When I was about 12, I had an enemy(敌人), a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn't a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with(忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

    He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Go and write a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

    I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.

    I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be helpful to you. Don't close your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right.”

    Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure(珍惜) all your life!

    A bus arrived and an old woman got on it slowly. She wore no shoes.

    A little boy pointed at (指) the old woman and said to his mother, “Look, Mum. She isn't wearing shoes.” “Don't point at others, Tom. It's rude,” the mother said and then looked out of the window.

    “She must have children,” said a woman in a fur coat. “Her children should buy shoes for her.”

    “People should learn to save money,” said a well-dressed man. “If she saved money when she was young, she wouldn't be so poor now.”

    Then all the passengers (乘客) on the bus stopped talking.

    At the next stop, a young man got on the bus. He was listening to music. When he saw the old woman, he stopped moving. He carried his eyes from her feet to his own. He was wearing his expensive new trainers. He saved money for months to buy them. Unexpectedly, the young man took off his trainers and socks. He stood before the old woman. “Madam,” he said, “I see you have no shoes. Well, I have.” Carefully and gently, he put his socks and fine trainers on the old woman's feet.

    Just then the bus arrived at the next stop. The young man got off the bus and walked away, wearing no shoes in the snow.

    “Who is he?” one asked. “He must be an angel (天使),” said another. But the honest (诚实的) little boy said, “No. He was only a man.”

Take a pleasant "citywalk" around Xi'an

Citywalk means walking around the city. When it is getting more and more popular, we can't help wondering what places are worth walking around in a city. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

When you enter the Hanguang Gate, you will meet Tianshuijing Street and feel the noise and crowds being far away. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. There are also modern coffee shops and clubs.

An old building nearby has a lot of stories to tell. It always attracts many photography lovers. The next stop is the Bingjiao (Ice House) Alley. It is used for keeping the ice cubes in the summer. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Its historical and cultural places can bring you many surprises.

Walking out of the alley, you're at Sifu Street, which leads to the Small South Gate. You shall not miss the morning market at the Small South Gate. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. You may fall in love with this area easily. In fact, besides the busy morning market here, there are also coffee shops for pleasure in the afternoon and diners and bars for a late-night meal. Having drinks and a relaxing chat with friends, you can feel the great power of the slow-paced time.

Not far from the Taiyangmiao Gate, you may come across a "balcony concert". {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

After knowing these places, you'll like them.

My husband, Tyler, and I decided to raise a guide dog puppy (幼犬). After attending several meetings with Anina Green, the guide dog club leader, I eagerly signed up to become a raiser and patiently waited for the arrival of my puppy. Then, one day, Anina informed me that I would get my puppy on April 27.

That day, Tyler and I went to Anina's house. In the kitchen, we saw the puppy. Escort, sleeping on the floor. Holding him for the first time was magical. He was so soft and sleepy—and huge! Escort was larger than a lot of full-grown dogs.

We attended a weekly puppy kindergarten to learn how to train Escort. From the time we got the puppy until he was about 6 months old, he was on a leash (牵引绳). When we were watching TV on the sofa or brushing teeth, the leash was always in our hands. During the first eight weeks. Tyler and I mostly stayed at home, taught Escort orders, and held his leash.

The guide dog club is really like a family—a family with a lot of wonderful, well-behaved dogs. We traveled to various places together with these dogs. Escort's first group outing was a trip to tour the city museum. We also went to a shopping mall, a baseball game. a fire station, and the airport to practice going through security. With all the help from our club, Escort went from a sleepy little puppy to a dependable companion (伙伴) when he was 8 months old.

When Escort was one year old, he could walk with a perfect loose (松的) leash, follow our orders and always make the right choices. It was time for us to drop him off at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus to go through more formal (正式的) guide training and get matched with someone who needed him. We had fallen in love with the puppy and couldn't bear giving him away. but we had to say goodbye to him.

When I see pictures of Escort with the woman he has been placed with. I feel very happy. It doesn't hurt that he's not with me—seeing him going on adventures with his new owner every day makes it all worth it. The thought that he will improve her life makes me very proud.