John is a very strong man. He gets a job of cutting(砍) trees in a forest. His boss gives him an axe and showed him the area where he should work.

    The first day, John cuts down 18 trees. "Good," the boss says, "keep it up!" happily, John  tries harder the next day, but he only cuts down 15 trees. The third day he tries even harder, but he can only cut down 10 trees. Day after day he cuts down fewer and fewer trees.

    "I must be losing my strength(力气)," John thinks. He goes to the boss to say sorry and says that he can not know what is going on. "When is the last time you sharpen(锋利) your axe?"  the boss asks. "I'm busy cutting trees, so I have no time to do it. "

    The moral of this story: While John is working hard, he doesn't work “smart”. He doesn't think about the best way to do his job.

    When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I would make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have the three-day holiday posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers. It was Christmas Eve when I arrived home, and a little snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood, there were lights, all colors, and ornaments (饰品) shining against the green of a pine.

    “Where did it come from?” I asked.

    “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn't have had one just for myself, but when in great need…such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon.”

    The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Crystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached out a little awkwardly(难看) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with the pleasant smell of Christmas.

    “It's not like the one you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn't know where to look for a better one. But I couldn't be fussy because he had tried his best.”

    “Don't worry,” I told her. “It's perfect.”

    It wasn't, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

    Carol and Linda took a trip to San Francisco last July. They went there to visit Nick. Nick is a friend from their old neighborhood in Rome. He moved to San Francisco five years ago. They went there by train because they wanted to see more of the United States.

    They arrived in San Francisco in the evening. Nick met them at the train station. They were so delighted to see him. He looked the same as before. They gave him a big hug(拥抱).The next day, they went sightseeing(观光).They saw the Golden Gate Bridge. They had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. At Fisherman's Wharf, they saw the fishing boats come in. The next day, they visited the University of California at Berkeley. Nick teaches music there. Carol and Linda liked the school. They thought that it was very big and very beautiful.

    They saw all of San Francisco before they left. Nick took them everywhere! They went back to New Orleans by plane because they didn't have time to go back by train. Nick was sad(伤心的)to see them go and they were sad to leave.

    All in all, Carol and Linda had a wonderful trip. They traveled(旅行)across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. They visited all of San Francisco. They had a great visit with Nick. They both wanted to go again next summer!

    Humoody was born in Iraq. When he was two years old, his face was badly hurt and he couldn't see any more. He came to the United States to get medical care and now lives with an American family in Washington State.

    Humoody quickly learned to use a cane(手杖) to get around. He also started clicking(使发出咔哒声),sensing objects by listening for echoes (回声). To help Humoody develop this skill, his family found him an

echolocation(回声定位_) teacher, Juan Ruiz. Ruiz is also blind and he has been echolocating for many years." Even someone who's not blind can try it," he says. Stand facing a wall a couple of feet away. Make some noise by clicking or talking out loud. Listen carefully. Now walk a little closer to the wall and keep making your noise. Can you hear how it changes as the wall gets nearer?

    Experiment with how your voice or clicks sound in different parts of your home. "Every room has a different sound to it," Ruiz says.

    How does the sound of a kitchen or bathroom compare to the sound of a carpeted(铺有地毯的) room? What about a long hallway? The differences you hear are the same kinds of clues(线索) that blind people listen to. With lots of practice, their brains have learned to get information from these clues.

    Humoody has never let being blind slow him down. Learning how to echolocate is helping him get around more easily and safely, especially in places where he can't take his cane, like the football field.

    One day, Mary went to the airport to see her friend off. Her friend's name is Jack. There were so many people in the airport. It was hard to find Jack among the people. Suddenly, Mary saw Jack and she felt very happy. Then she shouted, "Hi, Jack. Hi, Jack. Here. Here！"

    At the same time, Jack saw her and waved his arms, "Here！"Within 3 minutes, many policemen came to the front of Jack and caught him, "Please come with us to the police office. "

    Mary was very surprised at it. She wanted to know what happened to Jack.

    "What are you doing？"Jack asked angrily.

    "What? We don't need a hijack here. Don't you know？"one of the policemen said.

    "I think you are wrong! I'm Jack, but I'm not a hijacker, "said Jack after a short while.

    Soon Mary laughed.

    The policemen were sorry and they went away.