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    O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison（监狱）. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales（故事）were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader's surprise.

    One day I got in a taxi, and we left for the airport. We were driving in the right lane(车道)when, suddenly, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver stopped his car at once. The tire(轮胎)made a very loud noise, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the back of the other car.

    I was frightened. But then I couldn't believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, turned his head and started yelling at us. I couldn't believe it！But my taxi driver just smiled at the guy. So I asked, "Why did you just do that？This guy almost sent us to hospital."

    This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call“The Law of the Rubbish Truck(垃圾车法则)".He explained that many people are like rubbish trucks. They run around full of rubbish, full of anger and full of bad feelings. As their rubbish piles up, they look for a place to throw it away and sometimes they'll throw it at you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their rubbish and spread it to other people at work, at home or in the streets.

    Successful people never let rubbish trucks change their moods. Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love those who love you and pray(祈祷)for those who don't.

Rick and his 70-year-old mother lived together in a town. Rick preferred {#blank#}1{#/blank#} when he was young. Influenced by Rick, his mother loved cookies too. So Rick often {#blank#}2{#/blank#} her different ones after work. 

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Rick's mother got older, Rick had to send her to the nursing home far from his house because of Alzheimer's disease (阿尔茨海默病). His mother started to forget his name and her health condition was worse {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. She often asked, "Who are you?" Rick told her he was her son {#blank#}5{#/blank#} and again. She called his name happily and reached for his hands. 

One day, Rick saw a shop on his way to the nursing {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. So he bought some cookies as before. After his mother ate them, she {#blank#}7{#/blank#} down and rested. Rick sat close to the bed. His mother held his hands and fell asleep {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a smile. 

Rick looked at his sleeping mother and recalled his childhood. His mother used to buy him cookies and he always enjoyed the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} just like his mother now. What sweet memories! Rick hugged his mom and told her {#blank#}10{#/blank#} much he loved her. 

Rick's mother passed away 3 months later. Rick would never forget her smile. It was {#blank#}11{#/blank#} a beautiful moment.

Now the Internet has become an important part of our lives. What do you do on the Web? Here are some interesting and useful websites for you.

"Are you listening, Simon? " Simon's teacher asked. It was a pretty usual question. Simon shook his head, smiling. He hardly listened or tried hard in class. Talking was so much fun. He wanted to be heard rather than listen.

"Listen, and you' ll learn something." Mrs. Jacobs tried every day, but Simon never paid attention.

 That evening, his throat really hurt. The next morning, when he opened his mouth to say"Good morning", nothing came out but a croak(低沉而沙哑的声音).

 Simon's mother looked at him. "Honey, you' ve lost your voice "

"Can I stay home?" He tried to ask, but words didn't come out. Instead, his mother checked him for a fever and decided it was good for him to go to school, even if he couldn't talk.

 When he got to school, Mrs. Jacobs said"Hello" to him, and he just nodded. When his friends asked him what TV shows he watched last night, he just shrugged(耸肩). By the time the bell rang for class, almost everyone was looking at him as if he'd grown a third eye.

 Penny raised her hand. "Mrs Jacobs, why isn't Simon talking?"

"He never stops talking," Richard said worriedly. Everyone started talking at once. They were excited, worried, and surprised.

 Simon sat in class, bored. He watched them talk to each other as if the teacher wasn't there, but he couldn't even do that. In math class he could hold up fingers if the answer was less than 10, but that wasn't fun. He decided to try to pay attention.

 He could do his homework that night. It gave him TV and game time with his work all done.

 The next day, even though his voice was coming back, he stayed quiet again. The third day, he could talk fine, but he listened and raised his hand to speak.

 What a difference that one day made!

You want to live a happier life? Try laughing for no reason. That's how many people start their day at Laughter Yoga (瑜伽) Clubs around the world, and many doctors now think that having a good laugh might be one of the best ways to stay healthy.

The first Laughter Yoga Club was started in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria. "Young children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day," says Dr. Kataria."Everyone is naturally good at laughing. We want people to feel happy with their lives."

A study at the UCLA School of Medicine in California shows that laughter reduces stress (减缓压力) and is very good for the heart. Laughter Yoga is used in many hospitals for the illness treatment and it is also practiced in schools, factories and old people's homes.

So what is Laughter Yoga? I went to my nearest Laughter Yoga Club to find out. I was quite nervous about it, I didn't like the idea of laughing with others. First, our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands and say, "Ho ho ho, ha ha ha." He said our bodies can't tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter, so they both work. After ten minutes everybody in the room was laughing for real! We did different kinds of laughter exercises and finally I was surprised by how relaxed I felt.

So if you're sad about something, just start laughing. As Dr. Kataria says, "When you laugh, you change, and when you change, the world around you changes."