Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram(电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.

He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine, clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

    He found a taxi and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel. Of course, the driver of the taxi did not know, either.

    So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office." 

    I was 10 the year my cousin Marley's parents gave her a painful Christmas surprise: they were getting a divorce(离婚). My aunt went to California, but my uncle decided to get her back. There was one matter: where to put his young daughter. Luckily, my mother loved Marley, giving her more attention than her family ever did.

    On that Christmas Eve, my cousin arrived on our doorstep carrying an old blue suitcase. Before she stepped inside, Marley said, “It doesn't matter. When my parents come back, we'll have a bigger Christmas than this.”

    Late on the night Marley arrived, my mom came into my room, her arms filled with packages.I knew they were my Christmas presents. “I know how you love surprises but we have to decide which ones to give to Marley.”

    My mother carefully opened the gifts. Wow! I saw ice skates, red leather gloves and a dollhouse. The last present was the music box we'd asked the lady at the local store to take down and play for us over and over again.

    “Which ones?” my mother asked. “She can have the ice skates,” I said reluctantly(勉强地). “That's good,” my mother said. She began to tape the packages up again. Then she stopped and asked, “Are you sure about these?” At that moment, I realized she expected more from me than I had already given. So I gave her the music box, too, and ___________. The next morning, Marley's eyes were resolute(坚定的). She expected nothing and wanted us to know she didn't care. But when she saw her name on the biggest box, she couldn't hide her excitement. I thought my happiness would be cut in half. Instead it was doubled.

    Over the last 40 years, Marley and I have grown apart(分离的). But the love we felt for each other that day still remains. Today Marley says, “They were the best presents I ever got.

    There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it. A Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were resting their arms on it, and talking over its head. "Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse, "thought Alice;" only, as it's asleep, I believe it doesn't mind."

    The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. "No room! No room!" they cried out when they saw Alice coming. "There's plenty of room!" said Alice angrily, and she sat down in a large armchair at one end of the table.

    "Have some wine, "the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

    Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. "I don't see any wine, "she said.

    "There isn't any, "said the March Hare.

    "Then it was impolite of you not to offer it, "said Alice angrily.

    "It wasn't very civil of you to take your seat without invitation, "said the March Hare.

    "I didn't know it was your table, "said Alice;" it's laid for a great many more than three."

    "Your hair wants cutting, "said the Hatter. He had been watching Alice for some time.

    "You should learn not to give your personal ideas, "Alice said seriously;" it's very rude."

    The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, "Why is a raven(乌鸦) like a writing-desk?"

    "Come, we shall have some fun now!" said Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles(谜语). I believe I can guess that, "she said loudly.

    "Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the March Hare.

    "Exactly so, "said Alice.

    "Then you should say what you mean, "the March Hare went on.

    "I do, "Alice quickly replied;" at least-at least I mean what I say-that's the same thing, you know. "

    …

    Finally, they all began to laugh at Alice.

——From Alice in Wonderland

    A father and his son went to a kite-flying festival. The son was full of joy when he saw the sky filled with colorful kites. He wanted to fly a kite, too. The father then bought a kite for him.

    The son started to fly the kite. Soon, his kite was high up in the sky. After a while, he said, "Father, it seems that the string (线) is stopping the kite from flying higher. If we cut it, the kite will be free and fly even higher. Can we cut it?" The father cut the string. The kite started to go higher. This made the little boy happy.

    But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And finally it fell to the ground. The son was surprised to see this. He asked his father, "I thought that after cutting the string, the kite would fly higher. Why did it fall down?"

    The father explained, "The string was not stopping the kite from going higher, but was helping it stay in the sky. You helped the kite go up in the right direction using the string. But when you cut the string, it could no longer support the kite."

    Sometimes, we may feel like there are certain things that are holding us back (阻碍) and stopping us growing. But in fact, these might be the things that support us the most.

    One day, 100 people were attending a speech. The speaker was making a speech about happiness. However, after a few hours, people began to lose their attention. The speaker thought of an idea. He stopped his speech and asked all of the people to take part in a group activity.

    He gave each person a balloon in the room. Each person was asked to write his or her name on the balloon with a black marker (记号笔). Then, all of the balloons were collected and moved to another room.

The 100 people were then let into the room and told to find the balloon with their own name

    Everyone rushed around, crazily searching for their own balloon. People were bumping into and tripping (绊倒) over each other.

But after about five minutes of searching, no one could find their own balloon.

    After seeing this, the speaker asked each person to collect a balloon and try to find the person, whose name was written on it. Everyone started talking to each other and asking each other for their name. In just a few minutes, everyone had his or her own balloon.

    "Can you see what happened?" the speaker said. "The balloons are like the happiness we look for in our own lives. Everyone is busy looking for their own happiness, not caring what happens to others. But sometimes the best way to find happiness is to help others. Help them find happiness and you can find your own."

    Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890) killed himself by shooting himself in the chest(胸膛).

    This is what van Gogh himself told his brother, the doctors and the police just before he died.

    However, in a new book Van Gogh: The Life, two Pulitzer (普利策奖) Prize-winning authors, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, argue that van Gogh may have been murdered. They believed that the artist was protecting a 16-year-old boy named Rene Secret, who shot him accidentally.

    Van Gogh's statement that he shot himself was accepted because he had been mentally unstable(精神状况不稳的) for two years. He suffered from psychotic(精神病的) attacks and imagined things that were not really happening. Art critics (评论家) believe that his unstable mental state is shown in his work, describing his style of painting as shaken. Some of his most famous paintings, such as The Starry Night, were produced during this period.

    Van Gogh is among a number of creative minds who suffered from mental health problems. In fact, mental illness is so common among famous creative figures that scientists have studied whether there is link between creativity and insanity(精神错乱). Research began in the 1970s, but the idea that an unstable mind could be linked to creative genius(天才) was already around in ancient Greece.

    Some scientists believe mental illness, in its more manageable state, gives artists creativity. Research has found that doing creative activities can also be therapeutic(有疗效的) for people suffering from mental illness. Painting, writing, or making something can be a positive way for people to express their thoughts.