At the age of nineteen, Xiliu married Gao Sheng, who had just lost his wife and had a son named Changfu. A year later Xiliu gave birth to a boy Changhu. Before long, Gao Sheng died of illness.

Seeing Changfu didn't often go to school, Xiliu sent him to work with the poor boys as punishment. Changfu could not stand and wanted to return to school. Xiliu refused, and Changfu, like a beggar (乞丐)， huddled(蜷缩) himself up with cold. Xiliu said to Changfu, "If you are ready to take a beating of 100 strokes, I'll take you back." Changfu decided that he would take the beating. Aware of Changfu's regrets for his mistakes, Xiliu did not beat him and asked him to continue his studies.

      Changhu was a slow-minded child, so Xiliu asked him to quit school and work in the fields.

      But Changhu was so lazy that he often ran away from work. Xiliu then asked him to do business, but he used up all his money in gambling(赌博)． At last, Xiliu sent him to Luoyang to sell goods, where he was put into prison for using fake (假的) silver. In prison he suffered a lot. Xiliu told Changfu, "I gave the fake silver to your brother on purpose, intending to make him suffer. Now you go and get him out." Back home, Changhu knelt before his mother and finally gave up bad and returned to good.

    Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

    My mother died ten years after I was married. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

    Home Alone is a very funny 1990 American film. It tells us a boy who is left at home alone by accident.

    One night before Christmas, McAlister family meet at their house. They are planning to fly to Paris for the holiday and are busy getting ready. Eight-year-old Kevin is the youngest child and he is fighting with his brothers, sisters and cousins. When he goes to bed, he is so angry that he wishes all his family would go away. In the morning, everyone wakes up very late. They are all in hurry to get to the airport, so they forget Kevin and he is left alone at home.

Although Kevin is alone, he is very happy at first. His terrible family have gone—his wish has come true. He watches TV, eats lots of fast food and play games. He has a good time. But later on, he goes out and hears two bad men called Harry and Lary. Many things in the house get broken as Kevin tries to stop them. Finally, the police come and the men are taken away.

    The house is now in a mess, so Kevin tidies it up and waits for his parents. They get back from Paris and are very happy to find that Kevin is safe.

    When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist and loved to go on long walks to find stones to add to his collection at the university. More often than not, we followed him.

    One day, we left early and this time, our uncle gave us two backpacks. "You can help me carry the samples（样本）," he explained.

    Sure, why not? The whole day, we walked around the countryside, and every now and then, our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised that sometimes he also took some stones out from our bags, but thought he had just found better samples.

    We reached the house in the late afternoon. The backpacks were so heavy that we were really tired out when we put them on the ground. Yet our uncle's backpack was half-empty.

    "Why did you give us so many stones?" we asked. "I didn't. You did, "he said, waiting for a while before continuing." You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude（态度） test today."

    "What do you mean an attitude test?" we wanted to know.

    "It is something someone once did to me. You see, I listened to every word you said. And whenever you complained（抱怨） about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something in an attitude of positive thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks." We did. They were full. "I hope you remember this little attitude test. You see, your negative（负面的） thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones in a backpack. The more negative thoughts you have, the heavier your mind is. So look at those bags and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things."

    This little lesson was one of the most important I ever had. And I remember my uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life-the power of attitude.

    Steven is six years old. He gets some money from his mother every week. He buys a lot of things from the shops, but he doesn't really need them, and he puts them everywhere. One day his mother gives him a notebook and says, "Now, Steven, when you buy things, write their names down in the notebook, and also write down how much they are. Then you can look at it again when your money is all gone (花光了), and you don't waste (浪费) so much money next time."

    After a week, Steven says to his mother, "Do you know, Mum, before I spend (花) any money now, I really stop and think!" His mother is very happy and thinks, "Well, my son knows the value (价值) of money now. "But then she hears him say, "Mum, before I buy something, I always ask myself, 'Can I spell (拼写) that word and put it down in my notebook?'"