The secret of happiness

    An old man walked slowly with a cane(手杖)into the restaurant .His old jacket, worn-out shoes and warm personality made him stand out from the usual crowd.

    A young waitress watched him move toward a table by the window. She ran over to him, and said: “Here, sir……let me help you with that chair.”

    Without saying a word, he smiled and nodded(点头)a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table and helped him sit. Then she put his came against the table.

    “Thank you, miss.”he said, kindly.

    “You're welcome, sir.”she said.

    After he had finished his breakfast, the waitress brought him the change(零钱)from his bill. He left it on the table. She helped him up and walked with him to the front door.

    When she went to clean his table, she found a business card under his plate and note on a napkin(纸巾). Under the napkin was a 100-dollar bill.

    The note on the napkin read: “Dear miss, I respect you very much and I can see you respect yourself, too. It shows by the way you treat others. (3)You have found the secret of happiness. Your kindness will shine through to all those who meet you.”

    The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she or any of the other workers had ever seen him in person.

    By Steve Brunkhorst

    Last weekend I went camping with my dad and my brother, Jim. We took a tent, sleeping bags, flashlights, water and food. We reached the campsite (营地）on Saturday afternoon. There was enough room to build a campfire. Jim and I collected some dry leaves, small sticks and Dad started a campfire. Then we cooked potatoes and cabbages for our supper and had some apple cakes. Everything tasted delicious.

    Soon it was time to put up the tent. We helped Dad pull the tent out of the bag, but unluckily, we found no poles (杆子）to hold it up. “Oh,” cried Jim, “I left them at home.” What could we do? Dad looked up the starry (星光璀璨的）sky. The night was clear and the air was warm. “It's OK, we don't need a tent.” Then he put the sleeping bags on the ground.

    We slept well that night. The sun was shining on us when we woke up the next morning. I think it was my best camping trip.

    An Englishman shows a foreign visitor around London. "What is that strange building?" asks the visitor. "That's the Tower of London." "I see. How long did it take to build it? ""About 20 years." "In my country, we can build it in 20 months," answers the visitor. A short time after that they come to St. Paul's Cathedral (圣保罗大教堂). "Very interesting," says the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "About forty years." "In my country we can finish it in forty days," says the visitor. This goes on all day. They visit most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they see a new one, the visitor always asks the same question. Then he always answers that they can do the same thing much faster in his country. At last, the Englishman gets angry with the visitor but he tries not to show it. At last they come to the House of Parliament and the visitor asks his usual question "What is that?" The Englishman answers "I don't know. It wasn't there last night."

Two friends Peter and Dale were walking through the desert. During the journey, they had an argument and Peter slapped（扇耳光） Dale in the face. Dale was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the 1 "Today, my best friend slapped me in the face." They kept on walking 2 they found an oasis（绿洲） where they decided to take a bath. 3 Dale got stuck in the mare（泥潭） and almost lost his life. But his friend Peter saved him. After he came back to life, he carve（刻） on a stone, "Today, my best friend saved my 4 " Peter, the friend who had slapped and 5 him, asked, "After I hurt you, you wrote it in the sand, but now you carve it 6 a stone. Why?" Peters? 7 " When you hurt me, I wrote it down in the sand, because the 8 can blow the bad memory and feelings away. However, when you saved my life, I must write it on a stone, 9 no wind will take it away. The 10 things you did for me will be recorded forever." Learn to write your hurts in the sand, and to carve your thankfulness in the stone. 

Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world (after water), was invented {#blank#}1{#/blank#}accident? It is believed that tea was drunk about 5, 000 years {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It is said that a Chinese ruler {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Shen Nong was the first to {#blank#}4{#/blank#}tea as a drink. One day Shen Nong was {#blank#}5{#/blank#}drinking water over {#blank#}6{#/blank#}open fire. Some {#blank#}7{#/blank#}from a tea plant {#blank#}8{#/blank#}into the water and remained there for sometime. It produced a nice smell {#blank#}9{#/blank#}he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the {#blank#}10{#/blank#}favorite drinks was invented. 

In her house, Zhang Rong, a mother of a first-year primary school boy, spends hours every day reading many children's books one by one and 1 dividing them into groups. 

2 mother has noticed a great need for used children's books among parents. So, she started her own company3 secondhand books. 

" Children need to read a lot of books, but4 you buy them all it will add up to a large expense (费用). I hope more parents can afford picture books for5 children and the price won't be high, " Zhang said. "A new picture book can cost6 than 100 yuan, while a secondhand one is usually 20 percent of that price. "

She often looks online and in stores for used books to give to her son and his friends, but it is not easy to find high-quality books. She sometimes7 friends in the United States to help buy picture books for children. 

" When I studied in Philadelphia, secondhand bookstores8 everywhere. 

They are now appearing in some9 in China, and people are fond of secondhand books, " she said. 

More and more parents ask her for advice on choosing used picture books, so she knows about their needs. "English-language picture books are very popular10 parents in China because they can help children learn English, " Zhang said.