Eric Liddell was known as the flying Scotsman（苏格兰人）because he ran so fast. But he is most remembered as a man of honor and bravery.

 He was born in 1902 in Tianjin, north China. In Chinese, he was known as Li Airui. Eric lived in China until the age of five. After that his parents sent him to school in England. In 1920, Eric went to the University of Edinburgh to study science.

Sports played a large part in his life and he became the fastest runner in Scotland. He was chosen to be part of Britain's 1924 Olympic team. The games were in Paris. The 100-meter race was his best event, but it was to be held on a Sunday. Eric, a strong Christian（基督徒），refused to run on Sundays because he believed that it should be a day of rest as the Bible（圣经）teaches.

 Although many people told him to run the race, he refused. Instead he started to train for other distances. At the Olympics he won a bronze medal in the 200-meter race and then a gold medal in the 400-meter race, setting a world record.

 Though then famous in Scotland, Eric still loved and remembered China. He wanted to go back to the country where he was born. In 1925, he went to China and worked as a middle school teacher in Tianjin. Then he went to Hebei Province to help the poor people there.

 After the Japanese invaded（入侵）China, Eric chose to stay. He wanted to help the sick and give hope to the Chinese people. In 1943, the Japanese sent him to a prison camp（集中营）in Weifang. Even in the camp, he continued to help the old people. He also arranged games for the children, and taught them science.

 In 1945, Eric was very ill. He was given a chance to leave the camp but he refused. Instead he gave this chance to a pregnant woman. This inspiring man died six months before the end of the war. Many people still remember his service to the Chinese people of that area.

 There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them

enjoyed living there.

 There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated: an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made

the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turned the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not so beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn't know what had happened.

 A young man went to the king, and said he could explain what had happened. “This was because you cut the old tree down,” said the young man. “There were thousands of moths (飞蛾)which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave.

“Excellent!” said the king, “I'll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful again.”

“I'm afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance(生态平衡) to get back again,” said the young man.

 The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

    Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

    The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

    Many people are like garbage (rubbish) trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy with what you did.

    I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day

    I said, "I'm not going to do anymore."

    Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you'll be happier. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the emperor of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The emperor wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasure, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new emperor had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.