Two things changed my life: my mother and a white plastic bike basket. I have thought long and hard about it and it's true. I would be a different person if my mom hadn't turned a silly bicycle accessory into a life lesson I carry with me today.

My mother and father were united in their way of raising children, but it mostly fell to my mother to actually carry it out. Looking back, I honestly don'tknow how she did it. Managing the family budget must have been a very hard task,but she made it look effortless. If we complained about not having what another kid did, we'd hear something like, “I don't care what so –and –so got for his birthday, you are not getting a TV in your room a car for your birthday a lavish sweet-16 party.” We had to earn our allowance by doing chores around the house. I can still remember how long it took to polish the legs of our coffee table. My brothers canno doubt remember hours spent cleaning the house .Like the two little girls growing up at the White House, we made our own beds (no one left the house until that was done) and picked up after ourselves. We had to keep track of our belongings, and if something was lost, it was not replaced.

It was summer and ,one day ,my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed—and there it was in the window, White, shiny, plastic and decorated with flowers ,the basket winked at me and I knew —I knew—I had to have it.

       “It's beautiful,” my mother said when I pointed it out to her,” What a neat basket.”

       I tried to hold off at first, I played it cool for a short while. But then I guess I couldn't at and it any longer: “Mom, please can I please, pleaseget it? I‘ll do extra chores for as long as you say, I'll do anything, but I need that basket, I love that basket. Please, Mom .Please?”

         I was desperate.

      “You know,” she said, gently rubbing my back while we both staredat what I believes was the coolest thing ever,” If you save up you could buy thisyourself.”

“By the time I makeenough it'll but gone!”

      “Maybe Roger here could hold it for you,” she smiled at Roger, thebike guy.

“He can't hold it for that long, Mom. Someone else will buy it .Please,Mom, Please?”

      “There might be another way,” she said.

And so our paying plan unfolded. My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely in some hiding place I couldn't find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing saving increased by extra work here and there (washing the car ,helpingmy mother make dinner, delivering or collecting things on my bike that already looked naked without the basket in front).And then ,weeks later ,I counted ,re-counted and jumped for joy. Oh, happy day! I made it! I finally had the exact amount we'dagreed upon….

       Days later the unthinkable happened. A neighborhood girl I'd played with millions of times appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny, new bike that already had all the bells and whistles. I rode hard and fast home to tell my mother about this disaster. This horrible turn of events.

And then came the lesson. I've taken with me through my life: ”Honey,Your basket is extra-special,” Mom said, gently wiping away my hot tears.” Yourbasket is special because you paid for it yourself.”

    Laziness is a state of inaction. It is something that you do, not something that you are. Being lazy means you have no motivation to do anything. Many people make the mistake that they view themselves as lazy.

    Lazy people are often seen as useless. They are the ones who don't do anything. They can be seen as underachievers or even bums（废物）. This can be a child or an adult. You can view a student who never studies as lazy. You can see an employee who doesn't do his work as lazy. In all of these cases, what the lazy person is doing is being lazy. But are they really being lazy or are they acting lazy?

    There is a huge different between saying you act lazy sometimes and you are a lazy person. One is suggesting that your laziness is temporary while the other suggests that it's permanent. This is the myth of laziness. People who are lazy aren't; they simply are people who are temporarily acting that way.

    So that causes a person to be inactive? The answer is a lack of goals. If you give someone a good enough reason to do something, they will do it. People who don't seem to do anything just haven't found a good enough reason to do something. Lazy students don't study because they don't see the point in studying. If you give them a reason, a strong enough reason, they will take action.

    For example, if you are too lazy to go to the gym, would you go if someone offered you a million dollars to go? If you are too lazy to go to clean out the garage, would someone pointing a gun to your head help you take action? The reason can be positive or negative as long as it's strong enough to induce（引起）action.

    To motivate someone who is lazy, what you need to do is to help them find purpose and enough reasons to work towards a certain goal.

    We know that many animals do not stay in one place. Birds, fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time. They move for different reasons: most of them move to find food more easily, but others move to get away from places that are too crowded.

    When cold weather comes, many birds move to warmer places to find food. Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed. The most famous migration(迁移) is probably the migration of the fish, which is called “salmon”. This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water. There it spends its life. When it is old, it returns to its birthplace in fresh water. Then it gives birth and dies there. In northern Europe, there is a kind of mouse. They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded. They move down to the low land. Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside, and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea.

    Recently, scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster(龙虾). Every year, when the season of bad weather arrives, the lobster get into a long line and start to walk across the floor of the ocean. Nobody knows why they do this, and nobody knows where they go.

    So, sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another, but at other times we don't. Maybe living things just like travel.

Dear Bobby Brune,

    Children learn best when they're having fun. “Jungle Gym Jimmy” is an article for parents and children that teaches playground safety and shows how simply playing can promote good health and fitness. The tips are given through the funny voice of the “tour guide” on the playground, seven—year-old Jimmy. By listening to Jimmy, children learn how to use the equipment safely and how to get the most fun out of a day on the playground.

    As a Kid Talk subscriber for the last seven years. I am very familiar with your publication, and feel this article would be a positive addition to the “I Can Do It” section of the magazine. The article is 2, 114 words, and has been divided into categories in a way that holds children's interest. Being a mother of four children and using our home as a meeting place for most of the neighborhood, I've had the opportunity to test and confirm that the fun and easy “exercises” offered here are not only effective but are lots of fun for kids.

    I've been writing children's stories and articles for several years, and have had many of my stories published in Kids Know Best, a small newspaper that the Cinder Primary School publishes each month. I'm also a founding member of the “Right On Baby” editorial group which publishes a monthly e—zine for parents with newborns, and I'm a contributing editor to “Write Now,” an online site that teaches creative writing.

    Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Claudia Parker

    Every person plans to run off to some tropical isle, but few do. Real life, family, work, and monetary limitations get in the way. Ian Fleming let none of these considerations stop him.

    After the war, Fleming set down his schedule. The first week of January saw him leave England and travel to Jamaica. The first week of March saw his return. He accepted his job at Kemsley newspapers without compromise—this portion of the year would be set aside for Jamaica or he would look elsewhere for employment.

    For 6 years Fleming traveled each winter to Jamaica, lounging in paradise, romancing women, chasing the sunset, but it was not until he faced the pressure of a married woman who was pregnant with his child did Fleming start the writer's journey which would change his life and popular culture forever. As Fleming waited in Jamaica for Anne's divorce to become final, he wrote the first draft of a novel, Casino Royale.

    Fleming's career as a writer deserves more examination than can be offered here, but suffice it to say, over the next 12 years, Ian Fleming transformed his elite existence, his arrogance, his style, and his acid wit into some of the greatest thrillers ever written. Fleming incurred the respect of authors as diverse as Raymond Chandler, Kingsley Amis, and Edith Sitwell. His fans included John, Jackie, and Bobby Kennedy, and his social circle included Prime Minister Anthony Eden, Evelyn Waugh, and Somerset Maugham.

    Fleming filled out the 12 years of Bond with great adventure journalism. Even in stories which had little action or pay off, such as his short non-fiction book, The Diamond Smugglers, the "Fleming-flair" ensured exciting reading. He wrote the "Atticus" column for the Sunday Times, proving a wonderful conduit for inside intelligence information, and clever rebukes (指责).

    Regardless of book sales or family obligations, Fleming managed to live the life he wanted. As the years passed, his passion for golfing increased so he took more time with it. Fleming's long-term fascination with America grew, so he traveled there more often.

    Ian Fleming's full life caught up with him through his heart. It may be that years of drinking and smoking took their toll, or that the butter-rich cooking Fleming loved was the culprit. Or maybe it was just genetics. Whatever the cause, Fleming's health declined in the late 1950s. This plus anxieties in the marriage increased Fleming's depression. With the success of Bond, the world came knocking at Fleming's door, and he had a harder time shutting those out that he did not want in his life.

    Nonetheless, Fleming fought the loosing battle of his weakening heart by throwing more fuel on the fire. He continued to drink and smoke, making some excuses but not many. He wrote books he wanted to read, and traveled the world with style and authority. By this time, Fleming had already earned his own fortune, created his own identity, and ruled his own literary empire.

    To find out how the name Canada came about we must go back to the 16th century. At that time, the French dreamed of discovering and controlling more land, of expanding(扩大) trade beyond their borders and of spreading their beliefs across the world. In 1535, Francois I, king of France, ordered a navigator(航海家) named Jacques Cartier to explore the New World and search for a way to India.

    Carrier first arrived at the gulf of the St. Lawrence, which he intended (打算) to explore. He did not know what to expect but he hoped that this gulf was just an arm of the ocean between two islands. If it was, he would soon be on his way to the Far East. So he sailed upstream along the St. Lawrence River. However, instead of reaching Asia he arrived at Quebec or Standalone, as the Indians called it. It was at this point that the term "Canada" entered the country's history. Apparently the word "Canada" came from an India word" kanata", which means community or village. Cartier first used it when he referred to Standalone or Quebec. What a huge "village" Canada is!