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.

      Surely, 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 thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things.”

      This little lesson was one of the most important lessons 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.

Only a Ribbon

    In one of the London hospitals，a short time ago，there was a young doctor. He noticed one of the patients，a ten-year-old poor girl called Katie，who had a very painful illness.

    Katie lay in her bed，day after day，with nothing to help her forget her pain and cheer up. One day the doctor noticed her trying to make a doll of her finger, and speaking to it. But she was soon tired of it，and lay back into her bed.

    That afternoon，the young doctor saw a beautiful ribbon in a shop window. He thought that it might help cheer the little girl up，so he went in and bought it for her. When he handed the ribbon to the girl，she was too surprised to speak. There were tears in her eyes. This little gift made her feel rich and happy.

    The nurse later told the doctor that the girl played with the ribbon all day long. She twisted（盘绕）it round her head. She held it in her hand while she slept.

    Some weeks later，Katie's illness became worse，and it was necessary to perform a dangerous operation. When Katie was brought into the operation mom，she cried out for the young doctor. He was brought，and he held one of the girl's hands，while the other tightly held the ribbon.

    During the operation，the ribbon fell off Katie's hand. As soon as she woke up and opened her eyes，she looked at her friend and said in a low voice，“My ribbon.”The doctor gave it to her and she smiled happily.

    It was only a little gift，but it made the girl's stay in the hospital bright with beauty and love.

    The volunteers who brought the nine-year-old girl to the orphanage(孤儿院) knew little about her. They found her in the street which had been her home for many years. Her parents were unknown. They had left her long ago.

    At the orphanage, the girl was taught to read and write. There she also learned to be independent(独立). At twenty-one, she left the orphanage and began work as a secretary.

    And then, in 1975, she entered the Miss Hong Kong competition -- and won it. This was the turning point in her life. Now Mary Cheung was very popular in Hong Kong.

    Mary entered the competition because she was full of ambitions（抱负） and she wanted to show that orphanage girls could be something. Winning the competition gave her the chance to start a new life. This led her first into television and then to a business manager. When she was working as a manager, she had trouble with her reports. “My English just wasn't good enough.” she said. Fortunately, her husband helped her.

    Mary studied management at Hong Kong Polytechnic and graduated in 1980. She started her own company in 1995. But she was still working hard to develop herself. She then studied for a Fine Arts degree at the University of Hong Kong. Her ambition was to teach arts in Hong Kong. Since 1987, she has spent a lot of her time on photography. She has held several exhibitions of her work in many places, including China, New Zealand and Paris. She still found time, however, to work on TV and for charity, to write for newspapers and bring up her family.

    The girl from street has come a long way, but her journey is not finished yet.

I was expecting to have a quiet day, but it turned out(结果是) to be just the opposite. It was Saturday morning 1 I was reading on the sofa when the phone rang. "Come quickly, Sam, I need your 2 ！" It was my best friend George, so I couldn't 3 . "Where are you？" I asked. "I'm 4 home, watching the house opposite. Come quickly, through the back garden."

I 5 there. George told me two men were stealing things from Simon's house. They were moving the TV and the computers onto their van(客货车)．

"But George, it's clear，" I said impatiently(不耐烦地). "They 6 be moving house."

"That's impossible! You know Simon's in our class, but he has said 7 about it！" said George.

I realized he was right. So we phoned the 8 . They soon arrived and took the two men 9 . "You are so brave！" said one policeman. Later, Simon's parents learned what we had done and they were so 10 . They took us out for dinner that night.

Sometimes, a small act can mean a lot to others.