What is success? I am not going to try to explain success. I think a precise meaning is impossible! Is it winning a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games or winning Wimbledon, or being awarded a Nobel Prize? What else? I believe personal success could be anything at all- it does not have to involve public recognition. Who is more successful? A millionaire who is unhappy, or an unnoticed person, who has led a simple, quiet, sincere and happy life? The simplest definition of success, I think, is “to set out to do something and to succeed in doing it.

    The first step on the road to success starts with belief. Believe you can succeed and you will. Achieving success in whatever endeavor(努力)you choose may be the goal of life; because it gives you freedom from worry. Could that be?

    Success means different things to every one of us. Some people believe it is measured in financial term; others believe it is helping others rather than helping themselves. However, most people are motivated to a great extend by public recognition. How many people are really happy? How many people are really doing what they want to with their lives? Incidentally, to imagine makes us different from animals.

    Most important of all, I believe success is a matter of personal growth. If every day you are developing or growing just a millimeter, I believe one is successful. Just being a slightly better person each day for me is success. I've got a very long way to go them!

    Finally, always remember success is a process and is not simply a matter of arriving at a destination. It's the journey that really matters. Success is what you become in the often very difficult and dangerous journey down the river of life.

    These days, more and more Chinese people enjoy sending and receiving messages on the phone. It can help them to get the latest news and communicate with friends. But I think I should read more books besides the textbooks, the more, the better. It can open my eyes and improve my language skills. Of course, it also can help me to get good grades. Do you know how to read more and learn more? Here are some tips for you.

    Clear your purpose for reading

    Before you start reading, ask yourself why you are reading this book. Most people read for two main reasons, pleasure or knowledge. Clearing about your reading purpose can not only help you choose the books you really need to read, but also remind you why reading the book is important to you, so you will keep reading and complete the book faster.

    Read only what you are interested in

    No matter what you are reading, it is important to enjoy what you read. Your friends may tell you the books they love, but those books might not necessarily be the ones you enjoy.

    Give up books that you don't enjoy

    You may have chosen books that you are interested in, and they are right to your purpose. But while you are reading them, there may still be some books that you don't enjoy reading. Whenever you realize that you aren't enjoying the book you are reading, give it up. Remember reading shouldn't be a chore (苦差事).

    Set a reading goal

    It is interesting that I read the books borrowed from libraries faster than those I bought. The reason is the books I bought don't have a due date! I don't need to return those books. Having a reading goal helps you work out how much reading you need to do in a week or even a day. Before you read each book, ask yourself what time you need to complete this book by.

    The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism(相对主义), are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

    History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries, Unique works of this kind are different from today's popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because" the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的) in human nature," the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

Teaching Poetry

    No poem should ever be discussed or "analyzed", until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.

    All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling "interpretation" of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching can not replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.

    I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than "analysing" it, if there isn't time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is "a criticism of life", and "a heightening of lief". It is "an approach to the truth of feeling", and it "can save your life". It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.

    I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don't like it should not be forced to communicate this to anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.

    Imagine being given the opportunity to wake up to lions, eat your meals with monkeys, and even share your bath with bears, all from the comfort of a unique new lodging experience. The Jamala Wildlife Lodge opened its doors in January 2015, which was set up in an effort to educate visitors about aiding the survival of many of the world's endangered species. "It's great for the animals; they're going to get more space. It's great for the viewing public; they're going to get more things to see. It will be great for tourism and just for the local community," said Richard Tindale, the owner and operator. Spreading across three locations in the National Zoo, the 18 rooms, which range from giraffe tree houses to jungle bungalows, offer a fantastic experience with wildlife.

    The Giraffe Treehouse

    The Giraffe Treehouse is set among the giraffe enclosures (围场), and the Jungle Bungalows are luxurious individual suites which are next to either lion, cheetah (猎豹), brown bear, or Malaysian sun bear enclosures.

    The Ushaka House

    Housing up to 26 people, the Ushaka House is built around the monkey enclosure and has a builtin aquarium which offers private views of some of the zoo's sharks.

    The Burley Griffin House

    Only meters from the edge of Lake Burley Griffin, the indoor and outdoor entertaining areas have splendid views across the lake to Black Mountain.

    The Shark House

    The Shark House has its own little jetty (码头) and it comes out over the shark tank here and so the people who stay in the room will be able to go to their bedroom and pat the shark.

    Location

    Located in the heart of Australia's political capital, the Jamala Wildlife Lodge at the National Zoo and Aquarium is just ten minutes from Canberra's central Business District.

Ken was my best friend for 30 years. I told him I would leave Chicago for Philadelphia to receive a new job there. "What do you mean you're leaving?" Ken asked angrily. "When did you interview for a job in another city? You had never told me before." I explained that was the new company's rule. "Like you couldn't tell me?" he asked. "I thought our friendship meant more to you than that." "I'm sorry," I said. But I would never give up the job because of friends.

Ken and I had met in a church. Then Ken was a college student studying mental health and I was working in a company. I found we both grew up in small towns and struggled for school life. He often volunteered in Thailand during school holidays. And I once worked there for five years. Talking with Keri gave me great pleasure. Gradually, our conversations even involved in deeper subjects, like our dreams.

I was older than Ken. When he married Lee, I gave him advice about marriage. By that time, I was running a television production business, and was under a lot of stress. It was Ken who encouraged me and helped me get through the hard time. He was a great guy. Even so, I didn't change my mind.

Anyway, when leaving Chicago, Ken and Lee had a warm farewell (告别) party. But we didn't talk much later. After September 2012, everything changed. It started with a letter from Ken: Lee had cancer. Unfortunately, I got divorced (离婚) later and everything was a mess.

In February 2013,I flew to Chicago to see Ken and Lee. We talked. I found there was no one I had ever been able to talk to quite like Ken. I needed to be there for Ken in any way I could. This friendship mattered more than work. When going back to Philadelphia, I left my job and bought a plane ticket that would mean a lot to the rest of my life.