When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist and loved to go on long walks to find stones to add to his collection at the university. More often than not, we followed him.

      One day, we left early, and this time, our uncle gave us two backpacks. “ You can help me carry the samples(样本),” he explained.

      Surely, why not? The whole day, we walked around the countryside, and every now and then, our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised that sometimes he also took some stones out from our bags, but thought he had just found better samples.

      We reached the house in the late afternoon. The backpacks were so heavy that we were really tired out when we put them on the ground. Yet our uncle's backpack was half-empty.

      “Why did you give us so many stones?” we asked.

      “I didn't. You did,” he said, waiting for a while before continuing. “ You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude(态度) test today.”

What do you mean an‘attitude test'?” we wanted to know.

      “It is something someone once did to me. You see, I listened to every word you said. And whenever you complained(抱怨) about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something in an attitude of positive thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks.”

      We did. They were full.

      “I hope you remember this little attitude test. You see, your negative thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things.”

      This little lesson was one of the most important lessons I ever had. And I remember my uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life – the power of attitude.

My mother's loving hands

    Night after night, she came to help me sleep, even long after my childhood years.

    I don't remember1it first started making me a little angry-my mum's hands pushing my hair that way. But it really made me uncomfortable, for they2rough(粗糙的)against my young skin. Finally, one night, I3her, "Don't do that anymore. Your hands are too rough！”She didn't say anything, 4she never did it again.

    Years later, I missed my mother's5and her goodnight kiss on my face. I'm not a little girl any more. My mum is6her mid-seventies, and her rough hands are still doing things for my family and me.

    Now my own children have7. It was late on Thanksgiving Eve. As I slept in my bedroom, a familiar hand ran across my8to push the hair from my head. Then a kiss, ever so softly, touched my brow(额头).

    Taking my mum's hand, I told her how9I was for that night I shouted at her. But my mum didn't know what I was talking about. She had forgotten it long ago.

    That night, I10with a new appreciation(感激)for my mother's caring hands. And the guilt(内疚)that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found.

    Mary is an American girl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. Mary doesn't know much Chinese, but she is studying it. She often speaks Chinese with her Chinese friends. Sometimes they can't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese very well.

    It's Saturday morning. She goes out. She is walking in the street. She wants to go to the zoo to see the elephants and monkeys, but she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy the way. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and a piece of paper. She draws an elephant on it, and shows the picture to the boy. The boy understands, and shows her the way to the zoo.

    Lisa goes to school on foot every day. One morning, Lisa leaves home after breakfast without an umbrella. Then it begins to rain. The rain becomes heavier and heavier. Lisa's mother worries about her daughter and decides to find Lisa to give her an umbrella. She drives along the way her daughter always walks. She looks left and right through the car windows to look for Lisa. Finally, she finds Lisa walking in the street happily. She also finds that every time lightning strikes, Lisa will stop, look up at the sky and smile. Lisa's mother is very surprised. She shouts to Lisa, "Lisa, what are you doing?" She answers, "God is taking photos of me, so I smile!"

Meiyu, born in 1991, is from Turkey(土耳其). She is the youngest child of her family. After high school, many people learned English or Japanese, but Meiyu decided to learn Chinese in university. She learned Chinese for four years in Ankara University in Turkey, and got her name Meiyu there.

Meiyu fell in love with Chinese after going to university. She became more interested after she knew more about Chinese history. In the beginning many people did not understand her decision. But they all said Meiyu had made a right choice when she graduated from university in 2013. Since then, more Chinese have been visiting Turkey. The trade between the two countries also requires Chinese-speaking people. ＂Speaking Chinese means more job opportunities.＂ said Meiyu.

Now Meiyu has been in Wuhan, China for about two years. Besides going on studying Chinese, she shows great interest in Chinese kung fu as well, so she spends her free time on kung fu training with her coaches. Not only can kung fu help improve her health, but she is also fascinated by the history and culture behind it. Meiyu said, ＂The more I know about China, the luckier I feel to have been here. But the truth is that fun and pain go together in the process of learning.＂

Meiyu will graduate in June this year. Her friends want her to stay in China, but her parents hope she can come back home. Meiyu thinks it is difficult to decide. ＂Even if I go back to Turkey, I will choose Chinese language education as my job,＂ said Meiyu.