A man goes into a restaurant one day. His clothes are very nice. He sits down at a table near the window.

    A waiter comes to him and says, “Can I help you, sir?” The man says, “Yes, please. Can I see the menu (菜单)?”

        “Sure,” answers the waiter. The man wants a good meal and he wants a lot of nice dishes. After a moment, the waiter brings them to him. The man has his meal happily. At this time, a boy comes in and sits down besides the man. He asks the waiter to give him ice cream. The man says, “I will be back in 5 minutes.” Then he goes out. After the boy eats his ice cream, he stands up and goes to the door. “Excuse me, your father doesn't give the money for the meal and your ice cream,” the waiter stops him and says.

    “Father? You are wrong. He is not my father. I do not know him. I meet him in the street. He says he'll give me ice cream when I come here at twelve o'clock.”

    When US teenager Jake Olson isn't playing football or golf for his high school, he's often offering inspiration(灵感)through his new book about his own life.

    These activities might be too much for the average 16-year-old to deal with, but Jake is blind. When people ask him how he can possibly play golf without being able to see the ball, he says he is thankful for his father's guidance.

It seems apparent that his early experience playing sports as a person with sight and muscle(肌肉) memory— repeating behaviors over and over until they become second nature — have also enabled Jake to hit the ball quite well.

    Jake was born with a rare kind of eye cancer that took away the vision from his left eye when he was a baby and eventually his right eye, in 2009, when he was 12 years old. Rather than letting the disease hold him back, Jake used his loss of sight and his faith as sources of motivation(动力).“If I was going to sit on the couch all day, feeling sorry for myself, I wasn't going to do anything. I decided that I was going to go out and persevere (坚持不懈).” he said.

    It was with that mind-set that the student from Orange Lutheran High School in California was able to write his first book, Open Your Eyes: 10 Uncommon Lessons to Discover a Happier Life. “It's about opening the readers' eyes to their true talent in life and making sure that they use all the abilities that they have,” Jake said.

    Jake's father, Brian Olson, said the family is impressed with what he has done with his life, including showing people that they can get through hardships. “Your darkest hour can soon become your brightest, and with every setback, there's a setup,” Jake said. “In every one of us, there's more potential than we can ever imagine, and it really is a choice.”

    My holiday with grandma and grandpa is great! They lived with us in New York, but they moved to Ariz when I was five. Dad usually visits them. He is sending me to stay with them for a two-week holiday.

    This is my first time to travel by myself. On the plane, I study the picture from grandma. It's a picture of an old village and the village is on top of a tall hill. It looks high, and I am not sure I can climb so high.

    Grandpa meets me at the airport. When we drive away from the city, I look at the beauty of the place new to me. Soon we get to my grandparents' village. We are so high up, I feel like a bird!

    Grandma is waiting for us at the door of a building. "Joe, this is called a „pueblo'. The buildings are made from stones（石头）and earth（泥土）," she says.

    Grandma and grandpa's rooms feel cool after standing under the hot sun. Grandma says that the stones keep the rooms cool. After dinner we take a walk outside.

    I really like meeting the people here. One man helps me make an earth vase（花瓶）for Mom.

    The children ask me to their ball games. Sometimes I help grandpa and his friends work on the farm.

    I feel I am part of a big family in our village in the sky. It is hard to leave my grandparents when my two weeks are over.

    A man got into a train and found himself sitting beside a woman. She was about thirty-five years old. Soon they began talking to each other. He asked her, "Do you have a family?" "Yes, I have one son," the woman answered. "Oh, really?" said the man. "Does he smoke?" "No." The woman answered. "That's good", man was glad to say. "I don't smoke, either. Smoking is bad for one's body son drink wine?"

    "Oh, no," the woman answered at once. "He has never drunk wine." "Good!" the man said. "And does he ever come home late at night?" "No, never," "his neighbour answered. "He goes to bed after dinner every nigh." "Well," the man said. "He's a good young man. How old is he?"

    "He's a good young man He is six months old today," the woman answered with a smile.

    One day, I picked up my daughter Eloise from school and went to the supermarket for a few things. I was hoping to be in and out quickly.

    I found a short line with just one person in front of me. It was an elderly woman, and she was paying for her things with only change. After a long day at work. I was not happy with this woman.

    But then I watched the young clerk. He helped her count her change, even so gently taking it from her shaking hands. I listened to him repeatedly say to her: "Yes, ma'am." When she asked if she had enough to buy a bag, he told her she did. Then he went two lines over to get one for her. Never one did this clerk get angry or roll his eyes. He was patient and kind.

    As I was watching him, I saw Eloise was too. I realized my daughter was learning an important lesson from a complete stranger.

    When the woman was finished, the clerk began ringing up my things and thanked me for my patience. I paid 33 dollars and thanked him too. I found the manager and told him about the clerk's kindness and patience.

    Then we left the supermarket with a full cart, but also with a heart full of thankfulness for such an important lesson.