A

Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs. Hanson different from her classmates is her age-----73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.
　　When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college. Mrs. Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children were grown, she tried again.
　　She finds that it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to sit in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as quick as she used to be, Mrs. Hanson often gets up and walks around classes to keep from getting stiff(不灵活). At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.

B

It was around the 4^th grade when I started noticing that I didn’t fit in that well with a lot of kids in my grade. While the other girls were starting to wear make-up, style their hair, and only wear fashionable clothing, I stayed the same. At first I didn’t care, but then I started to feel a little worried. I was afraid that the other girls wouldn’t like me. I wanted to be like them, but I really hated that.

After I entered the 5^th grade my mom found a local vocal(歌唱的) studio. I had always loved to sing, and taking lessons seemed like fun. I was thrown into a brilliant world of music. Something inside me just clicked, and I had finally found where I belonged. Music gave me a place of my own in the world.

Starting voice lessons was the first of many times that music has changed my life. In the 7^th grade, I really didn’t fit in at middle school. Being an athlete is what made you popular, and I was not super athletic. Music saved me again. Every day I knew I could come home from school and sing. I would become someone else. I would let the music fill my body and shine its light in the darkest corners. The light gave me strength. I became friends with other people who were into music. Music also gave me courage.

Friedrich Nietzache once said, “Life without music would be a mistake.” This is true for me. Without music, my life would be a mistake. Maybe I would have found another hobby, but I doubt that it would help and change me the way music did. I know that music has changed my life.

Wisdom is not only that you have knowledge, but also that you can apply your knowledge in sensible ways. Whenever you’re struggling with a life situation, having the wisdom to navigate（航行）the rough waters can be emotionally life-saving. But how to find wisdom when you need it? Try the following ways to find knowledge and wisdom that will enrich your life.

  Contact your parents.Although you might not currently have the type of relationship where you willingly seek guidance from your parents, it’s never too late to start. Your relationship with your parents will be promoted and you'll experience one of the most rewarding emotional connections possible in life. Seek out your parents for some important information such as big life decisions.

  Consider relevant past experiences.As wisdom is connected with experiences, think about how you’ve dealt with a similar situation. Maybe your girlfriend just broke off your engagement. Think about something related to that type of situation that you’ve been through in the past.

Talk with friends you respect.They may offer some insight from their own experiences that could be of great help to you now. Therefore, learn from their stories and experiences.

  Use technology.Although this might sound a bit strange, advances in technology have enabled us to seek and find all kinds of knowledge and information. ITunes University offers hundreds of courses that provide knowledge and wisdom.

  Let yourself become inspired.Whenever you take in new and fascinating information, you never know what will happen. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the websites to explore some information that is new and inspiring.

  You’ll enrich your life in ways you haven’t even considered when you find wisdom using these strategies.

People and Money

A Jim Gareth

Money, or shall we say the constant absence of it, drives us crazy. I suppose it all started when I was at university, and I’d borrowed quite a large sum by the time I graduated. When you are a fresh graduate, it’s difficult to find a good job and I got into debt quite rapidly. I haven’t been able to repay what I borrowed for some years now. My wife was in exactly the same situation when she graduated and she came into our relationship with her own debts. Then there were the expenses with the wedding, of course, and now we’re totally broke!

B Karen Jones

Our situation became critical last year, as we were in danger of getting evicted from our house because we weren’t able to pay the mortgage. In the end we had to borrow a lot of money from my husband’s family. It has taught us a valuable lesson though: don’t get a larger house than you can afford, especially for a rip-off price, and certainly don’t recklessly overspend on a costly wedding if you’re already in debt!

 C  Henry Pollack

My wife says that I am really stingy with money, but I would call myself sensible. I don’t think spending wisely is mean at all. You see, I have always been in charge of our family finances and I think my wife is grateful to me for taking that responsibility solely on myself. All my married life, I have been sitting down with a glass of sherry on a Sunday evening to work out a weekly budget fromour total income, planning carefully what we could afford to buy and how much we would have to save up for the more costly items, such as a new TV or washing machine. Unlike our friends, we go on holiday every year, and I can assure you that our earnings are quite modest.

D Evelyn Simmons

Our pensions are not much to boast about, but we are doing fine. We manage to pay our bills, we’ve paid off our mortgage and we still have some money left over for life’s little luxuries. And if times got really hard, we have a few valuable items in our loft that could fetch quite a large sum at auction(拍卖). We’ll be fine, as long as we have each other.

The last time I saw him was 12 years ago. Twelve years has passed, and I still remember eating apples while his thin hands combed through my hair. To this day, I still remember stories my grandfather used to tell me. As a child living in Korea, my grandfather was my closest friend, the man I spent every day with and depended on for back rides. We couldn’t be separated from the moment we awoke until I fell asleep in his arms. I ate the food he prepared, and he was my pillow and storyteller. Little did we know that a day would come when his first granddaughter would leave. My father was to serve in the United States and I was afraid that time wouldblurour memories of each other.

On the summer of my sixteenth birthday, I would see my grandfather again. On the plane, thoughts of him ran through my mind during all 14 hours of the flight. Would he look the same? Would he be healthy? Did he still have the pictures I drew for him? Most importantly, would he remember me? I was short then and always smiling. He dressed me. Twelve years later and I was taller, had a different figure. I picked out my own clothes and had my own sense of style. I was afraid he wouldnˈt recognize I was his granddaughter.

I landed in the airport and rode with my aunt and cousin to my grandfatherˈs house, where we found him walking back and forth, awaiting my arrival. He looked the same, and as soon as I stepped out of the car and faced him, I began to cry. He ran toward me.“Tina!” My grandfather kept shouting. We met each other with open arms and he whispered, “Iˈve been waiting for my granddaughter to come home. I missed you, my little Tina. Welcome home.” Our eyes filled with tears as we walked up the stairs, arm in arm, telling each other all the events we had missed in each otherˈs life. He did remember. After all, I am his first granddaughter.

My friend’s grandfather came to America from a farm in Thailand. After arriving in New York, he went into a cafeteria(自助餐厅) in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone to take his order. Of course nobody did. Finally, a woman with a big plate full of food came up to him. She sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.

“Start out at that end,” she said, “Just go along the line and choose what you want. At the other end they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”

“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend later, “Life’s a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you want to pay the price. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you.

You have to get up and get it yourself.”

A student was one day taking a walk with his teacher. As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They were a poor farmer’s, who was working in the nearby field.

The student turned to the teacher, saying: “we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what he will do.”

“My young friend,” answered the teacher, “we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch?” The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.

After putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes, and felt something hard. Then he bent (弯腰) down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Surprised, he looked at the coin, turned it around and looked at it again. He then looked around, but no person was seen. He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.

He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread. He said the help would save them from dying.

The student stood there deeply moved, and his eyes filled with tears. “Now,” said the teacher, “are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”

Do you need friends? Iˈm sure your answer is "Yes, of course. Everybody does! "You need friends when you play and when you work. If you have friends, you will feel happy. If you have no friends. you will feel lonely.

Do you know how to make friends? There is only one good way―You make friends by being friendly.

A friendly person is interested in other people. He is always helpful If you want to make friends with a new classmate, you can talk with him, tell him about the other classmates in your class and try your best to be helpful to him.

The more you give to others, the more you reap yourself. When you share what you know, you will find that you grow according to the number of seeds that you sow. Such is the one secret to be happier in life.

Spread cheer and teach others to do the same. People will gather around you to hear your wisdom, and feel your love. They will come to receive your sharing of what is inside you, all around you, and the messages coming from above.

Life is all about giving back. It is not about heartache or lack. Count your blessings every day. Put them in a stack（干草堆） that grows higher and higher, till it sets your spirit on fire with joy.

Life is good when you stand up for what you believe. When you enrich the world with your truth, then you will receive all that is good and wonderful. All that is grand will come to you, too. All it takes is living from your heart to understand how the cycle of giving and receiving works. Ah yes! You will discover endless perks!

For many people today, especially women who are socialized to give and give of themselves, and told they are selfish if they want to do something for themselves, the cycle of giving and receiving gets blocked. When a person gives and does not receive, then the energy flow gets cut off.

Every person must receive, as well as give. Nature intended for that balance in creating that particular flow. Now why would that giving and receiving be a natural law? Because all people need to open themselves to receiving. In receiving you tell yourself you are worthy and deserving of what life has to offer.