A very new, young officer was at a station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town, and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of this train, so that she could meet him at the station in her car. He look in all his pockets, but he did not have the right money for the telephone, so he went outside and looked around for someone to help him.

    At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, "Have you got change for ten pence?"

    "Wait a moment." the old soldier answered. He began to put his hand in his pocket, "I'll see whether I can help you."

   "Don't you know how to speak to an officer?" the young man said angrily. "Now let's start again. Have you got change for ten pence?"

  "No, sir," the old soldier answered quickly.

    When I was five years old. I took a boat out on the river and went fishing by myself. I really wanted to catch a fish! But they were not biting.

    I stayed in my boat for three days, waiting. A few times, I thought I felt a fish at the end of the line. The first time I pulled in my catch, it was not a fish; it was an old bag. The second time, it was a shoe. Finally, at the end of the third day, I felt a strong pull at the end of the line. The pull was so strong they my boat raced around and around. I needed all my power just to hold onto the fishing rod. I pulled, and I pulled and I caught the biggest fish that ever swam on the Earth! It was heavier than everyone in this room put together! Then something terrible happened!

    After I pulled the huge fish into my boat, I saw that the boat was going under water! Water was coming into the boat from all sides! I was not a very good swimmer, so I was scared.

    Although it was the hardest choice I ever made. I had to let the fish go. I pushed it back over the side of the boat, and we waved good-bye to each other as it swam away.

    Riley read so many stories about pirates (海盗) and treasure chests that he wanted to find a treasure chest of his own. One day, Riley went to the library and read a story about a man that buried expensive gold coins in his backyard in a chest. Riley was so interested in the story. "Mom, tell him that treasure chests are only in books and movies," said his old brother Ted. "It could really happen," said Riley. "Riley's right," said mom. "If you believe in something strong enough, it could happen."

    That night Riley's mom told Riley's dad how much Riley wanted to find a treasure chest. "I have an idea," said Riley's mom. "Saturday is Riley's birthday. Let's put his gift in a treasure chest and bury it in the yard for him to find." "That's a great idea!" said Riley's dad. They decided to put his new watch in the treasure chest. They would give him a map with clues (线索 ) to look for the treasure chest outside.

    After Riley left for school the next day, his mom wrapped the watch and went to the party store to buy a treasure chest. She came home and buried the treasure chest underneath the oak tree. She then drew a map with clues to where the treasure chest was buried. When Saturday came, mom and dad gave Riley his map, and told him that he would have to find his gift in the treasure chest using the clues on the map. Riley was so excited! He anxiously followed all the clues and found the treasure chest with his new watch. "Wow!" said Riley. "This is fantastic! I knew I would find a treasure chest someday!"

    "Happy Birthday!" they all shouted.

    One day, Akbar decided to test how wise Birbal was. He took his ring off his finger and handed it to one of his courtiers (侍臣). Akbar said to him, "You must hide this ring safely with you. Make sure that no one can find it."

    As soon as Birbal came to the palace, Akbar said. "Birbal, I lost my ring this morning. It was given to me by my father. Do whatever you want, but you have to find my ring soon."

    Birbal asked Akbar to give him more information, but Akbar didn't say much. He kepp on repeating, "I don't remember anything at all. You must find my ring." Finally, Birbal said, "All right, Your Majesty (陛下)! I will find your ring soon."

    Birbal closed his eyes and pretended (假装) to think for a while. And then he said, "Your Majesty, your ring is somewhere here in this palace. It is with one of the courtiers. The courtier has a grain of rice in his beard."

    The courtier was worried. Hearing Birbal's words, he quickly moved his hand over his beard. Birbal's eyes fixed on the behaviour of the courtier. Pointing towards him, Birbal said, "Your Majesty, this courtier stole your ring."

    Akbar was surprised. He didn't understand how Birbal had succeeded in finding his ring. But once again, Akbar accepted the fact that Birbal was very wise.

    She used to sleep on the sidewalk of the Fifth Street Post Office. I could smell her before I came close. She wore dirty clothes and her mouth was nearly toothless. I hardly saw her talk with others. If she was not asleep, she talked to herself. I always had sympathy for her. What a poor old lady! She must be desperate (感到绝望的)and hungry.

    One Thanksgiving, we had lots of food left over. I thought about the old lady. She might be still hungry. So I packed the food up and drove over to the Fifth Street.

    It was a cold night. There was hardly anyone out. But I knew she would stay at the same place and I would find her easily.

    There she was, squatted against a fence near the post office. She was dressed as she always was.

    I drove my car over to her, rolled down the window and said, "I've brought you some food. Would you like some turkey and apple pie？"

    However, the old woman didn't seem to be very excited about this. She looked at me and said quite clearly, "Oh, thank you very much, but someone has given me food earlier and I'm quite full now. Why don't you take it to someone else who needs it？"

    Her words were clear and her manners were gracious. Soon her head sank into her arms again. I was the only person who didn't know what to say. An old lady who was clearly down on her luck still thought about others. Why don't more of us do that？

    Reading Oliver James' Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears. "I have to take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it, "she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following day I ask her how the test went and she just says "OK, I got a nine".

    "Wow. Well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"

    According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."

    I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system (体制) of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.

    For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.

    This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon.  Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.

    As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感)is needed in geometry(几何学)just as much as in poetry", and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them.