Tom and his cousin took a boat trip. When they got on the boat, every passenger(乘客)should answer the keeper a question. If the passenger answered "yes", he or she got one gift; if the passenger answered "no", he or she got two gifts. Tom and his cousin saw all about this. Now it was their turn. The keeper came up to them and asked, "Are you a good sailor?" Tom wanted to get two gifts, so he answered "no" loudly, at the same time he said, "I have never been a sailor, how could I be a good sailor?" The keeper gave him two gifts. His cousin gave the same answer, so he got two gifts, too.

    The boat started off. The passengers began to open their gifts. Tom and his cousin did the same. They found that one of the two gifts was a small bottle of drinking water, the other was a seasick tablet(晕船药). Tom had a look at a "yes"-passenger's gift. His was a nice chocolate. Tom shouted at the keeper, "We are never seasick. Why do you give us seasick tablets? "

    There was a boy and his family was very rich. One day his father took him on a trip to a place. He wanted to show his son how poor people were there. They spent several days on a farm. There were many poor families living on the farm.

    On their way home, the father asked the son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad,” the son answered. “Did you notice how poor people were there?" asked his father. “Oh, yes,” said the son. “So, tell me,” said his father. The son said, “Well, we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool in our garden, while they have a river that has no end. We have expensive lanterns(灯), but they have stars above their heads at night. We have only a small piece of land to live on, while they have the endless fields. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have high walls around our houses to protect us, but they don't need walls, because their friends will protect them."

    The father had nothing to say. Then the boy added, “Thank you, Dad, for letting me see how poor we are.”

    A frog was swimming in a pond after a rainstorm. He saw a brilliant rainbow across the sky. He was so excited that he couldn't help crying.

    "I have heard there is a cave filled with gold at the place where the rainbow ends. I will find the cave and be the richest frog in the world," said the frog.

    The frog swam to the edge of the pond as fast as he could. There he met another frog by accident.

    "Where are you rushing to?" asked the second frog.

    "I am rushing to the place where the rainbow ends," said the first frog.

    "There is a saying that there is a cave filled with gold and diamonds at that place," said the second frog.

    "Then come with me." said the first frog. "We will be the two richest frogs in the world."

    The two frogs jumped out of the pond and ran through the grassland. There they met another frog.

    "What's the hurry?" asked the third frog.

    "We are running to the place where the rainbow ends," said the two frogs.

    "I have been told there is a cave filled with gold, diamonds and pearls at that place," said the third frog.

    "Then come with us," said the two frogs. "We will be the three richest frogs in the world."

    The three frogs ran for miles. Finally they came to the end of the rainbow.

    There they saw a dark cave on the side of a hill.

    "Gold! Diamonds! Pearls!" cried the frogs. As they jumped into the cave, they found a snake lived inside.

    He was hungry and had been thinking about his dinner. He swallowed the three frogs quickly.

    An Englishman was showing a foreign visitor around London" What's that strange building?" asked the visitor. " That's the Tower(塔)of London" " I see. How long did it take to build it?" "About 500 years." "In my country we can build it in five months. "said the visitor. A short time after that they came to St. Paul's Cathedral (大教堂). "Very interesting!" said the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "Nearly forty years, "said the Englishman. "In my country we can finish it in forty days." said the visitor. This went on all day. They visited most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they saw a new one, the visitor asked what it was and how long it took to build it. Then he said that they could do the same thing much faster in his country. At last the Englishman got angry with the visitor though he tried not to show it. A few days later they came to the House of Parliament(议会大厦)and the visitor asked his usual question. "What's that?" The Englishman answered, "I've no idea. It wasn't there last night. "

    Canada Geese are large blue and white birds. When autumn arrives, they have to fly south where the weather is warmer. The winters are so cold in Canada that the birds die if they stay there.

    Last spring, Bill Lishman found sixteen young Canada Geese on his farm. They had lost their parents. Bill thought, "These young birds won't know what to do in the autumn."

    Bill had a small plane and he decided to teach the birds to follow him. All through the summer, he went on short trips in his plane and the young geese flew after him.

    When the cold weather arrived in autumn, Bill flew to Virginia in the United States, 600 miles (英里) south of his home in Canada. The geese followed him all the way. Bill left the geese in Virginia and he returned home.

    This spring. Bill was waiting for the birds to come back. They didn't arrive, so Bill flew to Virginia to get them. He looked for them for two weeks but he couldn't find them.

    When he arrived back home, Bill found the geese waiting for him. They had found their way home without him!

    One day I got in a taxi, and we left for the airport. We were driving in the right lane(车道)when, suddenly, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver stopped his car at once. The tire(轮胎)made a very loud noise, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the back of the other car.

    I was frightened. But then I couldn't believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, turned his head and started yelling at us. I couldn't believe it！But my taxi driver just smiled at the guy. So I asked, "Why did you just do that？This guy almost sent us to hospital."

    This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call“The Law of the Rubbish Truck(垃圾车法则)".He explained that many people are like rubbish trucks. They run around full of rubbish, full of anger and full of bad feelings. As their rubbish piles up, they look for a place to throw it away and sometimes they'll throw it at you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their rubbish and spread it to other people at work, at home or in the streets.

    Successful people never let rubbish trucks change their moods. Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love those who love you and pray(祈祷)for those who don't.