I was the typical“ I can't” child-whatever my mother told or asked me to do was immediately followed by my cry，“I can't．”As a result，very few tasks or goals that I set out to achieve were ever completed．

    One evening，my mother called me into the family room．“I want you to read this article，”Mother began．“It's about Marlo Thomas．She tells how a simple poem that she was forced to learn by her father changed her life • She went from saying 'I can't' to 'I can' •According to this article，she was able to reorganize her life and her career by learning the principles（原则）in the poem．”

    I took the small magazine from Mother and looked down at the pages．There was Marlo-my idol．Beside her photo was the poem my mother had spoken of，a simple poem entitled，“I Can”．

    “I want you to memorize that poem，”Mother said firmly．“Mama，”I belly-acheD． “I can't learn that poem．It's too long．”

“It's not too tong and you can learn it.1 want you to know it perfectly by this time tomorrow，”said my mother．Unwillingly，I went back to my bedroom with the magazine．With a heavy heart，Ithrew myself into the bed and began my task．

    “Can't is a word that is the enemy to ambition，”I began．I repeated the line．I repeated it again and again．“An enemy ambush to shatter your will…”I continued the process until I proudly recited the poem the following evening．It has now become my principle．Marlo 1 homas did not know me，but her story forever changed my life．

    Saying “I can”helped me to get through the worst moments of my life: Saying “I can” encouraged me to complete things I would have otherwise seen as out of my reach．A simple poem learned at seven is a poem that will support me to seventy-seven，maybe even longer．

    Wang Ping and Wang Bin are the twins. They are students. They go to school five days a week. They don't have classes on Saturday and Sundays.

    Today is Sunday. They want to go to the shop. Wang Ping wants to buy(买) a pen and Wang Bin wants to buy a pencil—box. In the shop there are many nice things and a lot of people. Some of them buy apples and bananas. And some of them buy food and clothes. The people in the shop are very friendly. Wang Ping and Wang Bin are very glad(高兴)to come back home with their things.

    My name is Bill. I'm from England. I am a worker. I work in a clothes shop. My wife , Ann, is a teacher. She teaches English in a junior high school. We have two kids: a son and a daughter. They are students. Jim is our son. Now he is in his favorite T-shirt and blue pants. Sally is our daughter. She likes blue very much. Now she is in her blue dress. My father's name is Robby. My mother's name is Diana. They are old and they don't work now. I have a brother. His name is Robert. He is a worker, too. My wife's father is Sam. Her mother's name is Rose. Her sister is Lily. She is a teacher, too.

    An officer（军官）is at a bus stop. He wants to see his girlfriend by bus. He wants to tell his girlfriend the time of his bus, and then she can meet him at the stop in her car. He wants to call his girlfriend on a pay phone（付费电话）,but he doesn't have a coin（硬币）for the phone. He wants someone to help him.

    A soldier（士兵）is near the stop. The officer walks to the soldier and asks,“Do you have any coins for the phone?”

    “Let me have a look,” says the soldier. “I'll see if I can help you.”

    “Don't you know how to speak to an officer?” says the officer. “Now let's say it. Do you have any coins for the phone?”

    “No, sir,” says the soldier.

    When most 8-year-old children are in school or playing, little Anna Wang from China is looking after her grandmother and great-grandmother.

    The family lives in a poor house in the remote mountains(偏远山区) of Huling, Rui'an. Her mother and father leave her when she is only 3 months old. She has a grandmother and a 92-year-old great-grandmother. Her grandmother is ill(生病的), so she can't look after herself. Anna cooks for them, and helps them with housework every day. Every morning, she gets up early and cooks breakfast for her family. She often cleans the house, and helps them to the toilet(厕所). She has no other family to help her.

    A neighbor(邻居), Lin Feng, with a farm usually gives Anna vegetables, and he helps her carry them to her home. Sometimes he even buys clothes for her and her family. Also Lin Feng teaches her to read and write.

    Little Anna says she does the housework happily because she wants to. She always says "I should be ready to help my family and other people because we should love everyone all over the world."

    In ancient Greece, Socrates was a knowledgeable philosopher(哲学家). One day one person met him and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?". "Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test(三重过滤测试). Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the Triple Filter Test. The first filter is truth. Have you made absolutely(完全地) sure that what you are about to tell me is true? ""No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…". "All right," said Socrates. "So you don't know whether it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" "No, on the contrary…". "So, "Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness(有益性). Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?" "No, not really." "Well," said Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me?"