I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. A taxi driver lived in a house with a large1across the road. He's a single parent with two school-age children. At the end of the day, he would2his taxi on the road. "Why not in the garage？"I asked myself.

    Then one day I learned that he had another3. In the afternoon he would come home from work, leave his taxi and go out4his personal business in his other car, not in his taxi. I felt it was5.

    I really want to see his personal car but did not make it. Two weeks later, I6 to be outside one evening, when the garage door was7and he drove out in his "own" car: a Rolls-Royce(劳斯莱斯)! It8 me completely when I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. 9deep inside, he saw himself as something else：a Rolls-Royce owner and a(n)10. He drove others in his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. The world looked at his taxi and called him a taxi driver. But for him, a taxi was11something he drove for a living. Rolls-Royce was something he drove for a(n)12.

    We go to bed every night and13every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a party as close friends or go for a vacation as a family. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our happiness and14on how high we climb the social ladder(阶梯)—how much bigger and better a taxi we have. And we fail to notice Rolls-Royce, keeping it dusty in our garage. We should pay more attention to 15we are than what we do！Isn't it the true meaning of life？

Frank has a good friend. His 1 is Paul. They like 2 . Frank likes baseball. He thinks baseball is 3 . Paul 4 to play tennis. He 5 tennis is relaxing. They don't play 6 . They think soccer is difficult. Frank 7 watch TV. He thinks it's boring. Paul 8 a computer game. He likes to play it. Frank and Paul can 9 volleyball. They play it with 10 classmates after school. 

A small boy was trying to move a heavy wooden box out of his room. The box was much bigger than the boy. He tried his best to move it, but the box would not move at all. After resting for a short time, the boy tried to move it again. He pushed it with every muscle (肌肉) in his body, but he couldn't even move the box a little. He was very tired and upset (不安). 

The boy's father was coming home from work around this time. He stopped to watch his son's fruitless efforts (徒劳的努力). The father didn't help him, but instead (相反) asked, "Son, have you tried your best and are you doing everything you can?"

"Yes, I am!" the boy cried. "No, " his father said calmly (平静地), "you're not. You have not asked me to help you. "

Asking for help is not a weakness (弱点). At some point, even the best of us need help. It is important to know when to ask for help and understand why you need it. Never be afraid to ask other's for help when you're in trouble. 

 Who's That There?

Stand in front of a mirror and look at it. How much do you really know about the person in it?

It's not an easy job to know ourselves. To help students do this important task, schools across China are providing more classes and activities on self- knowledge. 

Liu Yue, a teacher from Chengdu Yucai Middle School, has recently given her students a useful tool. "It's called the Johari Window, developed by two US psychologists, " said Liu. "It has four areas about one's self: open area(that everyone knows about), hidden area(that only you know), blind spot(that everyone knows except you) and unknown area (that nobody knows). Using this tool, students did a good job seeing themselves through a new lens(透镜). "

"I really want to know about my blind spot, " said eighth- grade r Yang Manfei. "So I did a survey with my friends. " The results showed that Yang easily gets worried and nervous and impatient because of procrastination(拖 延 ). "That's a bad habit I've never realised!" Yang said. 

"I find the unknown area most amazing, " said Sun Boyin. "It means everyone has lots of potential (潜力). " When Sun entered middle school, he was not good at maths. "But I set a goal and did lots of maths exercises. Now I'm much better at maths. The unknown part of my maths ability is getting clearer!" Sun said. 

When it came to the hidden area, most students kept silent. "I'm scared to show my secrets deep down," said Li Yixuan. "Then one classmate stood up and said his favourite cartoon is Tom and Jerry. I thought: Am I brave enough to show my childish hobby? Perhaps not. I want my classmates to see me as a mature(成熟的) person, not a silly kid. But then I realised that I don't find that classmate silly. I think he is brave to be himself. "

"Show yourself and make yourself better — that's the best lesson I learned," Li said. 

Last night, when I was preparing for my English exam in my bedroom, I suddenly heard a loud noise. The glass on the edge (边缘) of the desk {#blank#}1{#/blank#} onto the floor. The glass was {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. The light in the room was shaking. I looked out of the window and found the whole building was shaking too. I realized (意识到) that a(n) {#blank#}3{#/blank#} had happened. I{#blank#}4{#/blank#} myself that I must be brave and stay calm and try not to cry. I crawled (爬) and hid myself under the bed. Several minutes later, the building didn't shake any more. So I crawled out and ran out of the building as quickly as I could. Or I couldn't {#blank#}5{#/blank#} what would happen. What a terrible experience!