Yes Man Changed My Life

    Yes Man is the best book I've ever read. It's the true story about the life of Danny Wallace. Before Danny Wallace became the 'Yes Man', his life was boring and he felt old. So he decided to make things more exciting. He started saying “Yes” to every question people asked him. And he did it for a whole year. From the day he started, it completely changed his life.

    It's an interesting story. When I finished the book, I also wanted to change my life. So I had a holiday and became a 'Yes Man' for a week. This is what happened.

    I started on Saturday morning. At 10 in the morning, I got my first question. I saw a poster in the window of a travel agent (旅行社). I needed a holiday so I went in. A lady asked me where I wanted to go. But before I could answer, she said, “A beach holiday, sir?” In fact, I don't like beaches, I like cities. But I said, “Yes.” Five minutes later, everything was ready. My flight was the next day.

    I arrived at my hotel at lunchtime. It was very, very hot. I just wanted to have a rest, but the guide said, “we have a bus to the beach in ten minutes. Do you want to go?” I said, “Yes.”

    It was about 40℃ at the beach. A man asked me “Sunglasses? Do you want sunglasses?” I had a pair of sunglasses in my bag, but I said “Yes.” Five minutes later, another man came，“ Beautiful hat, sir?” I said, “Yes.”

    Three hours later, I had two pairs of sunglasses and three hats. It was difficult to carry all my new things back to the bus.

    I decided: no trips tomorrow, just rest. When I got back, the guide asked, “Oh, there's a water skiing course tomorrow. Do you want me to book a place for you?” I can't swim very well and I don't like the sea. I wanted to cry.

    "Oh, my God," said Mrs. Kim. "I don't think we will be able to do our lesson today." Children loved Mrs. Kim's science lessons. Josh asked, "Why not?" "Well," began Mrs. Kim, "I had planned to do some measuring today. But I forgot to bring any ruler. We can't measure anything without a ruler, can we?"

    "What are we going to measure?" asked Mathew. "I want you to measure the distance from one side of the classroom to the other side." answered Mrs. Kim. "We could measure it as my dad sometimes does，" said C. J. "He sometimes just puts one foot in front of the other. I guess that's how we find out how long something is. "

     "Let's see whether that will work，"said Mrs. Kim. "Why don't you see how many feet it takes to cross the room, C. J. ？"C. J. began walking from one side of the classroom to the other side. He put one foot down and then put the heel of the other foot at the toe of his first foot. He continued doing this until he crossed the room. "I counted thirty of my feet from one side to the other side, " C. J. said.

     "So you think the room is thirty feet across？"asked Mrs. Jim. "I think someone else should try "said Maddie "just to make sure. ""All right，Maddie "said Mrs. Kim "why don't you try？"

Joel Sartore is a writer, teacher, and photographer. His words and beautiful images show his love of photography and of the natural world. 

Question 1: How did you become a National Geographic photographer?

My first job was for a newspaper. After a few years there, I met a National Geographic photographer. He liked my photos and said I should send some to the magazine. So I did. That led to a one—day job. And that led to a nine—day job, and so on. 

Question 2:     ▲    

To get into National Geographic, you have to give them something they don't have. It's not enough just to be a great photographer. You also have to be a scientist, for example, or be able to dive under sea ice, or spend maybe several days in a tree. 

Question 3: Is it hard to get a job as a photographer today?

It's now harder to work for magazines. Technology makes it easy to take good pictures, which means there are more photos and photographers. Also, the Web is filled with photos from all around the world that are free, or cost very little. These photos are often good enough to be put in books and magazines. What the magazines need to do these days is to pay for these photos. 

Question 4: I want to be a photographer. Do you have any advice for me?

Advice? Well, work hard. Be passionate (热情的)about every project you work on. Take lots of pictures in different situations. Look at others' photos thoughtfully and learn from them. And be curious about everything. There's something to photograph everywhere. 

Just outside the city in South Africa，a special hospital saving wild animals lives nearby.Mario，an animal{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.set up the hospital two years ago.Since then，they have treated about4，000 animals.

The wildlife hospital{#blank#}2{#/blank#} treats small animals and large birds that are hurt.The hospital now has about 160 animal{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.Many animals coming to the hospital have not only physical illnesses.They also{#blank#}4{#/blank#} signs of stress from being hurt by people.Some animals，like the endangered pangolin（穿山甲），feel{#blank#}5{#/blank#} when they hear a voice from human being.That makes the animals remember the people who hunted{#blank#}6{#/blank#}.

Along with five full—time workers，the hospital gets{#blank#}7{#/blank#} from volunteers like Jenny who lives nearby.She cares for young monkeys.Their own mothers were{#blank#}8{#/blank#} in accidents.Every day，she brings fresh food to them{#blank#}9{#/blank#} plays with them.Alan is another volunteer.He usually walks young pangolin{#blank#}10{#/blank#} a nearby hill to search for ants to eat.

When the animals are ready to return to the wild，Mario and his team work with nature centers to take them to a new and{#blank#}11{#/blank#} home.Then the animals can live on their own in the wild.

This summer, when I walked into my grandparents ' house with my little brother Frank, I tried not to look at Grandpa's chair anyway. It still  looked the same. His blue 1 was  there, as if ( 好 像 ) Grandpa was going to pull it over his legs. My cousin Jack was playing in the yard as if 2 had happened. "Let's go to catch fish!" Jack 3 the fish net from the corner, Grandpa's net.

Last summer, I was holding the net when Grandpa asked me 4 I could help him teach Frank how to play chess. I said no because I wanted to catch fish. Grandpa had been the one who'd taught us how to catch fish, but then the 5 made him stay behind.

I regretted saying no to Grandpa, and now I wouldn't have 6 to play chess with him.

When we reached the stream, we began to catch fish. Suddenly, Jack shouted, "Frank is shaking." We hadn't brought anything to keep 7 so I had to send him home.

Grandma was worried to see a wet Frank and 8 put Grandpa's blue blanket around him. As I went to the stream again to meet Jack, I looked back at Frank with that old blanket. Something seemed to 9 me at that moment. Everything was just like before, but Grandpa was gone.

I walked to Frank. "Did Grandpa teach you to play chess last summer?" I asked. "No, Grandpa was too sick then." he said, "I miss him."

"Me, too." When I said it, I knew Grandpa was never gone. What 10 us was still there. It could be the fish net. It could be the chess. It could be the blue blanket.

On August 3, 2024, Zheng Qinwen made history at the Paris Olympics because she won the gold medal in women's singles tennis. She beat a player from Croatia and became the first Asian(亚洲的) tennis player to win in this event. It was only China's second Olympic gold medal in tennis, after Li Na and Sun Tiantian won a women's doubles title(女子双打) at Athens 2004. It was the first in singles.

 Zheng's body hurt badly during the match but she kept playing until the very last minute. After her big win, Zheng carried the Chinese national flag around the tennis court and then carefully placed it on her chair. Zheng Qinwen sard, National honor(荣誉) is above personal success."

 When Zheng Qinwen was a child, she really wanted to win one gold medal for China. She always dreamed of one day joining Yao Ming, I is Xiang and Ii Na, and to be as successful and important as they were. So she trained really hard to make her dream come true. Zheng hopes more children will dream of playing tennis, keep believing in their dreams and work hard to stand on such a stage in the future.