One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).

    On September 11th, 1958, mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my arms, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honor! I became four years old a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told stories. I told it again and again how much I loved it!

    One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept(哭泣) and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard mum and dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”and “dying”, and all these words sounded ominous.

    Christmas was coming. “Don't expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living rooms. “If your baby brother lives, that'll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I had never seen him cry before.

    The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He's all right?”He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”

    “Thank God!” I heard mum cry.

    From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty：they were filled with love!

    In today's Internet age, the demand for online games continues to grow. Online computer game centers exist in many cities and towns throughout Asia. Facing the pressures of school and life, people turn to the virtual world, expecting a diversion from these problems. Too often, however, they can lead to problems and unhealthy addictions.

    This is most clearly seen in the example of South Korea. The country has the world's highest percentage of high-speed Internet services. It also has a high number of online game players and related problems. In 2013, a young man collapsed and died while playing online games. He had been playing almost nonstop for 86 hours at an Internet cafe. Another young man killed his sister after becoming confused between the online world and real life. A 12-year-old boy stole US $ 16,000 from his father and ran away from home. He did this to continue his obsession with an online game. Such problems, however, don't just happen in South Korea. They are spreading to other parts of Asia, as well.

    What kinds of people develop online game addiction? What does the problem look like? Dr. SueHuei Chen, a clinical psychologist, researches Internet addiction. She discovered some signs of at-risk individuals such as lack friendships and good social skills. Those problem individuals feel it so compulsive to play online games that they could sacrifice things such as school or family. They feel the need to spend more and more time online. And they become upset if anyone tries to limit their online game playing.

    How many problem game players are there? In mainland China, the potential number of problem online gamers is alarming. In 2014, the China Daily reported that China had 13.8 million online game players. Furthermore, it stated that 80 percent of these were under 25 and had signs of addiction. Such numbers point toward a growing problem among Chinese youth.

Make sure to keep control over your online game playing. If you don't control it, it can get control of you.

    Our world natural park is one of the most famous parks in the world. Millions of visitors from different countries visit this park every year. In order to protect it, please do as follows：

    Protect the natural and cultural heritage. Don't damage or deface any buildings, displays and other facilities. Take care of all plants. Put rubbish in the bins provided.

    Take care when you are going up and down steps or stairs and when you are walking nearby the waters.

    Please buy tickets before entering the scenic spot. One ticket is only for one person. Adult：＄60 per ticket. Children over 6 and under 18, half price. People over 60 and children under 6 are free.

    If you are going into the wooded and hilly lands, for your own safety, please go with three people at least and don't take any tinder(易燃物）along with you. The hill is steep so please take care of yourself.

    This scenic spot is the reserve of water source: No fishing, swimming, washing and any behaviors that are harmful to the water source. Meanwhile, please follow the management rules of the scenic spot conscientiously.

    Opening time：From Monday to Friday, 8：00 a. m.～18：00 p.m.；From Saturday to Sunday, 6：00 am.一24：00 p. m.

    Small animals such as rabbits, peacocks, squirrels, frogs must be taken care of: None of them shall be killed.

    If you have any trouble in visiting our world natural park, please call 477-866-7044. Our staff will do our best to help you.

    It's really true what people say about English politeness: it's everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say "sorry". When getting off a bus, English passengers say "thank you" rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes inevitable, and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting with people.

    People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be unusual to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans.

    Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men.

    If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go? That's the question that changed my life forever.

    At the age of 19, I became a massage therapist(治疗师). For the first time in my life, I felt free, independent and completely in control of my life. That is, until my life took a detour. I was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Over the course of two months, I lost my spleen(脾), my kidneys, and both of my legs below the knees.

    One day, I went home. I crawled into bed and this is what my life looked like for the next few months me passed out, escaping from reality, with my legs resting by my side. I was completely physically and emotionally broken. But I knew that in order to move forward, I had to let go of the old Amy and learn to embrace the new Amy. And that is when I began to realize that I didn't have to be small any more. I could be as tall as I wanted or as short as I wanted depending on whom I was dating. And if I snowboard again, my feet aren't going to get cold. And the best of all, I thought, I can make my feet the size of all the shoes that are on the sales shelf. And I did!

    I started snowboarding. Then I went back to work. And then I co-founded a non-profit organization for physical disabilities so that they could get involved in action sports. And just this past February, I won two World Cup gold medals, making me the highest-ranked adaptive female snowboarder in the world.

    Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs, I had no idea what to expect. But if you ask me today, if I would ever want to change my situation, I would have to say no, because my legs haven't disabled me. They've forced me to rely on my imagination and to believe in possibilities, and that's why I believe that our imaginations can be used as tools for breaking through borders, because in our minds, we can do anything and we can be anything. It's belief in those dreams and facing our fears directly that allow us to live our lives beyond our limits.

We all love to take photographs. It's a simple way to snap a special moment, an amazing view, or just to show off your artistic skills. And it's great to look back through your photo albums and share memories with your friends. In fact, they show a snapshot (快照)in time. This hasn't really changed since the invention of photography in the 1830s. But one thing that has changed is the equipment we use.

For many years, we have used traditional cameras to take our pictures with. Our images were taken onto camera film which was then processed into negatives from which photos were printed— a lengthy process. And we've had a range of cameras to choose from— from the simple compact camera to more advanced single lens reflex, or SLR cameras.

But the biggest change has come with the development of digital devices. This has made taking photo quicker and easier. It's enabled us to take a snap and review our pictures instantly. We've been able to deal with them in post-production, using software on our computer. And of course, we've been able to share them like never before— particularly on social media.

Of course, now we have the smartphone— a phone that is, well, smart because it can take photos and sometimes very good quality ones, and we can share them easily. So does that mean the traditional camera will eventually become outdated? Figures from Japan show how the market is shrinking: shipments of compact digital cameras from companies like Olympus, Canon and Nikon were down 39 percent year on year.

But Phil Hall, editor of Tech Radar magazine, told the BBC that while people are swapping their compact cameras for smartphones, "manufacturers are looking at the more higher-end cameras, high-end compacts, DSLRs, which are the ones you can attach lenses to, mirrorless cameras. In this sense, there's nothing to worry about. "