When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father's friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.

    Every summer, when the first watermelon arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie's place. We'd sit on the edge of the dock (码头), feet dangling (摇晃), and got ready for a big meal.

    Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we'd bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.

    Bernie was my father's ideal of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie's wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eatonly the heart of the watermelon.

    What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don't take the time to dangle(悬荡) your feet over the dock and enjoy life's small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

    For many years, I forgot that lesson I'd learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

    Well, I've relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That's the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

Believe it or not,oceans and seas are easy to be harmed by the development of human society．They are also influenced by man-made pollution easily．It is human beings that do great harm to the ocean ecosystem(生态系统)．

The coral reefs（珊瑚）that provide food and protection for many ocean creatures（生物）is important toecosystems．However, the coral reefs in almost all the oceansare in dangerof pollution.Chemicals from factories end up in the oceans and destroycoral reefs.If the coral system die,some ocean creatures will be sure to die out．

Protecting the ocean also has something to do with the protection of ocean wildlife like dolphins.The fishing industry depends on modern ways to catch many fish in order to earn more money.But net for fishing also catch other sea animals.The fishing boat workers are advised to check their nets and set other ocean animals free.But the boats are in a hurry to make money and often other ocean animals are caught with fish．

Oil spills(溢出) can destroy the ocean environment because oilcankill all ocean life．The world depends on oil and there is plenty of oil off the shore in many countries.The need foroil is more important than the risk of the oil spill.However,the fact is that one ocean mistake can lead to an ocean environment accident. Itwill cause years ofdamageto the financial ecosystems andkill all the creatures in the area of the spill.The oil will be washed up on the shore and destroy ecosystems along the shore，including birds．

Everyone who cares about the environment should pay more attention to protecting the ocean,and all of us should do something for the protection of the ocean．

Australia is nearly 7.7 million square kilometres.Itˈs the sixth largest country in area after Russia，Canada，China，the United States and Brazil.

There are rainforests and large plains in the north，snowfields in the southeast，desert(沙漠) in the centre and croplands in the east，south and southwest.About one third of the country lies in the tropics(热带地区)．Australia has a coastline of 36，735 km if it were possible to drive non－stop along the whole coast at 60 km/h，it would take about 24 days to complete the trip.

Australia is the worldˈs smallest continent(洲) and the sixth largest country being equal(相等的) in area to the USA without Alaska.The continent is one of the oldest lands.It is more than 3，000 million years old，and it is the flattest of the continents.

The population of Australia is more than 20 million.It is one of the worldˈs most urbanized countries，with about 70% of the population living in the ten largest cities.Most of the population is concentrated(集中) along the eastern seaboard and the southeastern corner of the continent.

In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts (主人) and the worst guests in the world. They’re not really bad guests, but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some western counties, it appears they are not nice guests. And western guests sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests.

   In China, guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person’s home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the west, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host’s way of doing things is usual behavior for a guest.

   My wife’s mother, a very kind elderly Chinese lady, doesn’t smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly, but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that. In most North America homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least, you could ask, “Is it OK if I smoke?” “But, don’t besurprised if they say, “No, you can’t smoke.” In our culture, if you smoke in their home, you are a bad guest, but if they don’t allow you to smoke in their house, they are not a rude guest.

   Guests in China also have special habits. Some western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese, so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However, giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So, if you invite international guests to your home, don’t be too surprised if they don’t bring you a gift.

In China, you probably wonˈt need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host, and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.

   If you donˈt love yourself first, how can you confidently give and receive love? Only when we fully realize who we are and accept ourselves, can we understand the love of someone else.

      So letˈs start with some questions by asking yourself. Who are you deep down inside? What are your goals, strengths, clever ideas, likes and dislikes? What do you need to control your weaknesses and improve your growth?

     Self-discovery can be scary, because most people consider themselves to be unimportant. They would rather become dependent than depend on their own. Is that true in your case?

     Loving yourself influences your life. It influences whom you choose to fall in love with and your action in the relationship. lf there is no self-esteem (自尊), there will be no love.

     A person with high self-esteem is responsible for himself or herself, no matter how much love and care there is between that person and others. Such a person is not waiting to be saved and will not place unnecessary dependence on others. He or she is confident of his or her own ability, value and mind. He or she remembers that he or she is the prize.

     A person with high self-esteem depends on his or her own happiness, rather than looking for

someone else to make him or her happy. Happiness is an "inside" job. When you accept this responsibility for yourself, you build self-esteem, and then you receive love.

a. Asking others to answer questions.      

b. Finding out about oneˈs own likes and dislikes.

c. Improving oneˈs own growth.           

d. Finding out oneˈs own hidden facts. 

   Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.

   After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was backhitting the booksas hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.

   Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”

   Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No.”

“Well then,” she asked again. “What was it?”

Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking.”