It was Molly's job to hand her father his paper lunch bag each morning before he left home to work.
One morning, besides his 1 lunch bag. Molly handed him a second paper bag, which looked a bit old.
"Why two bags?" her father asked. "The other is something else," Molly answered. "What's in it?" "Just something. Take it with you."
He put2 paper bags into his briefcase (公文包), kissed Molly and rushed off. At noon he opened Molly's bag and took out all the things: a small Teddy bear, 2 tiny sea shells (贝壳), 5 small stones, and 12 coins…The 3 father smiled, finished eating, and swept the desk clean into the wastebasket, Molly's things in the bag included, and then put himself into the afternoon work.
That evening, Molly ran up to him 4 he was reading the newspaper.
"Where's my bag?" "What's bag?" "The one I gave you this morning."
"I 5 it at the office. Why?" "I forgot to put this 6 in it," she said. "And, besides, Daddy, the things in the bag are the things I really like—I thought you might like to 7 with them. You didn't lose the bag, did you, Daddy?"
"Oh, no. I just forgot to bring it home." he 8.
While Molly hugged (拥抱) her father's neck, he opened the note that read: "I love you, Daddy." Molly had given him her 9 —all that a 7-year-old held.
Love in a paper bag, and he 10 it. He had even thrown it in the wastebasket. So back he went hurriedly to the 11. Just before the night cleaner, he found all the things back and carried the bag home 12 .
After dinner, he asked Molly to tell him about the things in the bag. It 13 a long time to tell. 14 had a story or a memory.
The life journey with the people we love is all that really matters. It is such a simple 15 but it is so easily forgotten.
Abby's father was taking her to visit her grandmother. Abby was going to be away for three months. "I can't leave Tobias behind," she said. "You will have to," said her father. "You can't take Tobias into another country."
Abby thought it was silly rule. "I will take him," she said to herself. So she put him in a sock and packed it in her bag.
At the airport, Abby put her bag by the x-ray machine. Abby felt her legs shaking as the bag was going through the machine. She hoped Tobias in the bag made no noise. The woman by the machine smiled and said, "Have a good flight."
On the plane, Abby waited until her dad and the woman next to her fell asleep. Then she opened the sock to look at Tobias. But he jumped out of the sock and landed on the woman's knee. The woman cried loudly, "A mouse!" Abby quickly put Tobias into the sock and back into her bag.
Before they landed, Dad filled out a form, choosing no to: Are you bringing any live animals into the country?
She saw the man frown (皱眉) as her bag went through the x-ray machine. She watched when he opened the bag and pulled out the sock.
"Come with me, please."
Abby followed her dad into a small room. There was a police officer and Tobias in the sock was on the desk. The police officer talked to Abby's dad, "You have tried to smuggle (走私) an animal into this country." Abby felt fear came all over her body. "It's my fault (过错)," she said in a small voice. "I didn't want to leave him behind." "Have you ever been in trouble before?" the officer asked as he wrote "animal smuggler" next to her name. Abby opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Tobias had to be in quarantine (隔离) for six months, which cost a lot of money. And Abby wouldn't be able to visit her grandmother again. Now, she learned there was a good reason for rules.
Did you take part in a camp this summer? There are so many summer camps and not all of them are the same. To choose which camp is best for you, first you must do a bit of research.
Maybe you've never thought about it before, but every great summer camp has the same main goals—opportunity, challenge and growth.
Opportunity means you are given a chance to do something special. It also makes you special because other kids don't have the same opportunity. For example, if you are interested in writing, then you can choose to join a journalism (新闻) camp. You may have the opportunity of meeting famous journalists there.
Challenge means you are given a task. You must finish the task and succeed in dealing with the challenge. Then you will have a sense of achievement. For example, you could take a lifeguard course at some summer camps. If you pass the exam, then you will receive a certificate (证书) to become a real lifeguard.
This also leads to the third and most important goal of very great summer camp—personal growth. It doesn't mean growing taller and stronger or more beautiful. It means seeing yourself improve, learning something new and doing something you didn't know or believe you could do before. It also means becoming more confident in yourself.
So in the future when choosing your next summer camp, remember to ask yourself: Is it a special opportunity? Is it a challenge? Will I grow?
But what about friendship, fun and joy? These will all happen naturally when you have the right goals at summer camps!
At some point in life, many people develop a mental (精神) problem.
While most people get over it, for others it doesn't go away easily.
The WHO says that about 20 percent of teenagers worldwide suffer from mental illness. It's thought that the number of teenagers with mental illness around the world will increase by half by 2020. It will become one of the main causes of illness, and even death.
In China, the picture isn't bright, either. About one tenth of teenagers under the age of 17 have a mental health challenge.
The world is changing fast. Study and relationships have always caused stress, but today the stress is much higher than before, the WHO said.
A research centre in Oxford University says that young people today have big stresses at school. For example, they experience bullying (欺凌). In a 2017 report, the centre noted that the Internet was a special source (渠道) of stress. Online, young people often see "messages about perfection" and this causes the young "great uncertainty about their futures", says the centre.
Also, according to China Daily, Chinese people don't ask for help with their mental problems. They fear that others will think less of them if they say that they are in mental trouble. Elaine Peng, a US mental health educator, makes a similar point. And in the UK, over three quarters of young people believe their mental problems have a social stigma. It is reported in 2017 that a quarter of young UK people wouldn't ask for help if they developed a mental problem.
Young people who don't ask for help for their condition may be creating problems for themselves in the future. Elaine Peng warned that, "If we hide our mental health, it may remain a problem forever."
"My message for young people is, if you feel something is wrong within you—ask for help," he told China Daily.
Anna lost her arms in a car accident when she was a child. What was worse, she lost her parents the age of twenty. Her elder sister, who was ten years (old) than her, wanted to take care of her. However, Anna refused (live) with her sister, saying that she would like to take care of herself. She managed to enter college and (study) very hard. Four years later, she graduated and found a job. Once she wrote in her diary, "I am quite lucky. I lost my arms, I still have my legs."
Anna chose to face her misfortune (不幸) in an active way. Instead of (feel) sad every day, she decided not to let it hold her back. She has taught us a good lesson. When something bad happens to us, we have two (choice). One is to complain (抱怨), and other is to face it bravely. If we choose to run away, will follow us wherever we go. If we decide to be strong, new hopes will come. So choose (wise).
Helen has always been interested in helping her community (社区). Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer.
After she retired (退休), she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading. She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community.
She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published (出版), Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and grandchildren.
After a strong storm hit some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre.
One day Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees (难民) who needed to learn English. She met once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman from Somalia. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. In the end, they wrote a book together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about her everyday life.
Helen says, "The real value of my volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help. They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs."
