Chores weren't popular at my house. My children didn't like to do chores. They always saw me do chores, but they hardly ever helped me dothem.

    A year ago, I made a game called "The Endless ChoreGame". It's really great. Here's how the game works.

    I make a card with forty squares(方框), and I write adifferent chore on each square. These chores can be easy and interesting likemaking dessert. Then my family roll the dice(骰子)to decidewhat chores we have to do. The card also has a few squares with fun things, like watching TV and singing. If you're lucky, you can watchTV when the others are doing the chores.

    My son likes the game very much. He goes to the kitchen happily every morning to do the game. It's really a good way to make my children do chores. You can have a try if you have the same problemas me.

    I am Tom. My mom told me my first and second words were "Mommy" and "Daddy". The next one was "No". I didn't want to eat vegetables. I didn't want to go to bed early. I didn't want to study in the school. Being the "baby" of the family (I have two sisters)，I said a lot of "No".

    When I became a middle school student, my father had a talk with me. He asked me to say "Yes" more than "No". "You can have a different life when you do that," he said.

    Then I began to say "Yes" more. When mom asked me to give her a cup of tea, I said "Yes". I saw a big smile on her face. When Dad asked me to buy some food for him，I said "Yes". When he said "thanks" to me, I felt excited and happy. When I met problems in study, I said "Yes, I can do it!" I began to study hard and got good grades.

    Saying "Yes" can bring good luck to me and make me happy. Let's say "Yes" to life. Say "Yes" when others ask for help. Say "Yes" to make this world be a good place.

    One day a king went to a faraway place in his country. When he came back, his feet hurt a lot. "There are too many small stones on the roads. They hurt my feet. You should cover every road with leather(皮革)," he told his men. Of course, it would cost a lot of money. One of his men was very smart. He told the king, "Why not cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?" The king was surprised, and he agreed to the man's idea. He asked his men to make a pair of leather shoes for him.

    Maybe this is not the beginning of leather shoes. But it teaches us a lesson of life: if you want to make this world a happy place to live in, the best way is to change yourself, not the world.

Our family had lived in Los Angeles for two weeks. "LA is not a bad place, Sonny." Dad said. But I didn't like the city. I missed* Michigan. I missed my old friends and even the trees there.

That afternoon, I went out to find a basketball court*. Dad said there was one around, but it was twenty-minutes' walk away! When I got there, I saw three children playing some kind of one-on-one*. Two of them were taller than me, and one was about my size.

The short boy played well, but the other two were too tall for him. One-on-one wasn't his game. He needed someone to pass to. I went down to the other basket and played alone. Then I heard someone calling me. It was the short boy.

"I'm Louie. Are you coming to join us? Small against* tall."

"Sounds good." I thought for some time. "I'm Sonny."

Louie introduced the other two boys. They were Chuck and David. We nodded to each other and started the game. Like I said, Louie really was a good player. He just needed someone to pass to. Soon, Chuck and David found    ▲   . The score was always close. Both teams had to try our best. In the end, Louie and I didn't win the game, but we made it interesting.

A little later, I saw Dad come. I said goodbye to them.

"Coming back tomorrow?" asked Louie.

"Yeah."

The sun was going down behind pink and orange clouds. On the way back home, Dad said, "Who said Los Angeles doesn't have great sunsets*?"

"LA is not a bad place." I said. Now, it could be home.

It was the final part of an international race. With just 700 metres to go, Mike was in third place and his younger brother, John, was in the lead. Mike pushed himself towards the finish line in the burning heat, but as he came around the comer, he saw his brother about to fall onto the ground. Mike had to choose—brotherly love, or a chance to win the race?

For Mike, the choice was clear. His brother was in trouble. He had to help. Mike ran towards John, caught him and started pulling him towards the finish line. Mike then pushed his brother over the line. The move put John in second place and Mike himself in third. It was an unexpected end to the race, so reporters quickly crowded around Mike, asking him all kinds of questions. But Mike did not want to discuss it. His younger brother was rushed to the medical area, and he, just wanted to check on his dear younger brother.

The brothers have been practising running since they were children. "Naturally, when your elder brother is doing it, you think it's a cool thing to do," says John. Mike says that they encourage each other as much as they can when they train. Although they have disagreements about "stupid things" now and then, Mike agrees that having a brother is an advantage. "Throughout my whole life, Fve had my brother trying to beat me at everything I do. It has been a great power to push me fbrward."

Watched by millions, the ending to the race has different opinions: should the brothers be highly praised for their actions, or shouldn't they get the prizes? But for Mike, his decision was easy to explain: "Mum wouldn't be happy if I left John behind." At that moment, he was no longer a sportsman trying to win a prize—he was just a brother.