I had worried myself sick over Simon's mother coming to see me.I was a new teacher,and I gave an honest account of the students' work.In Simon's case,the grades were awfully low.He couldn't read his own handwriting.But he was a bright student.He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension.His work in no way reflected his abilities.

    So when Simon's mother entered the room.my palms（手掌心）were sweating.I was completely unprepared for her kisses on both my cheeks."I came to thank you,"she said,surprising me beyond speech.Because of me,Simon had become a different person.He talked of how he loved me,he had begun to make friends,and for the first time in his twelve years,he had recently spent an afternoon at a friend's house.She wanted to tell me how grateful she was for the self-respect I had developed in her son.She kissed me again and left.

    I sat,stunned,for about half an hour,wondering what had just happened.How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without even knowing it?What I finally came to remember was one day,several months before, when some students were giving reports in the front of the class,Jeanne spoke quietly,and to encourage her to raise her voice,I had said,"Speak up.Simon is the expert on this.He is the only one you have to convince,and he can't hear you in the back of the room."That was it.From that day on,Simon had sat up straighter,paid more attention,smiled more,and became happy.And it was all because he happened to be the last kid in the last row.The boy who most needed praise was the one who took the last seat that day.

    It taught me the most valuable lesson over the years of my teaching career,and I'm thankful that it came early and positively.A small kindness can indeed make a difference.

Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, "You should have goals like climbing the mountain. " without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience.

Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds'singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, "You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top can you see all of the nice things, just like in life. "

    At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal.

    There are many places to go on safari in Africa, but riding a horse through the flooded waters of Botswana's Okavango Delta must rank as one of the world's most exciting wildlife journeys.

    Several safari camps operate as the base for this adventure, providing unique rides twice a day to explore deep into the delta. The camps have excellent horses, professional guides and lots of support workers. They have a reputation for providing a great riding experience.

    The morning ride, when the guides take you to beautiful, shallow lakes full of water lilies, tends to be more active. It is unlike any other riding experience. With rainbows forming in the splashing water around you and the sound of huge drops of water bouncing off your body and face. It is truly exciting. You are very likely to come across large wild animals, too. On horseback it is possible to get quite close to elephants, giraffes and many other animals. The sense of excitement and tension levels rise suddenly though, as does your heart rate, as you move closer to them.

    In the evening, rides are usually at a more relaxed and unhurried pace. With golden light streaming across the grassy delta and the animals coming out to eat and drink. Sedate though they are, rides at this time of day are still very impressive. As the sun's rays pass through the dust kicked up by the horses, the romance of Africa comes to life.

    Back at the camp you can kick off your boots and enjoy excellent food and wine. Looking back on your day, you will find it hard to deny that a horseback Safari is as close as you will ever come to answering the call of the wild.

    Road trip

    Motorhome delivery offers great family holidays. For just $1 a day, you can hire a fully﹣equipped motorhome, which you deliver to a specific destination within some days and kilometers. You then hire another one to get home or take a bus or train. Your only other expense will be fuel and about﹩20 a day for parking fees. To learn more, visit apollocamper.com.

    Plan ahead

    For a comfortable break, flexibility with times, dates and places helps lower the cost. Find a few hotels you like, ask about their vacant rooms, then wait a few weeks and call again. If they still have rooms, you're at an advantage to ask for a better price. Lots of last﹣minute deals are online. Watif （watif.com.au） has deals on hotels that have dropped their prices so slow. You don't know where you're staying until it's booked, but anywhere with four or five stars has to be fairly good.

    Back to nature

    Wild camping appeals to nature lovers and costs nothing. This is forbidden on beaches and parks in most urban areas, but you can turn up in more distant area as long as nobody owns the land. You'll need to take everything with you and may need to shop on eBuy （ebuy.com.au）.If you're a camping beginner, be aware of safety measures and get your questions answered on the Internet.

    Swap meet

    How about a home swap？For a $250 yearly joining cost, you can stay in someone's home in an international place of your choice while they or someone else stays in yours. Find out more at familylink.com.au.

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist (生理学家) best known for his discovery of classical conditioning (经典条件反射). During his studies on the digestive systems of dogs, Pavlov found that the animals salivated (流口水) naturally upon the presentation of food. However, he also noticed that the animals began to salivate whenever they saw the white lab coat of an experimental assistant. By associating the presentation of food with the lab assistant, he finally found that a dog would salivate to the presence of a stimulus (刺激物) other than food. He called this response a conditional reflex.

Ivan Pavlov was born in a small village in Ryazan. Russia, where his father was the village minister. His earliest studies were focused on theology (神学), but reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species had a powerful influence on his future interests. He soon stopped his religious studies and devoted himself to the study of science at the University of Saint Petersburg. Pavlov's interests were the study of physiology and natural sciences. He helped found the Department of Physiology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine and continued to manage the program for the next 45 years.

Pavlov received much praise for his work. He worked in the Russian Academy of Science and won the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology. The Soviet government also offered lots of support for Pavlov's work, and the Soviet Union soon became a leading center of research on physiology. While Ivan Pavlov was not a psychologist, and reportedly disliked the field of psychology, his work had a major influence on the field, particularly on the development of behaviorism. His discovery and research on reflexes influenced the growing behaviorist movement. and Pavlov's discovery had a major influence on many thinkers, such as John B. Watson.

Delicate, shining, and soft to the touch. The fabric called silk {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (find) its way into the heart of Chinese people in the past thousands of years.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} origin of it is not clear, but the ancient Chinese people {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (credit) their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, as the inventor of sericulture (养蚕业).

The style and texture (质地) of silk are {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(variety). Hangluo satin from Hangzhou,Zhejiang province, is famous for its airy and thin texture, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Yunjin brocade from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a luxurious fabric often {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (use) for royal clothes, represents China's silk weaving (纺织) technique at its best time. Yunjin brocade is best made  {#blank#}7{#/blank#} hand, in a complex procedure that comprises more than a hundred steps. Even the most skilled artisans can only weave a few centimeters a day.

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC—AD 24), with Zhang Qian{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk graced countries in Central Asia, and later other parts of Eurasia and beyond.  {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (appropriate), its name marked China's major international trade {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (route), the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

As one of the wonders of ancient China, silk is not merely a type of fabric but a cultural symbol and a representative of elegance.