I have spent almost a third of my life in China, living and working in this beautiful country. In a sense, China has been and is still my second home But in those past years I ha d never been to Quzhou.

Some days ago, for the first time in my Chinese life, I stepped into the beautiful city of Quzhou. My impressions of Quzhou city were as I always thought: green countryside, rainy sky, wet air. That was what I imagined for years the south of China would be. When we finally arrived, I was impressed by the elegant (优雅的) city.

Next day we were taken to visit some places not far away from the city. I was not aware of the direction of our short trip, but when we arrived at Lanke Mountain and got out of the car, I thought that we had been taken to a fairyland (仙境) : the light rain over the green and thick plants, the silvery sky like a heavy blanket and the mystery (神秘) of this mountain made me feel like being part of a picture.

Jiulong Lake was our next step. The mystic atmosphere (气氛) of this place was so strong that I decided to watch the view standing at the top when I stepped into the small boat to sail upstream. Sometimes we were so close to the mountain that we could clearly see the red soil under the plants. I was thinking of the joy to be in a place like Jiulong Lake and how it would be to live among those hills for a while.

    The final leg of the day's journey was a primary school. We were welcomed by the smiles on the faces of many young pioneers. The energy of the hundreds of kids made me feel younger for a while, so educated, so polite and so warm that I had no doubt about the future generations of Quzhou people. The people seem to me the best of Quzhou and they will remain in my memories forever.

     In April 2004，Sharon Tirabassi got more than$10 million by winning a lottery (彩票抽奖)．She became very rich．But just in nine years，she spent almost all the money．Now she even has to work hard to make enough money for everyday use．

    Before she won the lottery,Sharon lived in a small house with her three children and didn't have enough money for a car．After she won it，she was unprepared for the change to her life．She spent most of her time shopping with her friends and paid for everything．She bought a big house in the richest part of town and four cars．

    Today Sharon lives in a rented(租来的)house on a quiet street—not far from where she started．She doesn't have the big house or the expensive cars．She goes to work by bus or by bike．

    But Sharon says she's happier now than before，and she lives life more fully than she did before．"When l was rich．I spent all my time shopping．But now other things are more important to me，"says Sharon．Now Sharon works hard and often talks with her children．"I'm trying to get them to learn that they have to work for money"she says．

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    A man and his little son spent their summer vacation walking through the mountains far from their city. One day, the little boy slipped (滑) 20-30 meters down the side of the mountain. Finally he was able to catch onto a tree branch (枝干) and hold on.

    “Help me!” he cried out.

    “Help me!” a voice shouted back.

    The boy was very surprised. “Who are you?” he shouted.

    “Who are you?” the voice shouted back.

    “You are a fool!” he said.

    “You are a fool!” the voice came back.

    At that moment, his father got to him. “Someone is talking to me but I can't see who he is,” the boy said to his father.

    “Son, that is called an echo (回音),” his father said. “But really, it's called life.”

    “You are a winner!” the father cried.

    “You are a winner!” the voice answered.

    “You are talented!” the father shouted.

    “You are talented!” it came back.

    “Son, that's how life is. Whatever you do, it always comes back to you,” the father said. “The question is: what are you sending out? Please start sending out: ‘I am strong, I am talented, and I am the best.' What you send out is going to come back to you.”

    If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. Life will give you back everything you have given to it.

    When he was a teenager, Hunter Adams was very unhappy, and he spent many years in the 1960s and 1970s hospital for people with mental (精神的) health problems.

    When he left hospital, Adams decided to become a doctor, so he went to Medical School in Virginia, USA. But when he was there he did things in a different way. For example, he didn't like the doctor's white coats. He preferred to wear shirts with flowers on them when he visited his patients, and he tried to make them laugh. The doctors at the medical school didn't like Adams very much because he was too different.

    But Adams believed that people in hospital need more than medicine. He saw unhappy and lonely people, and he tried to help them as patients, but as people too. He spent a lot of time with children in the hospital, and often put a special red nose on his face to look like a clown and to make the children laugh.

    When he finished medical school and became a doctor, Adams opened his own hospital, called "the Gesundheit Institute", together with some other doctors. They wanted it to be a place in a different way of working with sick people.

    Hunter Adams became famous during the 1980s, and in 1998, Universal Pictures made a film about his life. It was very successful. In the film (called Patch Adams), Robin Williams played Adams. Williams said, "Hunter is a really warm person, who believes that patients need a doctor who's friend. I enjoyed playing him."

    Kian Hamer has become one of the youngest members of Mensa. Mensa is an international organization(组织) for IQ(智商). His IQ is 162 and it's two points higher than Albert Einstein's and Professor Stephen Hawking's. Mensa has 110,000 members all over the world, including 20 , 000 in the British Isles(不列颠群岛). Only eight percent of members are under 16.

    Mensa sent a letter to Kian's home. The letter wrote, "Kian is one of the cleverest people in the world. "Kian feels proud to have got such a good score and he's really excited to join Mensa. He always works hard on everything he does and he's always ready for自challenge. Although people call him a genius(天才), he still wants to be a professional footballer when he grows up. He loves playing football very much.

    His dad Rich Hamer, who works as a firefighter, said, "Kian is clever but I'm not allying him a genius like others. I want him to keep his feet on the ground. He needs to study hard forever. Never be proud. A lot of people have joked that he's too clever to be a footballer. I don't think Kian realized what a good score it was at first. He's always done really well at school. He works really hard and always tries his best."