RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY

    When I arrived in Hamburg Germany, my colleague who worked there arranged a welcome party for me in a 1. We noticed a few customers including several old ladies, were having their meal. When a dish is  2, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would 3every bit of the food on their plates.

    As I was hungry, my local colleague 4much food for me. Since there were other things to do, we did not  5 much time dining. When we planned to leave, there was still about one third of  6food left. When we were leaving the restaurant, we 7someone calling us. When the old ladies spoke to us in English, we understood that they were 8about us wasting so much food.

    “We  9for our food; it is none of your  10no matter how much food we left behind”, my colleague told the old ladies. They got angry, and one of them  11made a call to someone. After a while, an officer in  12arrived. Upon finding what had happened, he issued us a 50-euro  13. The officer told us in a stern（严厉的）voice: “order 14 you can consume. Money is yours, 15the resources belong to the society. You have no  16 for wasting them.” Our face turned red.

    We all agreed with him in our 17. My colleague took out a 50-euro note and repeatedly  18to the officer.

    My colleague copied the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. We all 19it to remind us that we should never be 20.

    Whatever misfortune you face, just hold up your head and face it with a smile! I got to know this from a musical soul.

    The other day I was feeling quite 1, having just been laid off from my job. With so many 2 to pay, I was wondering what was going to happen to my family.

    I got off the bus when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the 3. I walked a bit slower, trying to find out where it was coming from. Through the 4 I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a box next to her.

    She was sin ging songs about love and her sweet voice 5 me a bit. Then I stood there watching her playing, thinking that it must take 6 to perform on her own in front of hundreds of people she didn't know.

    She might have felt my 7 for she occasionally looked in my direction.

    By now I was telling myself that I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked 8and put some money in her box and she expressed her thanks with a smile on her face.

    I asked her 9, “Why are you playing the piano in the middle of this crowded place?”

    She explained to me that she sees so many 10 people in the world that she is trying to relieve the pain by 11 motivational (激励的) music.

    Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, “I have been going through a 12 time lately, but you've made me  13 again.”

     “I'm happy that I could be 14 to you,” she replied. “Why are you so sad?”

    I told her my story and said, “I'm not so 15 about what to do….”

     “You see, here's the 16,” she responded. “When you were walking, your head was down.” She looked me in the eyes and went on, “Don't look defeated, because 17 comes in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should   18 more … lift your head up.”

    I was really 19 by what she said! I did hold my head up and soon got through the difficult time.

    So 20 in trouble, just face it bravely and you are sure to overcome your difficulty sooner or later.

Double Trouble

    When I was eight, I wanted a toy and needed $10 to buy it. But, as usual, I was broken. I decided to ask my 11-year-old sister, Kathleen, for a loan. I went to her room1her for the cash. Laughing, she agreed to2me the money, but added, “I will charge you 10 percent compound interest every 3until you pay me back.”

    “Compound interest what's that?” I asked.

    “Well, interest is what you call the4money borrowers have to pay back on a loan,” she explained. “Compound interest means that the interest payments get bigger and bigger the5you take to pay back the loan. To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month. If you wait two months to pay me back, your6will grow from $10 to $11. So I'll be charging you interest on $11. Then I will add that interest to the $11 you already owe me, for a 7of $12.10. That's what you'll owe after two months.”

    “Sure. I get it,” I said. Though truthfully, I was getting 8

Kathleen lent me the money, and I bought the toy. My birthday came a month later, and my mom gave me $10.9that was just the amount I needed to buy another toy I wanted10I put off paying my sister for a month. After another month, I11about the loan.

    Several months later, on Christmas morning, my sister and I each found a $02 bill in our stockings. I was just putting it into my pocket 12Kathleen tapped me on the shoulder.

    “Sorry, kiddo. That's mine. I'm13on your debt.”

    “Huh?” Then I remembered the loan. “Hey! How can it be that much? I 14borrowed $10.”

    “True,” she said, “but interest has been compounding for eight months. Now you 15me $21.43.” She paused, then added. “You can pay me the $1.43.”

    I 16to believe that a $10 loan could more than double so quickly. Much to my17my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all added up.

    My head18as I tried to keep track of Kathleen's 19 but this time, I got the basic idea of compound interest. I 20the hard way that borrowing money can be “double trouble” in no time.

    Jim and his sister May walked in the street, and then they noticed a pet store. It was a very small pet store that didn't have many 1. The owner of the shop, Mr Smith, greeted Jim and May when they 2. May said, "We would like to buy a dog." "Ah, well, our shop is not very 3," Mr Smith told her. "So we only have two dogs to choose 4."

    They asked Mr Smith to 5 them the dogs. Mr Smith took them to see the two dogs. One was a big Bulldog named Buster. The other was a tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. May wanted Teacup, 6 Jim wanted Buster. They walked outside to 7. They couldn't agree 8 a dog. May 9 they race home for it. The one who won the race could choose the dog.

    Jim agreed, and then told May her shoelace was loose. When May 10. he ran off to get a head start. Jim ran as 11 as he could because he really wanted that Bulldog. When he looked back, he found May was so 12 behind that he couldn't even see her. Jim finally got home. He was 13 but happy. He knew he was the 14. May arrived a few minutes later. She congratulated him and they 15 the pet store together. However, when they arrived they 16 saw Teacup. They asked Mr Smith where Buster was.

    Mr Smith gave them a(n) 17 that a few minutes after May and Jim left, two boys walked in and bought the Bulldog.

    Jim looked at May, and she held 18 a smile. Jim 19 and turned back to Mr Smith. "Sometimes you win the 20, but not the prize!" Jim smiled sadly. "We'll take the Chihuahua, please."

I often wondered what it would be like to have cancer.

I didn't expect to find out, though, at last not for decades. I have always been healthy and strong; I regularly do hot yoga and swim two kilometers in a bay near my home in Sydney.

But now I know: it felt as if I was carrying a baby. Tumors (肿瘤) that silently grew inside me suddenly became bigger one weekend.

Then, one Saturday in June, I was struck with sharp pain and ended up in the hospital.

My doctor said it might be very serious. I spent two weeks waiting for the operation, not knowing if I'd live to the end of the year.

In the days before the operation, I turned off my phone and computer. I prayed so hard that I grew unnaturally calm.

The operation lasted five hours. The mass was fully removed, but it was unexpectedly complicated. I was in special care for eight days, in the wires, machines, with pipes in my lungs and liver.

Luckily, the operation was very successful and I am slowly growing stronger. I am walking upright again and waking without great pain. I can now drive, and am preparing to return to work. My prognosis (预后) is good, but I will need to live with the fear of return.

Everyone suddenly seems consumed with foolish worries. I have a different idea about the complaints posted by some Internet users who had the flu, were upset by the upcoming exams or burdened by work. I want to scream: BUT YOU ARE ALIVE! Alive! Each day is a gift, especially if you are upright and able to move with ease, without pain.

I'm still struggling with what all of this means. But in this short time, a truth became even clearer to me.

We should not have to move to the woods like Henry David Thoreau to "live meaningfully". It would be impossible and frankly tiring to live each day as if it were your last. My doctor asked me a few days ago how I became so calm before the operation. I told her: I prayed; I locked out negativity and drew my family and friends near; I tried to live meaningfully.

She said, "Actually you should do that for the rest of your life."

Richard Browning has been attracted by flight ever since his father took him into the hills to fly gliders (滑翔机). He has certainly been an adventurer. Richard took it upon himself to develop his own jet suit and began to experiment with some of his friends. He made quick progress. In 2017, he felt confident enough to start a company called Gravity Industries that could make jet suits. It took 15 months to develop the very first one. 

Five very small jet engines are built into the jet suit. These are powered by kerosene (煤油). Two engines are located on the pilot's arms and one is placed on the back. Each engine weighs less than two kilos and can produce22 kilos of thrust(推力). 

The pilot is able to control the direction and speed of the flight. He does this by small movements of the arms which require hours of practice. One wrong move and you could end up falling to the ground. 

Richard is not only in charge of his company; he is also the chief test pilot. He has spent hours and hours perfecting the correct moves to create a perfect flight. He was able to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in 2017 when he became the fastest man in a jet suit and flew at 51 kilometres per hour. Since then, he has presented his jet suit at 60 events in 20 different countries around the world. More recently, he flew alongside Brighton Pier on the south coast of England at 136 kilometres per hour! 

The objective of Richard's company has been to build a suit which members of the public can buy. The first went on sale in a department store in 2018 for f 340, 000. If you want to jet around your own hometown, it's time to start saving—or to work for Richard Browning.