Teenager Jake Denham was skiing with his family in the USA when he fell over and lost one of his skis(滑雪板). His family didn't know that he had a problem. They kept on skiing. When they got to the foot of the mountain, there was no sign of Jake.

    Jake couldn't find his ski anywhere. In the end, he decided to take off his other ski and walk down the mountain. But he couldn't work out the right way to go.

    It was now getting dark and he was a long way from any place of safety. He knew that he might die that night in the cold temperatures. But Jake kept calm. At home, Jake watched a lot of TV programmes about living in difficult situations. He remembered the advice from these programmes and knew that he should build a hole in the snow. He made a hole and pointed it up the hill so the wind couldn't blow into it. Outside his hole the temperature fell to a dangerous —15℃ that night, but inside it Jake was safe from the cold.

    But he had to get down the mountain. The TV programmes always said, ^”If you are lost, you should find someone else's tracks (轨迹) through the snow and follow them.” “I wanted to live my life”, remembers Jake.

    So I got up and I found some ski tracks and I followed those. He walked and walked and finally he saw lights.

    Nine hours after he lost his ski, he found a team of workers who came to save him. He was safe!

    His mum was very happy when she heard the news. Amazingly, Jake didn't even have to go to hospital. He got through the terrible experience without any injuries.

    So, the next time someone says that watching TV is a waste of time, think of Jake. Sometimes TV can save your life!

    When I was about twelve years old, a girl in my class liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). She said I was very thin; I wasn't good at math; I talked too much; I was too proud, and so on. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.  He listened to me quietly, and asked, "Are those things true or not? Jane, didn't you ever think about what you're really like?" Then he added, "Well, you have that girl's opinions.  Make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found out that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change, like being very thin, but many I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy, and he said, "Now you know better about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears angrily and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of great help to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do. "

    Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    Mary is a housewife with two 1. She is not good at 2 and it has always been the target (目标) of family jokes.

    One evening, Mary got ready for dinner a bit too 3. The kitchen started to fill with smoke and the smoke detector (烟雾报警器) went 4. 5 both of Mary's children had fire-safety 6 at school, they did not react (反应) to the alarm. Mary 7 annoyed (恼怒的). She stormed through the house in search of the two kids.

    She found 8 in the bathroom, washing their hands. Over the loud noise of the smoke alarm, she asked them 9 the sound was.

    "It's the smoke detector," they replied.

    "Do you know what that 10 means?" she asked.

    "Sure," the oldest replied. "Dinner's ready."

    Nadia Comaneci, a famous gymnast(体操运动员), was born in Romania in 1961.

    When she was doing cartwheels (侧手翻) on the playground at the age of 7, a PE teacher saw her. He told her family that she was very good and advised Nadia to train in the capital of Romania. Although it was a long way from her home, Nadia went because she loved gymnastics(体操).

    After that, she trained hard and took part in lots of competitions. In 1975, she was named as one of the Athletes of the 20th Century.

    In 1976, Nadia went to the Olympics in Canada. She was so fantastic in the competition that everyone waited for the score, a high score. But the score board showed 1.00!

    Everyone was surprised. There wasn't a sound for a moment. Then a voice came. "Ladies and gentlemen, Nadia Comaneci…10!"

    The audience cheered very loudly. So what happened? Well, when the scoreboard was built, no one thought a score of 10.00 was possible. The decimal point(小数点) was in the wrong place! In fact, the scoreboard only had three digits (数位) to show scores, such as 9.50 or 9.85 at that time.

    In the 1976 Summer Olympics, Nadia Comaneci scored a perfect 10, which was thought impossible before. From then on, she was looked as a hero. In 1984, she got retired (退休的).

Drawing on a New Friendship

    Last Saturday, I went to the park to draw. When I finished the outline of a girl, a shadow（影子）fell across my drawing.

    "That's not a bad start", said the shadow. "Do you have any finished drawings?" I looked up to see a girl about my age.

    I was displeased that someone was looking at my drawing and interrupted me. "Not bad?" I asked.

    "No need to be angry." The girl handed a sketchbook(素描本)to me." Want to look at my drawings?"

    I felt curious and traded sketchbooks with her. Her sketches of people were okay, but I was really attracted by her drawings of nature, like trees, rocks, and rivers, all done with great detail.

    "Wow！You have some talent," I said. "What's your name?"

    The girl took back her sketchbook and answered, "Emma Thompson."

    "I'm Alice Ruiz, "I said." You draw so well. Are you in an art class?"

    Emma replied, "No. The art class is full, so I have to wait until next term. Besides, you're a talented one. I really find it difficult to draw people, but you make it look easy."

    "I have a great idea！"I said." Let's draw together！You can draw the nature views on one piece of paper while I draw the people on another. Then we'll exchange and finish each other's drawings. That way, both drawings would show off both of our talents!"

    "That's not a bad idea, Alice, "Emma agreed.

    About an hour later, we completed our drawings. I had drawn a boy walking with his dog. Emma had added a path and some flowers. Emma had drawn a beautiful tree, and I had added a girl reading under the tree.

    "This was a fun idea, "I said." Hey, Emma, would you like to meet me here again to draw together?"

    "See you next Saturday, Alice, "Emma said with a smile.

    One day, the teacher held up an apple in class, stood on the platform(讲台) and said, "Please smell the smell in the air!" One student raised his hand and answered, "I have smelled it. It is the smell of an apple."

    The teacher stepped off the platform, passed by each of the students and said," Please smell again to see if the smell of the apple is still in the air."

    Half of the students raised their hands to show that they could smell it. The teacher returned to the front of the classroom and asked again if the students could smell the apple. Everyone raised their hands except one student. The teacher came to the student and asked," You really can't smell the apple?"

    The student answered," No, I can't smell it. I don't think it's a real apple."

    The teacher smiled at the student and said to the class," He is right! This is not a real apple."

    All of the other students were tricked. They might have thought that perhaps the apple was not real, but they didn't have the self-confidence to speak up. They just "followed the leader" and went along with the first student.

    Please remember "Believe in yourself first, and then others will believe in you".