When Justin Tong was a child, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him doing lots of housework such as carrying out the rubbish and sending newspapers. But when he grew up, he was better off than his childhood friends and lived a happier and healthier life.

This is the finding of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 children in London. It showed that the children who had worked hard in childhood had a richer and a happier future. "Children who worked in the home or community gained competence(能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society," said Daniel Brown, the psychologist(心理学家) who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."

Brown's study followed these children in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Brown, the researchers compared the children's mental-health scores with their childhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

    Working at any age is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this.

    Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, "One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work."

    "Doctor Johnson, I don't want to eat now, that's because nothing has a taste for me. It's been like this for long. In fact, I didn't have a delicious meal after I caught a terrible cold last month, What can I do?"

    "Here are some medicine, Mrs. Harris. Take three pills three times a day for seven days and come back and see me. But remember, don't eat anything during the week, or you can just drink some water."

    Next week an upset Mrs. Harris came into Dr. Johnson's office. "Doctor! I'm doing it just as you told me, but delicious food is still tasteless for me. I don't know what was in those pills, but the problem is worse! What do you have to say for yourself?"

    "But when and how do you take these pills?" asked the doctor.

    "At first, I took these pills three times a day, just before dinner," continued the woman, "but these pills are too bitter (苦). So I had to take these pills after three meals."

    "Calm down, Mrs. Harris," said the doctor soothingly. "Now that we've fixed your taste problem, It's OK now, we'll work on your hearing!"

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Rose. She loved1 but she didn't have paintbrushes(画笔) or paper. She always painted pictures in the sand2 tree branches(树枝). One day, an old lady saw Rose and said, "Hi! Here's a paintbrush and some3 for you."

"Thank you!"Rose said. She felt so4 ."Hmm, what will I paint?" she thought. She5 and saw a duck in the river. "I know! I can paint a6 !" So she did. Suddenly, the duck flew off the paper and into the river."Wow!"she said."A magic paintbrush!"

Rose was a very 7 girl and she painted pictures for the people in her village. She painted cows for the 8 , pencils for the students and toys for all the children.

The king9 about the magic paintbrush and he sent a soldier(士兵) to find Rose. "Come with10 ," said the soldier."The king wants you to paint some money for him."

"But he's so11 ," said Rose. "I only paint to help poor people."But the soldier still took Rose to the king. "Paint me a tree with lots of12 on it," the greedy(贪婪的) king shouted.

Rose was brave and said, "No!"13 the king sent her to prison(监狱). But Rose painted a key to the door and a horse to help her run away. The king14 her with his soldiers.

She took out her paintbrush and 15 a big hole, and splat(啪嗒声)! The king and the soldiers fell into the hole.

Rose only used her magic paintbrush to help those people who truly needed her help.

Over the past 6 years, Zhang Chaofan has given away 1.35 million yuan and raised 5.2 million yuan from the public to help more than 400 people with health problems—including teachers with cancer (癌症) and disabled children in poor families—learn traditional Chinese culture.

Zhang, 29, was born without a left arm in Changchun, Jilin, but her hard work to become stronger has encouraged many people. She was chosen along with 67 other honorees (领奖人) to receive the Eighth National Ethical Role Model award (第八届全国道德模范提名奖) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 5th, 2021.

In 2015, Zhang set up a handwriting and painting school in Changchun. When she found that some parents were unable to pay for their children's education, she made the lessons free and began providing 300, 000yuan every year to help them.

In early 2020, her school was made to suspend all courses because of COVID-19 (新冠肺炎) but it didn't stop her from helping the poor families. She raised more than 8.9 millionyuan and gave them away to Hubei hospitals.

"Women in the new times should have the courage to create value and also have a sense of social duty," she said. "It is my great honor to be chosen as a model. This will become a driving force for me to move ahead and keep helping the poor and the disabled."