C

    June lived in a small southern village (村庄). It was very hot there. She had a friend named Dec. Dec lived in a cold northern village. They often wrote to each other. June liked reading Dec's letters very much. He often talked about snow. She wished she could see it herself.

    One day, June wrote a letter to Dec and asked him to send her snowflakes(雪花). A few days later, she got a box from Dec. Dec said that he sent her many snowflakes in the box. June was excited. But after she opened the box, she found no snowflakes, only water. June cried. She cried for a long time until she slept.

    Then she had a dream. She dreamt that a snowflake talked with her. The snowflake told her that she only needed to make a wish to see snow. She then wished as hard as she could for snow. The next morning, June got up. She remembered her dream and her wish. She then ran out. The earth was covered with white snow. It snowed!

    This was the best gift for June! She really liked it.

    I have tried to write a ghost（鬼魂） story that won't make you unhappy with yourselves，with each other，with the seasons，or with me．I hope it haunts（飘荡） your houses pleasantly．

    By Charles Dickens One Christmas Eve，old Scrooge and Bob were working busily in his office．It was a cold，foggy day．The fog was so thick that the houses opposite were like ghosts．It was only three o'clock in the afternoon，but it was already quite dark．

    "Merry Christmas，Uncle!"cried a happy voice．It was Scrooge's nephew（侄子）．

    "Bah!"said Scrooge，"Humbug（骗人的话）!"

    "Christmas is a humbug？Surely you don't mean that，Uncle．"said his nephew．

    "I do，"said Scrooge．"Merry Christmas!What reason have you got to be merry？You're poor．"

    "OK，then，"replied the nephew cheerfully．"What reason have you got to be sad？You are rich．Don't be angry，Uncle!"said his nephew．

    "What else can I be？"answered the uncle，"I live in a world of fools!Merry Christmas!What's Christmas time to you？It's a time for paying bills without money？!It's a time for finding yourself a year older，but not richer．

    Everyone who goes around saying 'Merry Christmas' should have his tongue cut out．Yes，he should!"

    "Uncle!Please don't say that!"said the nephew．"I've always thought of Christmas time as a good time，a kind，and a charitable（慈善的）and happy time．And so，Uncle，Christmas has never put any gold or silver in my pocket，but I think it has done me good．And it will do me good．I'm sure．"

    Bob，standing in the corner of the room，applauded．He realized his mistake very soon，and went quickly back to his work，but Scrooge had heard him．

    "One more sound from you，Bob Cratchit，"said Scrooge，"and you'll celebrate Christmas by losing your job!"

    "Don't be angry with him，Uncle．Come and have dinner with us tomorrow．"said Scrooge's newphew．

    "No．"said Scrooge．

I'm sorry you don't want to celebrate Christmas．But I do．So a Merry Christmas，Uncle!"

    "Good afternoon!"said Scrooge．

    "And a Happy New Year!"said his nephew．

    "Good afternoon!"said Scrooge again．

    His nephew left the room．He stopped to wish Bob a Merry Christmas．And Bob replied，"A  Merry Christmas to you，too．"

    One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet .He held a sign which said, "I am blind. Please help me."

    There were only a few coins(硬币) in the hat. A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words.

    Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and ask, "Are you the one who changed my sign in the morning? What did you write?"

    The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said, but in a different way."

    What he had written was, "Today is a beautiful day, but I can't see it."

    Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

    Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.

    The first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.

    The first is: Treasure(珍惜) what you have. Someone else has less. Try your best to help those who need your help.

    The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way.

    On March 14, one of science's brightest stars went dark, Stephen Hawking, the world-famous British scientist, died at 76 in Cambridge, UK.

    Hawking is considered by many to be the greatest scientist in history since Albert Einstein. He came up with the theory that the universe began with the Big bang and will end in black holes. His theories became the base for a lot of later research. He also wrote books to help common people understand the universe. His most famous book is A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 1o million copies around the world, according to CNN. Besides his scientific achievements, Hawking was also someone who had a strong will. when he was 21, he got a serious illness that stopped him from walking and talking Later in life, he had to sit in a wheelchair and speak using a computerized voice. But this didn't stop him from living a meaningful and colorful life

    He celebrated his 60th birthday by going up in a hot-air balloon; when he was 65, he took part in a zero-gravity (=Ee flight to experience weightlessness. He hoped to travel into space one day. In 2015, Hawking spoke about how he felt life was unfair when he first knew about his illness. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life, he said

    Reading Oliver James' Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears. "I have to take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it, "she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following day I ask her how the test went and she just says "OK, I got a nine".

    "Wow. Well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"

    According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."

    I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system (体制) of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.

    For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.

    This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon.  Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.

    As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感)is needed in geometry(几何学)just as much as in poetry", and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them.