The teacher gave each student a piece of paper. There were some questions on it. "What is your favorite color? Tell us about your hobbies and interests. Do you like your brothers or sisters?"

    Judy hated answering questions. She looked at the questions, and she had no idea how to start. She was the only child in her family, and she had lots of interests, such as running, skating and swimming and so on. She could never fill out what hobby she enjoyed the most. For example, she was interested in all kinds of sports, but she is not good at any of them. So she never knew how to answer questions like these.

    Mrs. Jones, her teacher, walked quietly through the room when the students worked on the project(课题). She stopped at Judy's desk to ask her if she needed some help.

    Judy looked up and said, "I am interested in so many things. I just don't know how to choose."

    Mrs. Jones smiled. She knew Judy was a smart girl but she couldn't focus on what she did." Maybe you could just list three of them."

    Judy seemed to relax and said she knew what to write down.

    Judy liked having the guidance (指点) so she could know what she should do. She finished the project quickly.

    When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist and loved to go on long walks to find stones to add to his collection at the university. More often than not, we followed him.

    One day, we left early and this time, our uncle gave us two backpacks. "You can help me carry the samples（样本）," he explained.

    Sure, why not? The whole day, we walked around the countryside, and every now and then, our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised that sometimes he also took some stones out from our bags, but thought he had just found better samples.

    We reached the house in the late afternoon. The backpacks were so heavy that we were really tired out when we put them on the ground. Yet our uncle's backpack was half-empty.

    "Why did you give us so many stones?" we asked. "I didn't. You did, "he said, waiting for a while before continuing." You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude（态度） test today."

    "What do you mean an attitude test?" we wanted to know.

    "It is something someone once did to me. You see, I listened to every word you said. And whenever you complained（抱怨） about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something in an attitude of positive thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks." We did. They were full. "I hope you remember this little attitude test. You see, your negative（负面的） thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones in a backpack. The more negative thoughts you have, the heavier your mind is. So look at those bags and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things."

    This little lesson was one of the most important I ever had. And I remember my uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life-the power of attitude.

    She used to sleep on the sidewalk of the Fifth Street Post Office. I could smell her before I came close. She wore dirty clothes and her mouth was nearly toothless. I hardly saw her talk with others. If she was not asleep, she talked to herself. I always had sympathy for her. What a poor old lady! She must be desperate (感到绝望的)and hungry.

    One Thanksgiving, we had lots of food left over. I thought about the old lady. She might be still hungry. So I packed the food up and drove over to the Fifth Street.

    It was a cold night. There was hardly anyone out. But I knew she would stay at the same place and I would find her easily.

    There she was, squatted against a fence near the post office. She was dressed as she always was.

    I drove my car over to her, rolled down the window and said, "I've brought you some food. Would you like some turkey and apple pie？"

    However, the old woman didn't seem to be very excited about this. She looked at me and said quite clearly, "Oh, thank you very much, but someone has given me food earlier and I'm quite full now. Why don't you take it to someone else who needs it？"

    Her words were clear and her manners were gracious. Soon her head sank into her arms again. I was the only person who didn't know what to say. An old lady who was clearly down on her luck still thought about others. Why don't more of us do that？

    A few days ago, a baby in England saved(拯救) her mother by using a mobile phone. The baby named Amelia was only 11 months old. How could she save her mother at such a young age?

    On that day, the 20-year -old mother called Elizabeth became unconscious(晕倒) at home. At that moment, the mobile phone rang. Amelia, the 11-month-old baby picked it up and answered it. The phone was from Elizabeth's mother, Linda Wright. Linda heard "Who is that?" and "Mama" on the other end of the line. She knows that her daughter has a history of fainting(晕厥) and she also knows her daughter doesn't let the baby play with the phone. So she called 999.

    Elizabeth was in hospital when she woke up. The doctor said that she was all right after the examination(检查). Elizabeth was surprised to find herself in hospital. When she knew that Amelia had saved her, she said she was lucky to have her baby. "She is clever," Elizabeth said. "I am proud of her".