As a general rule, all forms of activity lead to boredom when they are performed on a routine(常规) basis. As a matter of fact, we can see this 1 at work in people of all 2. For example, on Christmas morning, children are excited about 3 with their new toys. But their 4 soon wears off and by January those 5 toys can be found put away in the basement. The world is full of   6 stamp albums and unfinished models, each standing as a monument(纪念碑) to someone's 7 interest. When parents bring home a pet, their child 8 bathes it and brushes its fur. Within a short time, however, the 9 of caring for the animal is handed over to the parents. Adolescents(青少年) enter high school with great 10 but are soon looking forward to 11. The same is true of the young adults going to college. And then, how many 12, who now complain about the long drives to work, 13 drove for hours at a time when they first 14 their driver's licenses? Before people retire, they usually 15 to do a lot of 16 things, which they never had 17 to do while working. But 18 after retirement, the golfing, the fishing, the reading and all of the other pastimes(消遣) become as boring as the jobs they 19. And, like the child in January, they go searching for new 20.

    I have written a poem called Flying Kites, in which a man 1 his son to fly a kite. After a few minutes, the child2 drops the string and lets the kite soar(高飞). With joy in his eyes, he watches it climb until it disappears 3.The father realizes that 4 he'll have to loosen the string that ties him to his son. And he 5 ,“Will I release the tie as unselfishly as that?”

    Many years later my son, Gary,6 he wouldn't finish his college career. I tried to talk him out of it. But none of my reasoning made any 7 . At the end of the semester Gary moved back home.

    Gary managed to find a job at a nursery and went at it with 8enthusiasm. I,9, was deeply disappointed. What was a college professor's 10  doing at a job that any high school dropout could perform? Then I tried to11 him. “Look,” I said, “In a few years you'll be at your high school reunion with 12 classmates who became doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Do you think you'll be able to 13 that?”

    “Yes, Dad,” he replied without 14. Then he fixed his eyes on mine and said, “But the real question is: Can you?”

    Shame suddenly 15 me. I wasn't thinking about my son; I was thinking about myself and what my friends would think. The problem wasn't Gary's pride; it was mine. All at once I remembered my  16  and the question it asked “ Will I release the 17 as unselfishly as that?”. At that moment I knew I had to let go. Gary was  18 enough to make his own choices.

    Today Gary has a successful career working for the city. I am very 19 of who he has become.20I let go of my pride, I've been able to sit back and enjoy watching him soar.

    It had been a long time since I had been to Jacksonville, Florida. I had driven to town 1to find the old barber shop where my hair had been cut as a child. As I 2around, I was a little disappointed to see the old buildings had been3with new high-rise ones.

    After walking about a block I saw an open shoe store. Wondering whether I could get the 41walked in. As I stood talking to the salesman, the front door opened and a young man about twenty came into the store in a 5 “I need a new pair of shoes,” said the6As he turned the corner, I was 7to see that the young man had no legs.

    Seeing us 8 the young man said, “When I was a 9my parents used to buy me a new pair of shoes every year. That was such a wonderful feeling—10I have never forgotten.”

    Soon the salesman came with a large box. He put it down on the floor, took out a boot and handed it to the young man. Placing the boot 11his nose, the boy closed both eyes, and took a large breath. I did not know what to say as tears began to roll down his 12.

    Suddenly we heard the salesman shouting to an old man 13who looked in the window from time to time. The young man looked at the old man and then turned to me. “Would you walk out and see what14that fellow wears?” he 15.

    Wondering why, I 16walked to the front door, opened it and asked the old man to17“What size shoes do you wear?” the boy asked the man. “I don't know,” he replied, as he18his old tennis shoes. “I would say nine and a half,” I suggested. “What's your19hiking boot in nine and a half?” the boy asked the salesman. Within a minute. The salesman returned with a pair of hiking boots. The boy 20out, took the boot, placed it to his nose and took a large breath. Once again, tears came to his eyes. “Sir, would you mind trying on these boots?” the boy asked the old fellow.

    At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. As was usually the 1, I fully expected one of the women to2 , but on this evening one of the men raised his hand. He appeared quite moved and a bit3 .

    He began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite4 with you last week when you gave us this 5 I didn't feel that I had anyone to say those words to, and6, who were you to tell me to do something that is 7? But as I began driving home a8 deep down in my heart started talking to me. It was 9me that I knew exactly who I needed to say 'I love you' to. You see, five years ago, my father and I had a cruel 10and really never resolved it since that time. We 11seeing each other unless we totally had to at Christmas or other family 12. But even then, we13 spoke to each other. So, last Tuesday by the time I got home I had14 myself I was going to tell my father I loved him.”

    “It's15, but just making that decision16to lift a heavy load off my chest.”

    “When I got home, I rushed into the house to tell my wife what I was going to do. She was already in17 , but I woke her up anyway. She catapulted (弹射) out and 18 me, and for the first time in our married life she saw me cry. We19half the night drinking coffee and talking. It was20.”

    A mum of two was shocked. She went downstairs to get a drink and found a1stranger asleep on her sofa. The 26-year-old man had let himself in and2his shoes at Elaine McDade's door while she was upstairs watching TV in bed with her children. She later3the man had made a mistake4his parents used to own her house.

    Engineer Thomas Airlie, from South Lanarkshire, didn't5that none of the belongings in the house were those of his parents' when he lay on the sofa for a6. "When I saw him, I7him up straight away," Elaine said. "I even asked him if he used to live here, or if he lived in the same8now and just got the wrong door."

    Elaine said Thomas9when she woke him up. "I10my husband and he agreed to come home immediately.11, my husband didn't even know where he lived so he12the man at the police station instead," she said. She later posted a photo of the13Thomas on Facebook explaining that it was the only time when she had ever forgotten to lock the door. She wrote that Thomas was "14" but added, "Lesson learned again. Lock your doors."

    She sent him the15and got a message from him on Facebook saying "Oh, my God. I can't apologize16."

    Thomas had been out with friends when he17got a taxi back to his parents' old house,18his current home.

    His friend Robbie McKean said they will never let him19his experience. "Our friend had a baby boy not long ago so we were drinking a lot to celebrate it. I can happily say he doesn't walk into people's houses and sleep on their sofa on a(n)20basis."

Some Ohio high school students have become winners in a national contest (竞赛) after inventing a mobile phone app that helps needy families find local food pantries (公益食品仓库).

And someday the teens, who are students at Ross High School in Ross Township, may be selling the app to food pantries and food banks across America.

The app was created as part of a computer science class — coordinated (协调) by Butler Tech career school system at the high school. Three students, Jacob Kahmann, Gunner Nonnamaker and Kyle Inderhees, recently were visited by Congressman Warren Davidson, who praised their work. Davidson lauded the teens for creating "this app to set the standard for efficient food collection and distribution (分发)".

Butler Tech IT Instructor Tom O'Neill said the students' app includes characteristics that help users locate the nearest food pantry and improve food collection processes, and that the national contest provides a real-life learning chance for his students.

The students are continuing to make additions to the app and are working on turning it into a product, said O'Neill, who in recent years has helped many Ross High School teens win national honors for their computer-science-based inventions.

"The teachers and students in the Ross School District continue to amaze me with their future-thinking and creation," said Superintendent Scott Gates. "Our students are not only thinking about careers, they are thinking about problems they want to change, solve or improve. The app that was created will make serving a population in need more efficient."