When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity. To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene An and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didnˈt have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Dannyˈs mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants inSan Franciscoand Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, "Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business."

Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ansˈ corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

When you finish high school or university, is learning done? The answer is “no”. In many countries, people continue learning all their lives. Why is lifelong learning important? How can it help you? Let’s look at one example of lifelong learning in Japan.

Why is lifelong learning important?

You go to school and learn. You take tests. But learning doesn’t only happen in school. And learning doesn’t stop when you graduate from high school or college. You are learning all the time. For example, learning can happen when you go to a museum. It can alsohappen when you get a job. You learn when you play a sport or when you take a trip. Learning is life! We never stop learning. Every day, you can improve yourself by learning something new.

Lifelong learning in Japan

In Japan, life learning is very important. People in Japan like to try new learning activities. Music calligraphy, flower arranging, and foreign languages are some of their favorite classes. The Japanese take classes to improve their skills and learn new things.

Conclusion

When we graduate from school, we can continue to learn. Make lifelong learning one of your goals!

She’d been a stray(走失的) cat in the warehouse where I worked and was different from other cats we owned. Minx was happy as long as we were around—she would even go sailing with us. If she accidentally scratched us when playing, she would lick(舔) us as if to apologize.

   There was an old stray cat in our neighborhood and Minx always left some of her dinner for him. Her best friend was a cocker spaniel, and she would wait for the dog each day outside our front gate. When the owner walked the dog, he would wait while they rolled around, played a bit and cleaned each other. At night, she was always happy to wait for her dinner as long as we gave her a touch and a hug.

   As Minx’s delivery due date drew closer she began looking for places to give birth. I cleaned out the bottom of my cupboard, put some rags down and showed her the little bed for her. After a short inspection, Minx purred, rubbed my leg and continued on her way. I thought there would be little chance of its being suitable but I always left the door slightly open like in case.

   One night soon afterwards, my husband and I had been out late and were chatting in the kitchen when she came in, meowed and ran out again. We thought it strange, but kept talking. Once more she came in, meowed and left. After a third time, we realized she wanted us to follow her. She led us to my cupboard where, with a lot of loud purring, she presented two tiny new kittens. She brought the pair out of the wardrobe and placed them at our feet. She was a very good mother.

Cacao, a 16-year-old dog, from Milan, Italy, has become a local celebrity (名人) after he appeared in local papers for his regular habit of taking the bus to his favorite place in the city.

Almost every day for the last few years, Cacao leaves his home and heads for the bus stop on Arrgone Bouleverd. There he sits alongside the other human passengers, waiting for bus 54.

But Cacao will only board the bus if it’s driven by the driver he’s known since he first started his secret trips. After he makes sure he’s got the right driver, Cacao gets on the bus and waits quietly until he reaches his favorite destination — a public park close to Lambrate Station, in north-eastern Milan.

While he is there, he likes to wander around the gardens, walking up and down in the public space for a few hours, enjoying the afternoon sunshine. When he’s tired, he walks back to the station and takes the same bus home.

Cacao’s owner, Nicoletta, a local bar owner adopted Cacao after she saw him wandering the streets. He was a quick learner, however, and in just six months of living with her, Nicoletta had taught him to cross the street on a green light and know to walk only on the pavement. She had so much confidence in his skills that she allowed him to walk around the neighborhood while she was at work.

When Nicoletta first heard about her dog’s unusual habit, she couldn’t believe it. One of her regular customers in the bar said that she had seen Cacao take the bus. Nicoletta then decided to follow her dog, seeing him get on the bus at the station close to her home. She believes he must have memorized the route that they take every Saturday on the way to the markets.

Thankfully, she did not stop Cacao from enjoying his routine, and the driver carried on turning a blind eye to the rules. The happy dog continues to be a regular on the number 54 bus.

On Christmas Eve——the night before Christmas Day——children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night.

Father Christmas is very kind and hearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents.

Of course, Father Christmas isnˈt real. In Jim and Kateˈs house, "Father Christmas" is really Mr. Green. Mr. Green doesnˈt climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr. Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesnˈt do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who "Father Christmas" really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds.

Last week I visited my friend Pete in the new home where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays travelling the world, visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving(潜水) in the Caribbean. Nowadays he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he has discovered the joy of DIY (Do It Yourself), which means if there are any things that need fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself.

  As he showed me the new kitchen he put together by himself and the newly painted walls, I asked Pete where he got his inspiration (灵感) from. He told me that his favorite source of ideas was a DIY program on TV.

  This got me thinking about the great popularity of DIY programs in the UK. Each major channel has at least one home or garden improving show and there’s even a satellite channel completely about the subject.

  I guess it is not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. Two common sayings in Britain－‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ and ‘there’s no place like home’－show how important our houses are to us. With the present economic downturn, many people can’t afford to buy a bigger house so they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY is the perfect choice.

  But be careful! I read a report that said over 230,000 people were injured while doing home improvements in the UK in just one year, including 41,000 who fell off ladders(梯子) and 5,800 who were seriously hurt by hammers. So I won’t be going down to the hardware store.

C

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With so many books in the world，and our own stock continually changing，it is impossible to say exactly what we’11 be interested in at any one time．However，we can say exactly what kinds of books we are not interested in．Those are：

Books in poor condition

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Adult series romances(Harlequin，etc．)

Many book club editions

Magazines

Original software users manuals

For more information about selling your used books to Powell’s City of Booksemail us at sell@ powells.com or call us at 503-228-4651，ext．5952．

A      
   When I was laid off (解雇) from Intel Corporation two years ago, I felt very sad. I’d been with the company since 1996 and had poured a lot into my work. I was afraid that I would not find a better job.
    Several years before, I had taken a comedy class to conquer (克服) my fear of public speaking. Like many other performers, I seemed shy in front of people, but after a show, people said, "Hey, you’re amazing on stage."
     So I thought it was a chance for me to take up comedy now. It would pay very little. Luckily, I had saved a lot during all my years at Intel.
    I made up jokes while taking the subway, walking around, and talking on the phone. I made efforts to practice, improved myself on the Internet, and performed whenever I had a chance. My new career took off. I’m a frequent flyer, and I get upgraded (升级) to first class on every flight.
    Recently, I made $12,500 one night. I’m making more than double what I made at Intel. I’ll probably earn about $275,000 this year, not counting the advertisements I was involved in for a computer company. I also have a role in a movie next summer. I’ve become pretty well-known.
    In this business, there is no greater excitement than thinking of a joke that makes you laugh out loud, practicing it for a small audience, and then performing it in a theater of 2,000 people. Getting laid off is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

When I was young, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never shouted at us for playing in his yard. I remembered him as a neighbor who was nicer than anyone else in the neighborhood.

When Dr. Gibbs was happy, he was planting trees. And his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

Dr. Gibbs had some interesting theories about planting. He talked about trees that weren’t watered would grow deep roots in search of water. So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak (橡树) and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with the rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died a couple of years. Every now and again, I walk by his house and look at the trees that he planted twenty-five years ago. They’re very strong now.

I planted a couple of trees a few years later. I watered them regularly and took good care of them. Whenever a cold wind blows, they shake their leaves and branches.

The funny thing about those trees of Dr. Gibbs was that difficulty seemed to help them in ways comfort and ease never could.