I'm 30 years old, and there are several things that life has taught me that I want to share with you. Here are the 4 lessons that life has taught me in the past 30 years.

1 Take care of your body

      Life is “unfairly” biased (偏向的) towards people who “look good,” like it or not. So it's important that you do all that is in your power to look your best. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}You will live longer, and you will live happier, if you take care of your body; you may even get promoted faster on your job. Remember that your health is really your greatest wealth.

2{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

      No one taught me to save when I was growing up; no one told me the importance of saving. Fortunately I was able to learn the value of saving through reading great books like “The Millionaire Next Door”. What I want to teach others is to save at least twenty percent of your income. If you are tobe wealthy, you must not just earn a lot, you must save a lot.

3 Think in the long term

      In high school I was thinking about college, in college I was thinking about life after college. I'm designing my life and I'm making decisions today that will enable me to live the life I desire when I'm in my 40's, 50's and 60's. You have to think in the long term; you have to see the“big picture”.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

4 Realize the power of focus

      Focus, focus, focus…{#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you fail in this lifetime, you will fail because of broken focus.If you focus on the goals that are most important to you, you will achieve them. The problem is that there are so many distractions.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Winners decide to major on majors, and they even let important things slip, because they just focus on achieving whatis critical to their goals.

A．The importance of saving.

B．If you plan your future properly, you will live into your plans.

C．Save your money.

D．Nothing is more important than focus.

E．What separates the winners from the losers is that the winners learn to focus on their goals.

F．I mean dressing nicely, working out and eating right.

G．It's important that you pursue relationships with individuals who are good first.

    When I was in the fourth grade, I worked part-time as a paperboy. Mrs. Stanley was one of my customers. She'd watch me coming down her street, and by the time I'd biked up to her doorstep, there would be a cold drink waiting. I'd sit and drink while she talked.

    Mrs.Stanley talked mostly about her dead husband, "Mr. Stanley and I went shopping this morning." she'd say. The first time she said that, soda (汽水) went up my nose.

    I told my father how Mrs. Stanley talked as if Mr. Stanley were still alive. Dad said she was probably lonely, and that I ought to sit and listen and nod my head and smile, and maybe she'd work it out of her system. So that's what I did, and it turned out Dad was right. After a while she seemed content to leave her husband over at the cemetery (墓地).

    I finally quit delivering newspapers and didn't see Mrs. Stanley for several years. Then we crossed paths at a church fund-raiser(募捐活动). She was spooning mashed potatoes and looking happy. Four years before, she'd had to offer her paperboy a drink to have someone to talk with. Now she had friends. Her husband was gone, but life went on.

    I live in the city now, and my paperboy is a lady named Edna with three kids. She asks me how I'm doing. When I don't say "fine", she sticks around to hear my problems. She's lived in the city most of her life, but she knows about community. Community isn't so much a place as it is a state of mind. You find it whenever people ask how you're doing because they care, and not because they're getting paid to do so. Sometimes it's good to just smile, nod your head and listen.

    As soon as the Thanksgiving holiday is over, Santa Clauses start appearing everywhere. It takes more than red clothing and a white beard to be a professional Santa In fact many successful Santas attend special classes.

    The CW Howard Santa School, one of the oldest Santa Claus school in the world, is in Midland, Michigan. It celebrated its 80th anniversary last year. Over 250 Santas gathered at the school to prepare for their seasonal work. Charlie Howard was the Santa Claus in the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade for 17 years. He started the school in 1937.

    “At that time, there was a great need for good Santas. Santas didn't portray the character that we want. Santa Claus stands for all good things hut some of the gentlemen's images (形象) weren't up to the expectation,” said Charlie.

    The three-day Santa workshop teaches people “Santa sign language”, facts about deer and clothing and make-up style. The future Santas also become familiar with the newest wish list toys, gain (获得) interview experience for radio and television and even get advice on how to do their business taxes.

    It's said that about 15,000 students have graduated from the Santa school. They come from all over North America, Europe，Africa and Australia to study. Last year the school welcomed Santas from all 50 states as well as many other countries.

    The Santas never claim (声称) to be the one and only “real” Santa. Instead, they describe themselves as “the spirit of Christmas”. At the school's opening-night activity, they tell visiting children they are the “cousins of Santa”.

    Robert Davis says they also never promise children anything. Instead, they say they will try their best.

    After all, as Charlie Howard liked to say, “He is wrong who thinks Santa enters through the chimney (烟囱). Santa enters through the heart.''

    Most Europeans want small cars. Many Americans prefer large cars. As a result, European automakers produce a large number of economical, light weight cars, while American automakers build bigger, heavier cars.

    The price of gas has much to do with this. The petrol is expensive in Europe, so Europeans naturally prefer cars that will go a long way on a small amount of fuel. There are other reasons. Many European cities have very narrow streets. In these cities a small car is more practical and easier to handle than a large one.

    Some Americans like powerful engines in their cars. They enjoy having wider cars that are comfortable for large families and long trips. They are prepared to pay higher costs to get these advantages. Other Americans, however, have learned to like the small and smart cars. Many visitors to Europe during and after World War I discovered that small cars were fun to drive and easy to park in small spaces. They were delighted to learn how far small cars could go on a few gallons of gasoline.

    In the 1950s many Americans began buying European cars. In 1957, for the first time, the United States imported more cars than it exported. The best seller among these imported cars was a cool-looking but small car from Germany. Americans immediately gave it another name “ the bug”.

    Today, American car buyers have a wider choice. There are big cars for people who want large room, comfort, and power. And there are small cars, mostly imported but some American-made, for people who want easy parking and economical operation.

    All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.

    Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when "their" player or team wins.

    Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for(参加) them. Football, for example, has spread(展开)around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many love to skate or ski (滑雪) in Japan, Norway or Canada.

    Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

    People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends. Sports help to train(培养,训练) a person's character(性格,品格). One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(胜不骄，败不馁).

    They hide in trees, hang from helicopters, even follow people down on motorcycles—all so that they can snap a shot of a celebrity. They are paparazzi—photographers who make a living by taking pictures of the rich and famous.

    This September, California, a state with plenty of celebrities, passed a law aimed at taking action against paparazzi. The law forbids photographers from entering private property to take pictures, from using high-tech devices to take pictures of people on private property, and from "persistently following in order to take a picture." Violators can be fined or spend time in prison. The United State Congress is considering passing a similar law.

    Supporters of the California law say it will protect the privacy of celebrities, whom paparazzi have been bothering for years. Opponents (反对者) say the law restricts photojournalists from doing their job.

    Most celebrities seem to like having their pictures taken when they are in public at award shows or other events. After all, it's free publicity. But when they're not in public, they say, photographers should leave them alone. Yet paparazzi have been known to secretly look in windows and worse. Actor Michael J. Fox said that paparazzi have even "tried to pretend to be medical personnel at the hospital where my wife was giving birth to our son."

    Celebrities have as much right to their privacy as anyone else, supporters of the law state. Supporters further argue that the California law is a fair way to keep the press at bay, because the law still allows photographers to do their job. It only punishes them, supporters say, when they violate celebrities' privacy.

    Opponents of the law say it violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (美国宪法第一修正案), which guarantees that no laws will be made to limit "the freedom of speech, or of the press." Although some people might not consider paparazzi a part of the legal press, the California law does not single out paparazzi. It applies to photographers working for any publication.

    Opponents of the law are also concerned about its wording. "Does 'persistently' mean following someone for six minutes, six seconds, or six days?" asked lawyer Douglas Mirell. The wording of the law is too vague, critics complain, and could be used to punish almost any news photographer.

    The United States needs a free press to keep the public informed about important news, paparazzi law opponents say. Limiting the press in any way, they argue, limits the freedom of all.