When I was about twelve years old, a girl in my class liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). She said I was very thin; I wasn't good at math; I talked too much; I was too proud, and so on. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.  He listened to me quietly, and asked, "Are those things true or not? Jane, didn't you ever think about what you're really like?" Then he added, "Well, you have that girl's opinions.  Make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found out that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change, like being very thin, but many I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy, and he said, "Now you know better about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears angrily and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of great help to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do. "

    Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    In the ancient Arabic story called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the young hero Ali Baba said "Open Sesame" and a door to hidden treasures was opened to him. The old story had a special meaning for Ma Yun. He drew inspiration from it for Alibaba.com--Chinese largest ecommerce(电子商务) website.

    In 1995, Ma Yun was working for a US trading company when he was introduced to the Internet. "I know nothing about computers and has never touched a keyboard," he said. He searched the word "beer" and nothing came up about Chinese products.

    Ma Yun had an idea. Why not build a large Internet market to connect customers with companies from all over the world? They could do business online in that way. That was how Alibaba began. His company grew quickly. But that didn't mean everything went smoothly. In 2000, many Internet companies failed including Alibaba. But later, he was successful because he managed to attract investment(投资) into his company. "You should stick to your dream," he said. "Everyone thought I was daydreaming when I started. But the most important thing is that we believe in our dream from past to today and tomorrow. Of course we made many mistakes, but we never give up."

    Ma Yun is also smart. For him, success in business is like trying to catch a rabbit. "If there are nine rabbits, focus on catching one--don't try to catch them all," he said. "Change your ways if you need to, but don't change the rabbit. Get one first, put it in your pocket and then catch the others. "

    Once there lived a rich man called King. He loved chatting(聊天) very much. Every day he had his men do all the housework, so he had enough time to chat with others.

    One summer afternoon, his friend Bruce invited him to his birthday party. King kept on chatting at table. Later, all the other friends had left, but he didn't notice it. Bruce was worried, because he had just received a call from his sister and he would go to the station to meet her. But King didn't say goodbye to him, and he went on chatting.

    At that time, King's wife came in and asked her husband, "Would you like a roast(烤制) bird, dear?"

    "Of course," King answered, "but where is it?"

    "I heard a bird singing in the big tree outside just now," said the woman. "I want it to be the last dish. I'll cut the tree down. "

    "But I'm afraid it will fly away when you begin to cut the tree," said King.

    "Don't worry about it, dear," the woman said with a smile. "It is a foolish(愚蠢的) bird. It doesn't know when to leave."

    Tara: Nicole, I have a problem.

    Nicole: What kind of problem?

    Tara: I have a job interview tomorrow, and I heard that the boss will ask to see my Facebook profile. I'm not comfortable with that.

    Nicole: That's illegal in some countries, like Canada. Can you refuse?

    Tara: I want to, but I'm afraid that if I do, I won't get the job!

    Nicole: I guess I see the boss's point. Looking at a candidate'sFacebook page will tell him a lot about the person's life and personality.

    Tara: That's true. Most of my life is on Facebook. My profile could tell him about my hobbies, my interests and what my friends think of me. I find the idea of showing a boss that much personal information disturbing.

    Nicole: Companies run background checks on possible employees all the time. And this is just another way for him to see if you're trustworthy. Besides, I've seen your Facebook page, and you don't have anything to hide.

    Tara: Maybe not, but my friends might still post things on my Facebook page that make me look bad.

    Nicole: I think the boss will probably realize the differences between your posts and your friends' posts.

    Tara: He might, but I'm also worried that something the boss sees on Facebook could be misleading. For example, I wore a really crazy costume to my friend's party last week. I wouldn't want him to think I always do strange things like that.

    Nicole: Yeah, but I don't think the boss would assume that one picture shows how you always act. I'm sure he'll be pretty cautious about drawing conclusions too quickly based on Facebook.

    When she was at the age of 9,Katie planted a cabbage seed(种子)in the garden outside her house. She took care of it every day by watering it, weeding(除草)it and giving it plant food. At last, it grew to be HUGE! More than 18 Kilograms huge!

    Katie wanted to do something special with this very special cabbage. With her mom's help, Katie made up her mind to donate(捐赠)it to a local soup kitchen to help feed the hungry people in her community(社区).

    When she arrived to make her donation, she saw a long line of people waiting for food. Then Katie gave her cabbage to the guests. As people thanked her, she knew she could do more to help. With the help of her parents and school, Katie's Krops was born! Katie's Krops creates gardens to grow food that is donned to local soup kitchens to feed the hungry.

    Katie's dream is to end hunger around the world. So, after she created several gardens in her community, she decided to do more. She wanted to help other kids create gardens in their own communities!

    There are now about a hundred Katie's Krops gardens growing all over the United States! Kids between the age of 9 and 16 take care of them.