One rainy morning, my phone woke me up. It was a phone call from a1 driver who had my friend's mobile phone. 2 , my friend had left it in the taxi the night before.

 A 3morning for taxi drivers in this big city is a very busy time. He asked me where he could meet me to give me the mobile phone. I told him the street where I lived. Then I quickly 4and got dressed in order to meet   5 on the corner.

 My friend had only recently moved to this city. So his mobile phone was very  6 to him.

 When the taxi driver arrived, I thanked him and praised him  7 having such a kind and beautiful heart. I asked him for his name,  8 my friend himself could thank him. He said my praises and 9 were all that he needed. Then he drove off.

 I told my friend how I had received his 10 . Hearing this, he was thankful and said kindness was really everywhere in this world.

    My neighbor is a doctor. He and his wife are some of the 1 people I have ever met. A few years ago, we started this kind of "favor war "where one of us would do something kind for the other, such as 2 the driveway or building a shed, and next time the other would 3 to top it with another favor.

    Yesterday morning there was about 2 or 3 feet of snow on the ground and I 4 he shoveled (铲) my driveway for me when I was out on a business trip last 5. So I took out my shovel and took care of both our sidewalks and driveways because it was my turn to do a favor 6. It took a while but I finished it and got into my car for work.

    That night I got a 7 on my door, it was my neighbor. He immediately shook my hand and thanked me for shoveling 8 driveway and sidewalk, so that he was able to get to work earlier and 9 a boy.

    "As soon as I started the car early this morning, a(n) 10 came through that a young boy in our neighborhood was seriously ill. 11, my partner and I were only about 2 minutes away, but the closest ambulance (救护车) 10 minutes," added he. "A young boy got to live his life 12 you did me the favor earlier this morning."

    It wasn't too much 13 to shovel a driveway, but what I did got a young boy to see his family again, go back to school again and live his life again.

    14 favor is too small. Even the smallest favor can make the biggest 15. One favor will always be followed by another.

    At the age of 16, Einstein failed in several exams because he often played with some bad kids. One weekend morning, Einstein carried a fishing net and prepared to go fishing with those 1, his father stopped him and said to him calmly," Einstein, you were spending too much time 2 , so you failed in the exams. I'm 3 about your future with your mother."

    "What are you worrying about? Jack and Robert also 4, but they went fishing as usual."

    "My boy, you can't think so," Looking at Einstein, his father said lovingly, "There is a 5 in our hometown. I hope you can listen to it carefully."

    "There were two cats playing on the roof. 6, they fell into the chimney（烟囱）.When they climbed out of the chimney, one cat's face was dirty 7 the other's face was clean. Seeing the dirty—faced cat, the clean—faced one thought its own face was also dirty, so it quickly ran to the riverside and washed its 8. The dirty—faced cat saw the clean—faced one, thinking its own face was clean as well, so it walked happily in the street."

    "Einstein, 9 can be your mirror(镜子). Only you are your own mirror. Some of the kids are not strict with themselves. If you take them to be your mirror, even a 10 person may become stupid." Hearing this, Einstein was ashamed and lay down his fishing rod and returned to his small room. Since then, Einstein's face turned red. He put down his fishing net and returned to his small room.

    After that, Einstein often took himself as a mirror to be 11 with himself and kept telling himself." I am special, so I needn't be as common as others." This was why Einstein 12 in his career.

    1,000 people have 1,000 kinds of wishes in life. Different wishes will produce different 13 about life. You can learn from other people, but you can 14 follow others completely.

    You must see yourself clearly, and know what you want to get. Your future doesn't 15 how others act, but on what you are going to act.

    Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip. White had two reasons for making this epic journey. First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did. He raised £70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam. White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world. He is still waiting to find out whether he has broken the record or not.

    White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June, 2004 and was back 299 days later. He spent more than 1,300 hours in the saddle (车座) and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains. He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe first, and then the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and finally the Americas. Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team. No jeep carrying food, water and medicine. No doctor. Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road.

    The journey was lonely and desperate at times. He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains. He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need. There were other dangers along the road. In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to get away with the little money he had. The worst thing that had happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia. For 1,000 kilometers he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him. This part of the trip was slow, hard and depressing, but he made it in the end. Now Mr. White is back and wants to write a book about his adventures.

Long March(长征) exhibition

The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to remember the Long March which took place over 70 years ago. More than 220 photos and 40 other things are on show. All the exhibition is explained in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.

Time: 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Address: 1286 Hongqiao Road

Ticket: 8 yuan for Chinese/15 yuan for foreigners

Thai elephants

Eight elephants from Thailand are an attraction for visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, dancing and blowing a musical instrument. The elephants give three shows a day at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there is an extra show at 1:30 pm at weekends. The show will end on November 15.

Address: 189 Daduhe Road

Ticket: 30-40 yuan

Dancing dolphins

Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, dancing to music, kissing people and doing easy maths problems, and seals and sea lions, also performing, have made a large part of the aquarium(水族馆) in Peace Park, which interests children greatly.

Hours: 10:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm

Ticket: 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children

The other day, my husband called me to the balcony(阳台). "Come, dear, look at that car!" 

"What's up?" I asked, looking down at the square in front of our apartment building. A driver was trying to park between two cars. 

"That must be a woman," my husband said.

"How do you know?"

"I've watched the car move back and forth twenty times. Men can't be so bad at driving!"

"What if the driver is a man?" I asked.

"I bet you 50 yuan that the driver is a woman!"

We stood on the balcony and watched the car. It felt a little silly. Five minutes later, the car was finally parked perfectly, and a man slowly got out.

"Fifty yuan please," I said to my husband as he silently walked away.

My husband is not alone in looking down on female drivers. On weekends, my friend Lily likes traveling around the city by bus. But she always hesitates to get on a bus if the driver is a woman. "I can't trust a female driver," she told me one day. "Women are not born to drive, you know."

"Sorry, but I don't know," I said. I go to work by bus every day, and I never think female drivers are any worse. In fact, they are often more careful than men. Research also shows that female drivers are 8.8 times less likely to cause accidents than male drivers.

There are not many female bus drivers, though. And in the history of Formula One(一级方程式赛车), only 0.26 percent of drivers have been women. Without role models, many girls may think they are not meant to be good drivers. But the ability to drive has nothing to do with gender. Women can drive well, too. It's time to stop making jokes about female drivers.