Each time I see a balloon , my mind flies back to a memory when I was a six-year-old girl . It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died . I asked my mum if my dad had gone to heaven . “ Yes , honey . Of course , ” she said . “ Can we write him a letter ? ”

    She paused , the longest pause of my short life , and answered , “ Yes . ” My heart jumped . “ Can the mailman go there ? ” I asked .

    “ No , but I have an idea . ” Mum drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon . I asked her what it was for . “ Just wait , honey . You'll see . ” Mum told me to write my letter . Eagerly , I got my favorite pen , and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink . I wrote about my day , what I learned at school , how Mum was doing , and even about what happened in a story I had read . For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive . I gave the letter to Mum . She read it over , and a smile crossed her face . She made a hole in the corner of the letter to tie it to the balloon . We went outside and she gave me the balloon . It was still raining . “ Okay , on the count of three , let it go . One , two , three . ” The balloon , carrying my letter , flew upwards against the rain . We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds . Later I realized , like the balloon , that Dad had never let his sickness get him down . He was strong . No matter what he suffered , he'd keep on , fly up , and finally go beyond this cold world and his sick body . He rose into sky and became something beautiful . I watched until the balloon disappeared into the grey and white and I prayed that his strength was passed on . I prayed to be a balloon .

    There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

    People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend (hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

    Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they want to get some advantages in social position or fortune(财), nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections（反对）, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be unpleasing and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

    Nearly all of us have a bad habit, whether we know it or not. Some people say they want to get rid of (去除) it but don't know the proper ways. Here's some advice on how to get rid of bad habits.

    Make a list. Write down all the reasons why you want to stop a certain behavior, how it's hurting you and why to get rid of it, this will help a lot. Look at that list regularly.

    Join in other activities. It's wise of you to do something else when you want to stop your bad habit. If you get angry easily, for example, you can practice having a deep breath or going for a walk.

    Give yourself a present. Before you take action against a bad habit, decide what you'll do to celebrate it if you reach your goal.

    Keep off bad habits. If you are fat and want to lose weight, keep junk food out of your house. If you are a heavy smoker with coffee, turn to tea and keep away from friends who like smoking.

    Be patient. Bad habits develop over years, so you probably won't be able to get rid of them quickly. In fact, people often give up several times before being successful, so you should be patient.

    Find support. Don't be afraid to ask for support from friends, family or other people who have the same bad habits as you. When you talk to others, they might be able to provide advice or encouragement that you usually wouldn't get from yourself.

    Jimmy is an automotive mechanic, but he lost his job a few months ago. He has good heart, but always feared applying for a new job.

One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job interview. His appointment was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an elderly man wildly kicking the tyre(轮胎） of his car. Obviously there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished working on the car, the old man asked him how much he should pay for the service. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone in need, and he had to rush for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It's the least I could do. Please. I insist.” Jimmy agreed.

Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of applications waiting to be interviewed. Jimmy still had some grease on him after the car repair, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer's office with disappointed look on their faces. Finally his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked, “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy's heart sank. “With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy's surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It turned out he was the General Manager of the company.

“Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into the office. I just know you'd be a trustworthy worker. Congratulations!” Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee as he landed himself a new job.

    As the weather gets colder, we start wearing jackets, and most of us stop thinking about the sun. But the sun's rays can be just as harmful when it's cold and cloudy outside. "Any exposed area of your body can still get sunburned," Dr. Apple Bodemer, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Live Science.

    Whether you spend a day on the slopes, skating on a pond or clearing snow out of your driveway, your face is still getting exposed to the sun's radiation in the form of ultraviolet (紫外线) (UV) light, which can go deep into your skin cells causing DNA damage, according to Bodemer.

    The sun's long ultraviolet A (UVA) waves can cause earlier aging, sunspots and wrinkles, while its short ultraviolet B (UVB) rays are known for causing skin reddening and burns.

    Skin damage caused by UV exposure increases over time. More exposure to radiation contributes to more severe damage, even skin cancer. In addition, snow and ice can also make sun damage worse. They reflect up to 80 percent of UV rays reaching the ground. That means you get hit from both the sky and the ground. And skiers and snowboarders increase their risk of getting sunburned even more because UV exposure increases at higher altitudes.

    "Generally, the biggest factor for sun-sensitivity is how pale your skin is," he said. "But, the reality is that even the darkest individual can get sun damage."

    Luckily, the solution for protecting your skin is simple: Wear sunscreen every day. Rigel recommended using sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30, and going higher at high altitudes. As a rule of thumb, SPF 30 will block 97 percent of UVB rays, SPF 50 blocking 98 percent, and SPF 100 blocking 99 percent. Whatever kind of sunscreen you use, it's important to apply SPF about once every 2 hours.

    Rigel also suggested sunscreens with "broad spectrum (光谱)"—to protect against both UVB and UVA rays—as well as sunscreens that are water resistant for up to 80 minutes. That way, you can go about your day without it wearing off too quickly.

    Having experienced a shocking electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, James Franco's world became completely dark and quiet for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.

    One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by the lightning. Witnesses thought he was dead but he woke up 20 minutes later, lying face down in muddy water. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a tree and muddy road. When Mrs. Franco came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.

    The news of James regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning. However, none of them could give a compellent answer as to why this should happen. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since James lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was another sudden shock.