阅读理解。

    Welcome to Shawnee Mountain, a great place for skiing! All people can have a wonderful time here. For more information, you can visit www.shawneemt.com or call 570-421-7231.

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."—Albert Einstein

If you have a kid with special needs in the school system, chances are you have come across that saying hanging on a classroom wall. My five-year-old daughter Syona has cerebral palsy (a medical condition affecting someone's control over their movement ) and it means, combined with her communication challenges and sight problems, that standard assessments (and by "standard", I mean the ones used to assess kids with special needs ) aren't always an accurate measure of her abilities.

By now you have probably heard about Chris Ulmer, the 26-year-old teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, who starts his special education class by calling up each student individually to give them much admiration and a high-five (a gesture of greeting or congratulation). I couldn't help but be reminded of Syona's teacher and how she supports each kid in a very similar way. Ulmer recently shared a video of his teaching experience. "I have seen their confidence and self-worth increase rapidly, " he said. All I could think was: How lucky these students are to have such inspirational teachers.

    Syona's teacher has an attitude that can best be summarized in one word: awesome. Her teacher doesn't focus on what can't be done—she focuses on what can be done. Over the past several months, my husband Dilip and I have seen Syona's confidence increase tenfold. She uses words she wouldn't have thought of using before. She recently told me about her classmate's trip to Ecuador and was very proud when I understood her on the first try.

    I actually wonder what the influence would be if we did something similar to what Ulmer does with his students in our home. We've recently started our day by reminding each other of the good qualities we all possess. If we are reminded of our strengths on a regular basis, we will become increasingly confident about progress and success.

    Ulmer's reach as a teacher goes far beyond the walls of his classroom. In fact, he teaches all of us to take a moment and truly appreciate the strengths of an important person in our lives.

    Whether you're up for a Crocodile Dundee's adventure or you'd just like a taste of the Australian sun, the beaches in and around Sydney can offer you all that and more.

Sydney Beach

    Sydney Beach is located at Sydney's northernmost tip on an extension(延伸) of land ending at Palm Beach. Before checking out the golden sand, take a quick tour of the houses of millionaires from the art and film industries.

Palm Beach

    Only about an hour from downtown Sydney, Palm Beach offers a long stretch(延伸) of clean sand and water. With parking near the center of the beach, that leaves the rest of it as a peaceful location with a sparse population, from which you can go surfing but take care — without the huge crowds of other Sydney's beaches, Palm Beach doesn't afford quite the safety level to be found elsewhere. Volunteer lifesavers are on duty only on weekends and holidays.

Bondi Beach

    For the famous beach, Bondi Beach has to be your choice. Parking is difficult to find even on slow days, so consider taking public transport to this world—known beach in the eastern Sydney suburbs. Easily reachable by taxi, bus, and rail, Bondi Beach offers sun bathing, swimming, snorkeling, and all sorts of water sports fun. If you're in the mood for a bit of exercise, two scenic coastal walks will afford you great views and sights along the shore. Take in views from Mackenzie's Point. It starts at Bondi and heads south to Bronte Beach. But don't try to swim in Mackenzie's Bay — it holds dangers such as hidden rocks.

Bronte Beach

    Your second choice for a scenic coastal walk covers a few miles and takes you from Bronte Beach to Waverly Cemetery, where many famous Australians are buried, including the poet Henry Lawson.

    Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, is a popular vacation spot on the East Coast of the US. There are 250 restaurants on the island. You can try the following excellent restaurants.

    Skull Creek Boathouse

    397 Squire Pope Road

    843-681-3663

    It's a good place for seafood lovers. Lunch is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekend lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu is mostly seafood.

    Quarterdeck

    32 Greenwood Road

    1-866-561-8802

    The view from this restaurant is wonderful. You have many choices, such as beef, burgers and soups. Open for lunch and dinner, the hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.

    Frankie Bones

    1301 Main Street

    843-842-4033

    They are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For lunch you can enjoy sandwiches, salads, rice, and pasta dishes. The entrée (主菜) is served with soup or salad. The salad also has cheese, pine nuts and dried berries.

    Mellow Mushroom

    33 Office Park Road

    843-686-2474

    If you want something different, stop in at the Mellow Mushroom. They have specialty (特色菜) pizzas, salads, and sandwiches. If you enjoy wines, you'll surely find something you like. It is open 7 days a week — Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Larry was on another of his underwater expeditions(探险)but this time, it was different. He decided to take his daughter along with him. She was only ten years old. This would be her first trip with her father on what he had always been famous for.

    Larry first began diving when he was his daughter's age. Similarly, his father had taken him along on one of his expeditions. Since then, he had never looked back. Larry started out by renting diving suits from the small diving shop just along the shore. He had hated them. They were either too big or too small. Then, there was the instructor. He gave him a short lesson before allowing him into the water with his father. He had made an exception. Larry would never have been able to go down without at least five hours of theory and another similar number of hours on practical lessons with a guide. Children his age were not even allowed to dive.

After the first expedition, Larry's later diving adventures only got better and better. There was never a dull moment. In his black and blue suit and with an oxygen tank fastened on his back, Larry dived from boats into the middle of the ocean. Dangerous areas did not prevent him from continuing his search. Sometimes, he was limited to come to a cage underwater but that did not bother him. At least, he was still able to take photographs of the underwater creatures.

    Larry's first expedition without his father was in the Cayman Islands. There were numerous diving spots in the area and Larry was determined to visit all of them .Fortunately for him, a man offered to take him around the different spots for free. Larry didn't even know what the time was, how many spots he dived into or how many photographs he had taken. The diving spots afforded such a wide array of fish and sea creatures that Larry saw more than thirty varieties of creatures.

Larry looked at his daughter. She looked as excited as he had been when he was her age. He hoped she would be able to continue the family tradition. Already, she looked like she was much braver than had been then. This was the key to a successful underwater expedition.

    Martha had been working for Miller Laboratories for two years, but she was not happy there. Nothing significant had happened in the way of promotions or salary increases. Martha felt that her supervisor, a younger and less experienced person than she, did not like her. In fact, the supervisor often said unpleasant things to her.

    One day, while talking with her friend Maria, she mentioned how discouraged she was. Maria gave her the name of a cousin of hers who was director of Human Resources Department for a large chemical company. Martha called him the next day and set up an interview on her lunch hour.

    During the interview, Mr. Petri said, "You're just the kind of person we need here. You're being wasted in your other job. Give me a call in a day or two. I'm sure we can find a place for you in our organization." Martha was so happy that she almost danced out of the building.

    That afternoon, Ruth Kenny, her supervisor, saw that Martha had come in ten minutes late from her lunch hour and she said, "Oh, so you finally decided to come back to work today?"

    This was the last straw. She could not take another insult. Besides, Mr. Petri was right: she was being wasted in this job.

    "Look," she said angrily, "if you don't like the way I work, I don't need to stay here. I'll go where I'm appreciated! Goodbye!" She took up her things and stormed out of the office.

    That night she called Maria and told her what had happened and then asked Maria, "What do you think?"

    "Well," said Maria carefully, "are you sure about the other job?"

    "Well, not exactly, but..."

    Maria continued, "Will you be able to get a recommendation from Ms. Kenny if you need one?"

    "A recommendation?…from Ms. Kenny?" hesitated Martha, in a worried tone.

    "Martha, I hope you didn't burn your bridges," Maria said. "I think I would have handled it differently."