There is an old saying: “Take the time to stop and smell the flowers.” I think we should also take the time to   (1)   flowers.

My grandmother knew just   (2)   to do that. She grew flowers with earth, water and love, so her back garden was filled with beautiful flowers. She would smile when she saw the  (3)   shine down on them. In her front garden she planted flowers,     (4)   . You could see red, white, and yellow flowers in it. My mom and I used to walk    (5)   them and enjoy their smells. Beautiful butterflies flew down on them. Grandma also cared for the wild flowers. She would send  (6)   and my brother out to pick flowers and would then turn them into delicious wine.

Grandma not only planted flowers in the gardens    (7)    also planted flowers in our hearts. Her delicious dinners made with love encouraged us. Her sweet smile always made us   (8)   . Her hugs and kisses were the sunshine that kept our own love    (9)     day after day.

Take the time to plant a few flowers yourself today. Show your smiles, kindness and love. Plant your wishes, talents and pleasure. Make this    (10)   brighter and brighter with your sunshine.

It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning 30. I was afraid that my best years were now behind me. So I asked my neighbor Nicholas, a 79-year-old man:“What was the best time of your life?”

Without hesitation（犹豫）, Nicholas said,“Well, Joe, this is my philosophical（哲学的）answer to your philosophical question:

“When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me by my parents, that was the best time of my life.

“When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.

“When I got my first job and had responsibilities（责任）and got paid for my efforts, that was

the best time of my life.

“When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.

“When World War II came, my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship to North America, that was the best time of my life.

“When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.

“When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.

“And now, Joe, I am 79 years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life.”

Today was October 15th, 2015. I went to Chicago again by plane. Every time I took a plane, I felt really excited because I would always remember what happened three years ago.

At that time, I went to Chicago on business for a few days. I put down my bag and sat in my seat. Just before the plane took off, a line of soldiers got on it and filled all the empty seats.

After flying for about an hour, lunches were ready for $5 each. As I wanted to buy one, I heard the soldier ask another one if he planned to buy lunch. “No, that seems a lot of money for just a lunch. I’ll wait till we get to Chicago.” His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. No one was buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant* a $50 bill. “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.” I said. After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane. A man stopped me. “I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.” He handed me $25. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain walking towards me and said, “I want to shake your hand. I used to be a soldier in the army. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.” I was embarrassed* when all of the passengers cheered for me. Later I walked to front of the plane to relax my legs. A man sitting about six rows in front of me also wanted to shake my hand. He left another $25 inmy hand.

When we landed in Chicago, I picked up my bag. While waiting, a man stopped me and put something in my shirt pocket. Another $25! At that time I saw the soldiers get together for their trip, I walked over to them and handed them$75. “It will take you some time to reach the training field. You still need to have some sandwiches.” I said.

These soldiers gave everything to our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little.

I didn’t think the passion（激情）was important for my life until that day.

One day I went out with my mum. I was bored. Then, as my mum stopped at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye. It was a man wearing old clothes. He was homeless. That didn’t interest me, for I had seen many like him before.

But in some way he was different. This man was not sad to sit there. He had a radio in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most important thing.

“Mum, why does that man have a radio even thought he’s homeless?” I asked.

“He bought it,” she answered. I was still puzzled.

“But if he’s homeless, why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn’t need.”

“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t the most important things. We need happiness, too.”

That man must care enough about music to buy a radio instead of food or clothes. I soon realized that happiness is the key to life. Without it, there’s nothing to look forward to. A passion gives a person the happiness they need to keep going. We all need a passion.

"No man is an island" is a well-known line from John Donneˈs Devotion, written more than three hundred years ago. Even now people still agree with him. No one can live a completely isolated life. Without other people, life became empty and sad. We all need to have friends.

   For some of us, though making friends is not difficult, feeling sheepish（害羞的）, we may not want to make the first move. It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.

There are many books about friendship, but Dale Carnegieˈs How to Win Friends and Influence People, written in 1936, is the most famous. This "how to" book about getting along with other people became a best seller. It was later put into 28 languages.

   Dale Carnegieˈs advice seems to be simple, but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book:

   (1). Be friendly and polite.

Always greet with a smile. Begin with "excuse me" or "would you please" when you want to ask somebody. Remember to say "thank you" and try to be as helpful as you can.

   (2). Go out of your way to be nice.

Find some time to do special things for other people. Making some soup for a sick neighbour may seem like a little thing to you, but it will make your neighbour feel a lot better.

   (3). Remember names.

They say that the sweetest music to a personˈs ears is the sound of his or her own name.

   (4). Be open-minded.

Try to understand other peopleˈs ways and ideas and learn something from them.

   (5). Listen patiently.

When someone is talking to you, look at him or her, listen carefully and say something when necessary.

There are many things we need to know that we do not learn at school. For example, if we want to use our money wisely, we need to shop carefully. We need to know how to compare the prices of things in different shops. We need to be able to compare the quality of different brands. We need to know how to make a choice when we shop.

Knowing how to make such choices is a “life skill”, and we need these skills if we want to live useful and happy lives.

Some of these choices are small. For example, will I take an apple for lunch or a pear? Will I go to school by bus or on foot? Will I wear the red T-shirt or the blue one to the movies? Other choices are more important. For example, will I eat healthy food for lunch or will I eat junk food because it is tastier? Will I work hard in all my classes or will I only work hard in the classes I enjoy? We make choices like these every day.

We have to realize that the choices we make can affect the rest of our lives. Just as importantly, our choices can also affect other people. The next time you decide to waste time in class, play a joke on someone or talk loudly at the movies, think about this: who else does your choice affect?

There was once a little gray planet that was very sad. The people living there hadn’t looked after it, even though they had all the inventions and spaceships you could ever need. They had polluted the whole countryside so much with rubbish and pollution that there were no plants or animals left.

One day, a little boy was walking on the planet, when he passed a cave and noticed a small red flower inside. The flower was very sick --- almost dying --- so the boy carefully dug up the flower, with roots, soil and everything . Then, he started looking for a place where he could look after it. He searched all over the planet, but everywhere was so polluted that there was no place the flower could possibly live in. Then he looked up at the sky and noticed the moon. It seemed that maybe the plant could survive there.

So the little boy climbed into a spaceship . He put the little red flower in the back, and off they went to the moon.

Far away from all that pollution, the flower soon grew up, giving birth to others, and these other flowers spread onto other flowers. Before long, the whole moon was completely covered with flowers.

That’s why, whenever the little boy’s flowers open up, for a few minutes the moon takes on a soft red sheen, like a warning light. Maybe it’s telling us that if you don’t look after your planet, a day will come when flowers will only be able to grow on the moon.

 Tom and Joseph are best friends. They spent their summer holiday inAfrica. When they were walking through the desert(沙漠), they started to argue(争吵) about something. Tom became very angry and slapped(掌击) Joseph in the face.

      Joseph felt hurt, but he didn’t say anything to Tom. Then Joseph wrote in the sand(沙地): “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

      They kept on walking until they found a small lake. They decided to have a bath. But when Joseph got in the water, he started to sink(下沉). Tom jumped in after him and pulled him out. His friend saved his life.

      After he became well again, Joseph wrote on a stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”

      Tom couldn’t understand it. “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand. Now you write on a stone. Why?” he asked.

      “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, and the wind can take it away.” Joseph answered. “But when someone does something good for us, we must write it in stone so that no wind can ever take it away.”

One day after school, I went to the teacher’s office to see my teacher, but nobody was there. As I was about to leave, I noticed a piece of paper on the floor. I picked it up and saw the words “FINAL- TERM EXAMINATION” at the top. I put the paper into my school bag secretly and ran out of the room.

After I came back home, I took out the paper quickly. It was the exam paper of my worst subject, History. I felt excited. My heart beat fast. I took out my History book and started working on the answer. I never answered any questions so carefully.

On the day of the History exam, I went into the exam hall confidently (自信地). I even dreamt of getting the highest mark in the whole grade and could not help smiling. “My History teacher always encouraged (鼓励) me to work hard and get better grades, but I let him down time and time again. This time I will give him a big surprise,” I thought.

When the teacher said we could start, I turned the paper over. To my surprise, all the questions were different. Later I felt nervous. In the end, I almost left the paper undone (未做的). After the exam, I ran to the toilet, took out the paper and carefully read it from the top. Oh! It was last year’s exam paper. I read all the questions but I didn’t read the date.

This is a lesson in which I know I have to put my feet on the ground. I regretted (后悔) doing such a silly (愚蠢的) thing. After that, I told my teacher the truth and I promised to be honest. From then on, I worked harder than ever before.