One morning, my newspaper wasn't delivered on time. Since I always brought it to work, it upset me that I would have to pick one up on my way to work. After breakfast, I was already running late, but figured I could make it if I hurried.

    As I pulled into the parking lot of the store, I noticed a young man in a wheelchair who seemed to be struggling. “Someone else will stop and help him,” I thought.

    However, no one stopped. I got out, and walked over to see what the trouble was.

    “Is there anything I can do?” I asked. It was then that I noticed he wasn't able to speak, and was still struggling with the chair.

    I looked down at the chair and noticed that the clamps (夹具) holding the electronic keyboard had apparently become loose causing the equipment to slip down, out of his reach.

    I pulled it back into place and then re-tightened the clamps. He hit a key on the keyboard. An electronic voice told me, “Thank you.” He then found the control that steered (操纵) the chair, turned and left.

    I got back in my car and headed off to work, completely forgetting my newspaper. As I drove, I felt a deep gratitude (感激). I was truly blessed to have the physical abilities that allow me to live a normal life. Here was this young man who relied on machines to get around and communicate. He probably dreamed about doing all the things that I thought were normal and simple.

    It's funny; fifteen minutes before that happened, I was whining because my morning paper hadn't arrived on time. I was glad I helped the young man, because he helped me gain a new viewpoint on everything I had in my life.

    David is eight. One day his friend Rose says to him, “This Sunday is my birthday. Can you come to my birthday party?” David says, “Yes.”

    On Sunday, David asks his mother if he can go to the party. His mother says, “Yes, you can go, but you must be polite. Don't ask for any food. They will give you some.” “All right, Mum.” David answers and he goes to Rose's house on his bike.

    There are lots of kids at the party. They play together for some time, and then Rose's mother gives them some food, but she forgets David. He waits and waits and then he takes his plate up and asks, “Do you want a nice clean plate?”

    A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

    “Daddy, how much money do you make each hour?”

    “If you must know, I make ＄20 each hour.”

    “Oh,” the little boy answered, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, “Daddy, could you lend me ＄10?”

    The father was furious, “If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, go straight to your room and think about why you are so selfish (自私)！”

    The little boy went to his room with no words and shut the door. After a short while, the father calmed (平静) down, and started to think, “Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn't really ask for money very often.” So he went to the little boy's room.

    “Sorry！Maybe I was too hard on your just now.” said the man, “Here's ＄10.”

    “Oh, thank you Daddy！” he said happily. Then the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.

    “Why do you want more money since you already have some?” the father shouted angrily.

    “Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.” The little boy replied, “Daddy, I have ＄20 now. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you. ”

    Peruvian novelist, Mario Vargas Llosa, who received Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, is one of the central writers in Latin America, but he began his literary career in Europe.

    Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa, but from age one he lived in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where he was brought up by his mother and grandparents after his parents separated. However, Vargas Llosa once said that "I feel very much an Arequipan"．He also spent some time in Piura, northern Peru (1945～1946)．

    Vargas Llosa attended Leoncio Prado Military Academy (1950～1952), and Colegio Nacional San Miguel de Piura (1952), Peru． In 1955 he married Julia Urquidi; they divorced in 1964.From 1955 to 1957 Vargas Llosa studied literature and law at the University of San Marcos, Peru. He then attended post-graduate school at the University of Madrid, Spain, where he received his Ph.D.in 1959.

    In the 1950s, while still a student, Vargas Llosa worked as a journalist for La Industria. His first collection of short stories, LOSJEFES, appeared in 1959."I liked Faulkner but I imitated Hemingway, "he said later. Vargas Llosa moved to Paris because he felt that in Peru he could not earn his living as a serious writer. Although the boom of Latin American fiction in the 1960s opened doors to some authors for commercial success, the great majority of Peruvian writers suffered from the problems of the country's publishing industry. In France Vargas Llosa worked as Spanish teacher, journalist and broadcaster. From the late 1960s Vargas Llosa worked as a visiting professor at many American and European universities. In 1970 Vargas Llosa moved to Barcelona and five years later he settled back in Peru. Most of his novels are set in Peru.

    In addition to the Nobel Prize, Vargas Llosa has received many other honors. Among the most notable are Leopoldo Alas Prize (1959), Peruvian National Prize (1967) and Miguel de Cervantes Prize (1994).

    A man was going to open a shop selling hats. He wanted a good sign to put over his shop. He wrote:

    JOHN BROWN HATTER

    Makes and Sells Hats for Ready Money

    The first friend gave him the advice that the word "hatter" wasn't needed. So John crossed out the hatter. Then he came to another friend for advice. This friend said that it was not polite to say "for ready money". So he crossed out "for ready money'.

    The sign now said:

    JOHN BROWN

    Makes and Sells Hats

    One day a friend was passing his shop. He saw this sign and said that when a man bought a hat, he didn't ask who made it. So John crossed out "makes".

    But when another friend saw "John Brown sells hats", he said "Of course you sell hats. No one thinks you give them away."

    So, at last the sign read:

    JOHN BROWN

    Earlier this month, two rock climbers achieved what many thought impossible: They climbed up the 3,000-foot-high Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park without specialized equipment. Climbing without this equipment is called "free-climbing." Until now, no one had free-climbed to the top of the rock face, which is a part of the mountain EI Capitan.

    EI Capitan, which means "the captain" or "the chief" in Spanish, has always presented a challenge to climbers. But the Dawn Wall, on the mountain^'s southeast face, is a particularly difficult route to the summit (顶峰). It is a rock formation that is both steep and relatively smooth. This makes free-climbing the rock face seem almost impossible.

    About seven years ago, professional climber Tommy Caldwell spotted a possible route up the wall. It took years of planning and preparation, but this month, Caldwell, 36, and his friend Kevin Jorgeson, 30, finally make the climb.

    Free climbers do use ropes and other basic safety equipment to catch them if they fall — and Caldwell and Jorgeson fell often. Before starting their climb, they broke down their route into 32 sections. Each section was based on a rope length called a "pitch." The rope was secured into the rock face to catch the climbers if they fell.

    Caldwell and Jorgeson's goal was to climb the Dawn Wall without returning to the ground. If they fell, they had to start that pitch all over again. The two men started climbing on December 27. They slept in hanging tents, and a team of friends brought them food each day.

    The men had spent years rehearsing (排练) the movements it would take to get through each pitch. They made it through the first half of the climb relatively easily. But halfway up, Jorgeson ran into trouble. In one difficult spot, he fell each time he attempted to climb. After 10 days of trying, Jorgeson finally made it to the next pitch.

    Getting through that troublesome pitch gave both climbers renewed energy. They finished the rest of the climb five days later, on January 14.