Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important discovery: giving away makes life much more exciting. You need not worry if you lack money.

    This is how I experimented with giving away. If an idea for improving the window display of a neighborhood store flashes to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the storekeeper. One discovery I made about giving away is that it is almost impossible to give away anything in this world without getting something back, though the return often comes in an unexpected form.

    One Sunday morning, the local post office delivered an important special delivery letter to my home, though it was addressed to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation. More than a year later I needed a post office box for a new business I was starting. I was told at the window that there were no boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long waiting list. As I was about to leave, the postmaster appeared in the doorway. He had overheard(无意中听到) our conversation. “Wasn't it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home？” I said yes. “Well, you certainly are going to have a box in this post office if we have to make one for you. You don't know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get nothing but complaints.”

    Science has a lot of uses. It can uncover laws of nature, cure diseases, make bombs, and help bridges to stand up. Indeed science is so good at what it does that there's always a temptation(诱惑) to drag it into problems where it may not be helpful. David Brooks, author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, appears to be the latest in a long line of writers who have failed to resist the temptation.

    Brooks gained fame for several books. His latest book The Social Animal, however, is more ambitious and serious than his earlier books. It is an attempt to deal with a set of weighty topics. The book focuses on big questions: What has science revealed about human nature? What are the sources of character? And why are some people happy and successful while others aren't?

    To answer these questions, Brooks surveys a wide range of disciplines（学科）.Considering this, you might expect the book to be a dry recitation of facts. But Brooks has structured his book in an unorthodox(非常规的), and perhaps unfortunate, way. Instead of introducing scientific theories, he tells a story, within which he tries to make his points, perhaps in order to keep the reader's attention. So as Harold and Erica, the hero and heroine in his story, live through childhood, we hear about the science of child development and as they begin to date we hear about the theory of sexual attraction. Brooks carries this through to the death of one of his characters.

    On the whole, Brooks's story is acceptable if uninspired. As one would expect, his writing is mostly clear and, to be fair, some chapters stand out above the rest. I enjoyed, for instance, the chapter in which Harold discovers how to think on his own. While Harold and Erica are certainly not strong or memorable characters, the more serious problems with The Social Animal lie elsewhere. These problems partly involve Brooks's attempt to translate his tale into science.

Evolution.

In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five fays off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride (搭便车).

I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心)me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.

Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.

After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.” I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.

    In the fall of 1959, Freed suffered a bad reputation for rumors of bribery (贿赂行为), and his troubles were too strong to be resisted. When WABC asked Freed to sign a statement swearing that he had never taken bribes, he refused and was fired. Although he later signed such a statement for WNEW-TV, he lost his television show as well.

    Finding himself unwelcome in New York, Freed fled to the West Coast, where he managed to land a daytime disc jockey (流行音乐播音员) job at KDAY in Los Angeles in 1960. Legal problems continued to bother him, though, and he was charged with taking bribes of more than $30,000 from a number of record companies. Publicly, Freed denied that he had ever accepted direct bribes, although he acknowledged that he had accepted gifts from record companies, but only for playing records that he was certain would become hits anyway. After a short time at KDAY, he left when the station management refused to let him promote his live rock ‘n' roll shows. He returned to New York, but not as a broadcaster. At the height of the great enthusiasm for the twist dance, he hosted a Manhattan twist revue (时事讽刺剧), but when this enthusiasm cooled, he found a disc jockey job at WQAM in Miami in 1962. During this difficult period, Freed began drinking heavily and lost his job in Miami after only two months. In December of 1962 he was found guilty in New York of two charges of commercial bribery and was given a six-month sentence and fined $300. This effectively ended his career.

    Freed spent the last years of his life in Palm Springs, California. Although he had redefined what it meant to be a disc jockey and named the music that had become an anthem (圣歌) for the world's youth, he was a disgraced (耻辱的) and broken man, no longer able to work in the business he loved. On January 20, 1965, he died in a hospital in Palm Springs.

    Looking back on the first twenty years of my life, I feel grateful to have been so healthy and happy. For my happiness, I am grateful to so many people and lucky events, but what have guided me and supported me in my life are my physical health, healthy finances, and my family's happiness.

    Health comes first for me, because without health everything else is meaningless. Imagine starting a career without good health. Imagine starting a family without good health. Imagine achieving anything without good health. Clearly, good health is the first necessary for other part of one's life.

    Good health is not enough to be happy. We still need to have money in today's society. Money obviously pays for basic needs of life — food, housing, clothing — but it is also necessary for other reason like the quality of our education and medical care.

    Next comes the most important thing in having a happy life — our family. It provides the love, joy and support that everybody needs. I love my family with all my heart. I get pleasure from their pleasure. I suffer when they suffer. My family helped me get through the hard times of entrance exams. They comforted and advised me when I had misunderstanding with my friends. More importantly, they have been there to share in my successes in the past twenty years. In summary, all these are what I need and want in this world. As long as I stay healthy, earn enough money, and share both good times and bad times with my family, I will always be the happiest girl in the world.

Since ancient times, people have enjoyed themselves at the theatre. Here are two historical theatres, one in the East and one in the West.

The Deheyuan Grand Theatre, located in the Summer Palace in Beiing, was built in the Qing Dynasty. It is regarded as the place {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Peking Opera developed into its current form. The theatre has three floors — the Fu stage, the Lu stage and the Shou stage, symbolizing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (happy), prosperity and longevity. The stages have special doors for actors {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (jump) out of the floor, and equipment to help them fly through the air. A well and five ponds under the Shou stage {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) in water scenes and also to increase sound effects. Today, visitors {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the Deheyuan theatre are still amazed by its structure {#blank#}6{#/blank#} beautiful paintings.

The first Globe Theatre was created by a group of actors, one of whom was William Shakespeare. It opened in London in 1599 and became {#blank#}7{#/blank#} huge success until it burnt down in a fire in 1613. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (stand) by the River Thames, the Globe Theatre we see today has three main elements: a blue roof painted with stars, the stage itself and a {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hide) door in the floor.

If you are a fan of William Shakespeare, you must come to the Globe to see a play. As Shakespeare {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (he) said, "All the world's a stage."