indigo—about the deep blue colour, indigo. In the words of the song: “You aren't blue till you've had that Mood Indigo.” Someone who is blue is very sad.

    The colour green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural colour for humans. A person who has a sick feeling in his stomach may say he feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.

    Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as his friend's, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars of greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the colour of the back side of the paper money.

    The colour black is often used in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. a blacklist is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.

    A young woman sits alone in café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: “Where are the toilets please?” This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called “silent cafes”, where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainly, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a “one woman wedding” – a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression – “botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the café, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million “hikikomori” – a more extreme example of social recluses（隐士）who withdraw completely from society.

    Many years ago, when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children. We thought we would find a motel（汽车旅馆）on the way and had not made a booking. As it was getting late, we started looking for a motel, only to find that all were booked.

    Finally, around 9 p.m., we stopped at a gas station to fill up on gas. My husband asked for a phone book and told the woman at the counter that we were trying to find a motel. He tried for 15 minutes. When he was unsuccessful, the woman, Linda, said she and her family lived nearby and would be happy if we spent the night at her home.

    My husband was stunned at her offer. She called her son to direct us, since she had to stay at the gas station till midnight.

    When we reached their home, her husband greeted us. He took out two sleeping bags for the children. He invited us to have coffee and chat while we waited for his wife. When she came back, we asked if we could slip away in the morning so as not to disturb them. They said we were now guests and we would have to have breakfast with them.

    We woke up to a table set for breakfast. They'd made a mountain of pancakes and bacon. We ate breakfast, and when we were leaving, my husband asked if he could offer some payment.

    They insisted we were their guests. We left moved by their spirit of hospitality(好客). We were amazed that they would take in a family of total strangers from a different country. We kept in touch for many years. Over the years, we lost touch, but have never forgotten their kindness.