I graduated from a college recently and moved to Washington by myself.  While I was in college, it was really easy to meet new people. But “out in the real world”, I was finding it really hard. I live in a big city, and it seems like everyone around me is busy or already has all the friends they want. I was feeling so discouraged (沮丧的) and I didn't know what to do, so I called my sister for some advice.

    My sister is five years older than I am, so she's been though all this already. She's been helping me with my problems all my life. When I explained my problem, she understood completely. She said, “Why don't you try meeting people online?”

  “Online? Are you kidding? ” I asked, “A friend of mine chatted with a guy online, and when she finally met him face to face, he was nothing like what he said.”

    My sister laughed, “You don't have to look for dates online,” she said, “But you can find other people like you—people who have just moved to town and want make some new friends. When I first moved to New York after college, I found a book club and a football team online. I met a lot of people that way. ”

    “But you don't even like football!” I said. 

    “I know,” she replied, “But that didn't matter. I still had a lot of fun. You played volleyball in college. Why don't you look for a volleyball team to join?  Or an art class? ”

    “Yeah! I saw a website about volunteering the other day,” I said, “I could volunteer for an organization here in Washington. I bet I could meet a lot of really nice people that way. ”

    “Good idea!” my sister answered excitedly. “Hey, you might even meet the perfect guy.”

    “OK, now you're starting to sound like Mom,” I said. “Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm going online right now. I'll let you know what happens. Will you be home tonight?”

    “No, but I'll be here all day tomorrow, so give me a call,” my sister replied. “Good luck!”

    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?"

    It is Sunday morning. Sam wants to visit his friend. On his way to his friend's home. He is very tired. So he stops his car and wants to take a nap(打盹).

    A man walks to Sam´s car and knocks(敲)on the window. "Excuse me. sir. "He asks." What time is it now?"

    Sam doesn't have a watch. He looks at the clock of his car and says. ”8:15”.  The man says," Thanks."

    After a short time, another man knocks on his window. "Sorry, sir. But do you have the time?""8:25". Sam say says and he is a little angry(生气的).  The man thanks him, too.

    "I really want to take a nap." Sam thinks. Then he takes out a pen and writes" I don't know the time." on the paper. And he posts(张贴)it on the window.  But soon another man sees it and knocks on the window. "Sir. sir? It's 8:45 now. "

      Bob was only seven years old. One night Bob was at home {#blank#}1{#/blank#} while his parents were out for a party. He had often stayed alone before, so he wasn't afraid. As he waited for his parents to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} home, he watched a film on TV. His eyes became heavier and heavier as time {#blank#}3{#/blank#} by.

      Suddenly Bob's eyes opened wide-what was the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in the next room? Bob heard the window being opened slowly. For a minute, Bob was so {#blank#}5{#/blank#} that he could not move, and his body felt like ice. He knew that he couldn't lose his head (惊慌失措) and began to think of the things he could do. Again he heard the sound of someone trying to climb into his home {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the window.

      Bob's drums were standing in the corner near the TV. "Wait, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} there is something I can do," thought Bob. He {#blank#}8{#/blank#} on his drums as hard as he could. The sound was so terrible that Bob {#blank#}9{#/blank#} even himself. He also surprised the man in the window, who {#blank#}10{#/blank#} away as fast as possible. How clever he was!

    We are often educated to have the courage, but we also need to understand "fear" correctly. "Fear" also has the meaning of "awe (敬畏)". If a person has no respect (尊敬) or awe, it will surely bring trouble to the family, to the society and the country. So, how should we do?

    Fear life. Life is the only one. The fear of life will make us value life more. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If we don't respect nature, nature will punish us in turn. All kinds of natural disasters (灾害) will come one after another, making us helpless in front of nature. We should learn scientific knowledge and skills to avoid some dangers.

    Fear your parents. Know how to respect parents and thanks for their efforts. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Fear the law. No rules, no standards. Follow the order, rules of the society, schools and public places. Know the law and understand the law. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Whoever breaks the law can't run away from punishment.

    Fear knowledge. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} We will keep on progressing, have the awe of teachers, and accept their teaching and education with pleasure.

A long time ago, there was a very silly thief(小偷). Do you know what he did one day? 

When he wanted to steal the bell(铃铛)on his neighbour's door, he walked up to the door, took hold of(抓住) the bell and pulled hard. The bell made a very loud noise. The thief was afraid and went home. 

Then he sat down to think, "I must do something about the noise. "He thought and thought. At last he had an idea. "Ah, I'll put some cotton(棉花) in my ears. Then I won't be able to hear the noise. " The next day, he went to the door of his neighbour, and took hold of the bell. This time he pulled even harder. The bell rang loudly, but the thief did not hear anything. With another hard pull, he got the bell out. Just then the neighbour came out.

"Steal my bell? I'll teach you a lesson, "the angry man shouted. And he hit the thief on the nose.

The silly thief did not know how the neighbour found out he was stealing the bell. "Why did he come out just then?" he wondered. Isn't he stupid?