A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

    A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pock et and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would 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(听出) his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this 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; I can not see it."

    Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply sign the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective (有效的)?

    Mr. Smith works in an office . He's very busy and has no time to have a good rest . Every evening , when he comes back from his office , he's always tired and wants to go to bed early . But his wife often has a lot of interesting things to tell him after dinner . She doesn't stop talking before she goes to sleep .

    One day the man felt terrible and couldn't go to work . He decided to go to see a doctor . And Mrs. Smith went to the hospital with him . Before her husband asked the doctor what was wrong with him , the woman told the doctor all and the doctor understood why . He wrote out a prescription（处方）. And when Mrs. Smith brought the medicine（药物）to the doctor , the doctor said to her , “ The bottle of medicine is for your husband and the sleeping pills（药片）are for you . ” “ For me ? ” the woman said in surprise “ I'm fine . I don't need any medicine ! ” “ I don't think so , madam ” , said the doctor . “ They are sleeping pills . Your husband will soon be all right if you take them . ”

    Gareth Ellis, 13, is the youngest son of Alan, an engineer, and Kath, a teacher. His older brothers work in banking and computers, but Gareth's dream was always to become a clown(小丑).Three years ago, Alan, Kath and Gareth joined the circus(马戏团). People laugh when we tell them,' saysKath. 'But it's true. Gareth has wanted to be a clown since we took him to the circus when he was three.'

    When Alan lost his job, he and Kath decided to see if they could find full-time circus jobs. They both got jobs with a famous circus and Gareth began training to become a clown. He calls himself Bippo. They travel with the circus during the summer and return home for the winter. Gareth's brothers are old enough to look after the house while they are away.

    'I can't say it was easy,' says Kath. 'There was a lot to think about and organize. We only had a car and a very small caravan(大篷车)to sleep in, and we were leaving behind our lovely house. The only thing Gareth missed was his long, hot baths.'

    'People ask about my education,' says Gareth, 'but from the beginning, wherever we go, someone has always come to teach me. I follow the same books as everyone back at school and I've got a computer. I've never fallen behind my classmates.'

    And the future? 'It was a difficult decision,' says Kath, 'but there was no other way to teach Gareth about being a clown. I'm happy to say it's working, and we're enjoying it.' And Gareth? 'I'm going to be the main clown in a circus one day', he says, 'perhaps Bippo's circus.'

    I sat down to read under an old tree in the park. I felt my life was hopeless, I didn't take an interest in anything. I thought that my whole world was dark.

    A young boy ran up to me, out of breath. He stood right before me with his head down and said excitedly, "Look what I found!" in his hand was a flower, and what a poor sight! The flower was dry and dead. I gave him a small smile and then turned my eyes away so that he could take his dry flower and go off to play. I didn't want to talk with him at all.

However, he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and said in surprise, "It smells sweet and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it. Here, it's for you." The flower before me was dead. But I knew I must accept it, or he might never leave. So I accepted the flower, and replied, "This is just what I want, thank you." Just then, for the first time I noticed that the boy could not see — he was blind.

    Tears came down my face as I thanked him for picking the best one. "You're welcome." he smiled, and then ran off to play. I sat there and wondered how he was able to learn about my pain.

    Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all those years I myself had been blind. In fact I never found there is always something beautiful around me in life. I decided to see the beauty of life, and enjoy every second of my life. And then I held that dry flower up to my nose and breathed in the smell of a beautiful rose.

    "Can I see my son?" the happy new mother asked. She couldn't wait to open the swaddling(襁褓) clothes. But when she saw his tiny face, she was shocked! The boy had been born without ears.

    Although the boy's hearing was perfect, he was often laughed at because of his strange appearance. It was only his appearance a little bit different. One day, he rushed home from school and threw himself into his mother's arms, burst into tears, "A big boy called me a monster!" Sad tears flowed down the boy's face, also into the mother's heart.

    The boy's father asked a famous doctor for help, "Could nothing be done to help my son?" "I believe I could put a pair of ears on him if they could be found," answered the doctor. Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, "You are going to the hospital, son. Someone will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret." After the successful operation, a new person appeared! The boy's life became beautiful since then. The boy often asked his father, "Who gave me the ears, dad? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her." "It's a secret," answered his father quietly. The years kept their secret, but the day did come. It was the darkest day for the son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket棺材). Slowly and gently, the father raised the mother's long thick hair to show that the mother had no ears! "Mother said she was happy that she never had her hair cut," he said, "And nobody had ever thought Mother less beautiful than before, had they?" After mother had died, the boy finally knew the truth.

    National medals(奖章) and honorary titles(荣誉称号) are usually awarded once every five years. As part of the celebration of the 70th anniversary(周年) of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), President Xi Jinping awarded forty-two people the Medal of the Republic, the Friendship Medal and national honorary titles. They come from different backgrounds, including scientists, lawmakers, educators, artists, model workers and six non-Chinese people. All have made big contributions(贡献) to the nation's construction and development. Here are some of the people we'll know.

    Chinese scientist Tu Youyou is one of the eight who were awarded the Medal of the Republic. Tu, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize for her discovery of the malaria drug artemisinin (抗疟药物青蒿素), is the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She has saved millions of lives worldwide. She has also made important scientific innovations(创新) in traditional Chinese medicine.

    Tu is not the only one who has given her life to the country's development. Nan Rendong, before his death in 2017, led the research and development of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST, 500米口径球面射电望远镜), the world's largest radio telescope. He worked on the project for more than 20 years. His contributions to Chinese astronomy (天文) earned him the title, "the people's scientist".

    Also receiving awards are six foreign friends who have lent their hands to assist with China. Former French Prime Minister(总理) Jean-Pierre Raffarin, one member of the Friendship Medal, is a supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative(一带一路倡议). Having worked to strengthen the friendship between French and Chinese people in the past few years, he is "sincerely pleased" with the honor. "To work for this friendship is to work for peace," Raffarin said.

    Thanks to the great efforts made by these great people, we can live in a peaceful country.