Years ago, I worked at the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. One day, as I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, 1by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front legs. It was 2that they could, at any time, break free, 3strangely enough, they didn't. I asked a trainer the 4for this.

    He said, “When they were very young, we used the 5 size rope, and it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they believe the rope can 6 hold them, so they never try.”

    Like the elephants, how many of you believe you cannot do a thing, simply because you7 once before? Do you often tell 8 “I cannot dance” or “I'm not good at math”?

         These are 9 of self limiting beliefs. You must realize you're 10 for them. A limiting belief that says you're poor at math may have 11 as a reaction to the embarrassing experiences related to math, or the remarks made by someone important to you which12 you. The cool thing is that because you create the 13you can choose to change it! Here is how:

    First, 14 it with “I am good at math”. Once you change your 15 , your subconsciousness(潜意识) will make this 16 by driving you to act. That might be to take a math course or to go online 17 help, etc. Gradually you'll really see your math skills are 18 .

    This is such a simple process that you can 19 it today. Don't be like the poor elephants and make your life 20 in a place because of a limiting belief you developed years ago.

    The first week is always a bit hard in my writing classes. I'm unfamiliar 1 the students, most of them trying to 2 themselves to their new environment. When Jennifer 3 me with a question on the second day, I was 4 for the chance to connect at least one name with a face.

    Her writing wasn't perfect, 5 her effort was. She worked hard and pushed herself to achieve. She was excited to 6, which made me enjoy teaching her. I didn't 7 then how much she would also teach me. One Friday afternoon, Jennifer stopped by after class. She wasn't asking a question 8a paper I'd returned. 9, she said quietly: “I didn't attend classes yesterday. I was at the health center the whole day.” I gave her a sideways look, 10. “It was just a virus (病毒). I'm fine now,” she 11 me. Then she was gone.

    Two nights later, her father called to tell me that Jennifer would be 12a few classes. She had been in hospital with meningitis (脑膜炎). I heard from him again a few days later, and again after that. Her condition grew 13. We made trips to the hospital room. I was 14 frightened when I saw the pale, thin and weak girl who, only ten days earlier, had displayed life and warmth in my classroom.

    A week later, Jennifer herself called me to tell me she was on the road to 15. “I'll be back to school one day,” she said. “I have no 16 that you'll be with us.” I told her, 17 tears. I remembered what her father had said in his first phone call: “school 18 everything to Jenny.”

    Then five weeks later, I walked into my classroom to find Jenny in her seat,   19.   She 20 all of her missed homework, completed with thought and excellence. The strength of her will to overcome shone out of her pale, weak, eighteen-year-old face.

    There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she didn't like to listen and kept 1 all the time. When the doctors wanted to help her, she always refused any 2treatment and kept touching her eye and it became worse and worse.3 the king announced a big4 for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man arrived. He 5 that he could cure the princess but6 he was not a doctor.

    After he had 7 her, the man said, “There is nothing much wrong with your eye, hut there is something else that is really 8 .” The princess was worried and asked what it was. He 9and said, “It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it.” No matter how much she10, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak without the king's11 .

    When the king arrived, the man was still 12to tell his findings. After the king ordered him to tell them, the man said, “Well, there is no problem with the 13 . The big problem is that the princess will start14 a long tail very soon. If she15it when it appears, I can prevent it from growing.” Everyone was deeply concerned at this 16. And the princess stayed in bed, day and night, directing all her17 to feeling when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few days, her eye got well.

    This is how we 18 react: we always focus on our  19 problem and it becomes the center of everything. So far, we have done this20, generation after generation.

    Imagine that you're a whale (鲸鱼), about 25 feet long and weighing thousands of pounds. You can 1 as fast as 35 miles per hour and may travel 100 miles in a day. The entire 2  is your home. Now picture yourself as the3 whale living alone in a small pool. You cannot dive 4  or swim great distances. There is nothing much to do 5  circle the small pool day after day.

    Now imagine you're an elephant living in a close family group. Members of the family 6 each other while travelling long distances to find the large quantities of food needed to7 the family. Now picture yourself8  in a trailer（拖车）or train moving from city to city. You're9 to perform tricks like standing on your head-things you'd 10 do in the wild.

    For many years, people watched whales and elephants 11  in circuses（马戏团）and marine（海洋的）parks. But now people are speaking up for the 12. They're saying that they deserve to live a more 13 life and not be used for entertainment. And people and some companies-are beginning to 14.

    In March 2015, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey  15  that they would no longer use elephant acts in their circuses. And on May 1, 2016, the elephants performed their last 16  . One year later, SeaWorld Theme Parks announced that it would gradually 17 using shows featuring whales performing silly 18 .

    The announcements by Ringling Bros. and SeaWorld are first steps in putting an end to using wild animals for19 . These decisions were made as a result of many people speaking out loud and clear that  20 animals deserve to live free.

    A young English teacher saved the lives of 30 students when he took1of a bus after its driver suffered a serious heart attack. Guy Harvold, 24, had 2the students and three course leaders from Gatwick airport, and they were travelling to Bournemouth to3 their host families. They were going to 4 a course at the ABC Language School in Bournemouth where Harvold works as a teacher.

    Harvold, who has not 5his driving test, said, “I was speaking to the students 6 I realized the bus was out of control.” The bus ran into trees at the side of the road and he 7 the driver was slumped (倒伏) over the 8 The driver didn't 9He was unconscious. The bus hit a lamp post and it broke the glass on the front door before Harvold 10 to bring the bus to a stop. Police 11 the young teacher's quick thinking. If he hadn't reacted 12there could have been a terrible13.

    The bus driver never regained 14 and died at Easy Surrey Hospital. He had worked regularly with the 15and was very well regarded by the teachers and students. Harvold said, “It was16 that no one else was hurt, but I hoped that the driver would17.

    The head of the language school told the local newspaper that the school is going to send Harvold on a weekend 18to Dublin with a friend, thanking him for his 19. A local driving school has also offered him six 20 driving lessons.

    I'm Therese, a business manager living in Berlin, Germany. Last month, I 1 to read over 100 nonfiction books in psyshology, politics, and leadership. It might sound 2, but I really did.

    It started with a 3. A colleague 4 me to read Mallcolm Gladwell's The Story of Success in two 5. Determined as I was, I just couldn't 6 the deadline. I 7 the first few chapters quickly but found it impossible to finish all in 2 hours. So I 8 the bet, but it gave me an idea: I needed to find a better way to consume nonfiction books. I finally registered the Blinkist app, which is really 9 for me to read quickly. Blinkist is one of the apps that transform books into "bite-sized" 10. I've learned that in order to produce proper insights from every book, over 100 literary experts 11 themselves to work. I also love that the app has an audio 12 allowing me to listen to great ideas. So I set a fresh 13 with this cool app — to read the key insights from 100 books in one month. How did I do? I read 102 titles exactly.

    I used to 14 much time on social media. Moreover, my job is exhausting, so by the time I leave work, my brain is pretty useless. 15, reading a book on the Blinkist app is like a snack for my 16. I'm happy that I'm doing something  17 with my time. Every day, I wake up 18 than the day before. If you want to get wiser too, then I challenge you to try and 19 my 102-title record! 20 the Blinkist app and start your reading adventure!