Dear Liz，

    My stay in Thailand has certainly been the experience of my life．

    Life is busy and exciting．Bangkok is just like any other big city with a population of 10  million and heavy traffic．I'm very lucky because my host family is in a nice quiet area outside the city．There are Mr. and Mrs. Phairat, their son Sanan, who is 18, the daughter Chinda, who is 16, and Grandpa and Grandma．

    I go to an international school with Sanan and Chinda．The school teaches about 70 percent in English，and 30 percent in Thai. I've learned some spoken language，but Thai writing is very difficult．The cooking lesson is my favourite．I'm learning all about Thai food and culture People don't use chopsticks here，but spoons and forks．When I come back，I'm going to cook you a real Thai meal．

    Last weekend we visited some temples．We also drove to Pattaya beach near Bangkok．I thought it was great，but Sanan and Chinda say that next month they're taking me to Phuket  Island，where the beaches are even more beautiful．The month after next，we're going to travel to Mr．Phairat's hometown in the north of Thailand．The Phairats own land there，and they have two elephants．I'm going to ride those elephants — and even wash them．Sanan and  Chinda say it's really fun．I'm amazed by everything in this country，especially by the elephants．Elephants are an  important pan of Thai culture and way of life．They have been a traditional symbol(象征)of Thailand for many years in times of war and peace．In the seventh century，a Thai king trained 20,000 elephants for battle．

    I'll tell you all about my Thai boxing(拳击)lessons next time I write．

Love,

Mandy

    I once had a hard time making a living in France. Three years ago, I moved to a new neighborhood and felt an intense(强烈的) need to meet people so I went to the cinema. Outside the cinema was a woman with long gray hair who had a strong smell and was asking for money. I reached for my wallet to give her a Euro and then something made me stop and enter into conversation with her. I said, “Look, all the women going to the cinema here on a Tuesday night are seeing a film that can change your life. I'd rather buy you a ticket than give you money.”

    She hesitated（犹豫） for a moment and then came in with me. She hid behind me because, she said, the people running the theater didn't like her. I got her a ticket and she sat next to me. There were about 80 women there; I noticed some of them were turning around and looking at me with expressions of surprise and curiosity(好奇心).

    I encouraged the woman I had bought the ticket for to come the following night to an event where there would be many representatives(代表) of various social services. I thought they could be of some help to her. She did come and I was able to direct her to an agency that helped women in her situation. At the same time, a woman came toward me and said, “Are you the person who bought a ticket for the woman outside the theater asking for handouts?” When I said yes she said, “I want you to come to the community center where I work. I want the other employees there to meet you.”

    This was the beginning of a deep friendship and colleague relationship. I now have a great job and have more work than I've ever had in my 20 years in France. And the woman I took to the cinema that night? I learned that she was not homeless and that she was a secretary.

    Chip was in the first grade when I arrived at his school as a counselor(辅导员). It was shocking to me that he was described as an angry, uncontrollable and evil(道德败坏的)boy. How could such a little boy, after being in school only one year, be considered "evil"?Over the next several months, I came to know Chip well enough to see that he was neither evil nor uncontrollable.

    But, one day, Chip threw a chair at his teacher and was sent to my office. I asked him what made him do this. He replied that his teacher hated him. He felt there was no way to ever get her to like him. I asked him if he would tell his teacher this. He nodded, and we called her into my office.

    When the teacher came,           . He then said that he knew he was a very, very bad boy, and he didn't think anyone could ever like him. His teacher listened to him with heartfelt compassion. Then she gave him a big warm hug, telling him she didn't hate him at all and, actually, she cared very much about him. Only sometimes Chip's behaviour really scared her. It was clear to both Chip and me that she really meant it.

    I put my left arm on his shoulders and the right hand on his heart. I told him how wonderful and lovely I saw him to be. I praised how special and brave he was to express his hurt feelings.

    As I was speaking to him, his whole body came to rest on my right hand next to his heart. It was a moment in time unlike anything I had experienced before. From then on, I'm pleased to see his behaviour improved through the rest of school years.

    A child's mind is clear and sensitive(敏感的). He receives whatever others say without protection. It is as easy to consider someone hopeless as it is to consider him able in his own special way.

Feng Boyao and MengShuqi found that their city library didn't have enough Braille books for blindpeople and many of the Braille books were out of date. 

So, they teamed up to help the blind by fixing the problem. Feng and Meng both studied at No.37 MiddleSchool in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. They invented a new kind of Braille reader. Their work won first prize ina national competition aiming to nurture creative thinking by encouraging youths to solve social problems. The invention was also granted（授予）a national patent（专利）. When connected to a computer, their Braillereader can turn words into raised dots（凸起的点）. Blind people can read by touching the dots, which aremagnets（磁铁）. This is the first Braille reader that uses magnets. 

"We found that today's Braille readers are very difficult and expensive," Feng said. "So, we decided todevelop a user-friendly product, especially for young blind children from grades1 to 3. Moreover, it only costsabout 2000 yuan."

After making their first device, Feng and Meng visited a school for the blind to get advice and improvedit based on the students' needs, like changing the size of the screen and the amount of space between the dots. "We hope the invention will be popularized（普及）in the future to help those blind people who can't affordthe Braille reader now," Meng told Taiyuan News. 

I came to the United States ten years ago. At that time I always said that I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to study but things like work and kids would not allow me to start.

Actually, I knew that those were only excuses for me. What really stopped me was that I was lazy and nervous to start learning again.

One day, my son's friends {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to drop in on him, but my son refused(拒绝), because all of his friends spoke English but I didn't. He told me he was also sad {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I could never help him with his homework. That day, he also said, "Mom, believe in {#blank#}4{#/blank#} and start learning."

That night, I couldn't sleep. All night long, I thought about where I could go to study English.

The next day, I made an important {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. I tried to find a school for adults. But I failed.

After supper, I took the kids to the cinema. On the way back, we decided to take a new way to forget about the boring movie we just saw. But we were {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to find we got lost. I was trying to find our way home when I found a famous college. A week later, I went to that college. It was difficult for me {#blank#}7{#/blank#} I held on to.

One Saturday, my daughter was asked to write a story for her homework. It was about the person she admired {#blank#}8{#/blank#}. She said that the person was her Mom, because her Mom has started going to college although she was already forty.

At that time, I stood there, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} shocked. I studied {#blank#}10{#/blank#} from then on.