B

    Laughter Yoga(大笑瑜伽) is one form of yoga. Madan Kataria, a doctor in Mumbai, India invented it. He believed that people had forgotten how to really laugh. Through his research he made an interesting discovery. The human mind does not know the difference between forced laughter and real laughter. Forced laughter can also lead to a feeling of happiness.

And then Kataria had the idea for a group of people who would laugh together. He gathered(聚集) a few of his friends together. They met in a public park in Mumbai. That small group grew and grew! And this is how people began to do Laughter Yoga. People doing Laughter Yoga usually meet together in a Laughter Club. Kataria’s friends formed the first Laughter Club in 1995.

Today, there’s over 5,000 Laughter Clubs in 53 countries. But what exactly do people do in a Laughter Club? People in Laughter Yoga meetings usually do a series of exercises include body movement, correct breathing, and of course, laughter!At the beginning of the meeting, people may have to force themselves to laugh. But by the end, everyone is usually laughing in a real way! Each meeting is a little different. But there are common exercises groups may do.

Experts say that the exercises help blood move around the body faster. They also say that Laughter Yoga helps people deal with the bad things in their lives. They say that a person may go into a Laughter Club meeting feeling sad, angry, or worried. But then, people act happy. After a time, forced laughter becomes real laughter. This is one reason why people may enjoy Laughter Yoga so much!

Mark’s brother, Jamie, rang Mrs. Grady’s doorbell. “You know her better than I do, Mark. You do the talking.”

“Hi, Mrs. Grady,” said Mark when their neighbor opened her door. “Would you like us to shovel (铲雪) your sidewalk and driveway?”

Shoveling was Jamie’s idea, a way to earn enough money for the new Ocean Kingdom video game that came out the next day.

Mrs. Grady touched her hand to her heart. “That would be wonderful, boys. I think the job is getting to be too much for me.”

“It will cost 10 dollars,” Jamie said.

“If that’s OK,” Mark added.

“Oh dear.” Mrs. Grady sounded disappointed. “I haven’t been able to get to the bank. I can offer homemade cookies, but I realize that’s not what you had in mind.”

Mark was going to say that Mrs. Grady could pay them another time, but Jamie cut him off. “We’ll come back later.”     ①    

As they struggled through the snow out of Mrs. Grady’s driveway, Mrs. Grady stood at her window, watching them.

At the same time, Mark was confused. She didn’t look like the person who’d come to his rescue last summer when Mr. Dunn’s collie (牧羊犬), Goldie, escaped from her backyard.      ②     Goldie had just wanted to play, but Mark didn’t feel comfortable around big dogs. And Goldie had boxed him in between the wooden fence and the cedar hedge.

     ③      Then Mrs. Grady’s front door had flown open. Mrs. Grady must have seen him from across the street. “Hold on, Mark. I’m coming!” Her apron had flapped in the wind like a banner as she strode across the street holding a kitchen broom. “Goldie!” she’d called. As soon as Goldie had turned her head, Mrs. Grady had slipped between Mark and the dog. She wasn’t much taller than Mark, but she’d stood firm as a rock in front of him as she flung her arm out toward Mr. Dunn’s house. “Goldie, go home!” Then she’d swept her broom to hurry the dog along. “Get!” Goldie had obeyed.     _④             

When Mark’s father had appeared at their side, he’d said to Mrs. Grady, “That was very brave! Thank you.”

Mrs. Grady had laughed. “It was nothing. Good neighbors watch out for each other, don’t they?”

And now Mrs. Grady needed Mark as much as he’d needed her last summer.

He smiled and waved at Mrs. Grady, then thrust his shovel deep into the snow. He lifted snow over his shoulder.

“Hey!” Jamie shouted. “What are you doing?”

Mark couldn’t explain about Goldie and watching out for neighbors. “I like Mrs. Grady’s cookies,” he said and scooped up another shovelful.

“It’ll take you all day,” his brother sighed. “We’ll never get that game.”

Mark shrugged and kept digging.

He heard Jamie’s annoyed sigh and then, surprisingly, the bite of Jamie’s shovel against the snow. Mark grinned. Jamie had known all along it was the right thing to do.

“Once the other neighbors see the good job we’ve done, they’ll line up to hire us,” said Jamie. “We’ll make money soon enough.” As usual, he had it all worked out.

When I was 8 years old，I decided to run away from home after a quarrel with my mother．With my suitcase packed and some sandwiches in a bag，I started for the front door．My mom asked where I was going．"Iˈm leaving home，"I said．"Whatˈs that youˈre carrying？"she asked．"Some clothes and food，"I replied．

  "If you want to run away，thatˈs all right，"she said．"But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way．"

  I threw my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor and started for the door again．"Wait a minute，"Mom said．"You didnˈt have any clothes on when you arrived，and I want them back．"This infuriated me．I tore my clothes off-shoes，socks，underwear and all-and shouted，"Can I go now？""Yes，"my mom answered，"but once you close that door，donˈt expect to come back．"

  I was so angry that I shut the door forcefully and stepped out of my home．Then I noticed down the street two neighbor girls walking toward our house．I was so shy that I saw the big spruce （云杉） tree in our yard and jumped under the low-hanging branches （树枝）．A pile of dried-up brown needles （针状物） were beneath the tree，and you canˈt imagine the pain those sharp needles caused to my body．

  After I was sure the girls had passed by，I ran to the front door and knocked at it loudly．"Itˈs Billy!Let me in!"

  The voice behind the door answered，"Billy doesnˈt live here anymore．He ran away from home．"

  Looking behind me to see if anyone else was coming down the street，I said，"Mom!Iˈm sorry．Iˈm still your son．Let me in!"The door opened and Momˈs smiling face appeared．"Did you change your mind about running away？"she asked．"Whatˈs for supper？"I smiled back．

Surviving Hurricane Sandy(飓风桑迪)

Natalie Doan,14, has always felt lucky to live in Rockaway, New York. Living just a few blocks from the beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the waves from her house. “It’s the ocean that makes Rockaway so special,” she says.

On October 29, 2012, that ocean turned fierce. That night, Hurricane Sandy attacked the East Coast, and Rockaway was hit especially hard. Fortunately, Natalie’s family escaped to Brooklyn shortly before the city’s bridges closed.

When they returned to Rockaway the next day, they found their neighborhood in ruins. Many of Natalie’s friends had lost their homes and were living far away. All around her, people were suffering, especially the elderly. Natalie’s school was so damaged that she had to temporarily attend a school in Brooklyn.

In the following few days, the men and women helping Rockaway recover inspired Natalie. Volunteers came with carloads of donated clothing and toys. Neighbors devoted their spare time to helping others rebuild. Teenagers climbed dozens of flights of stairs to deliver water and food to elderly people trapped in powerless high-rise buildings.

“My mom tells me that I can’t control what happens to me,” Natalie says. “but I can always choose how I deal with it.”

Natalie’s choice was to help.

She created a website page matching survivors in need with donors who wanted to help. Natalie posted introduction about a boy named Patrick, who lost his baseball card collecting when his house burned down. Within days, Patrick’s collection was replaced.

In the coming months, her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball; Charlie, who got a new keyboard. Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring much-need supplies to Rockaway. Her efforts made her a famous person. Last April, she was invited to the White House and honored as a Hurricane Sandy Champion of Change.

Today, the scars(创痕)of destruction are still seen in Rockaway, but hope is in the air. The streets are clear, and many homes have been rebuilt. “I can’t imagine living anywhere but Rockaway,” Natalie declares. “My neighborhood will be back, even stronger than before.”

  Once when I was facing a decision that involved high risk, I went to a friend. He looked at me for a moment, and then wrote a sentence containing the best advice I’ve ever had: Be bold and brave — and mighty (强大的) forces will come to your aid.

Those words made me see clearly that when I had fallen short in the past, it was seldom because I had tried and failed. It was usually because I had let fear of failure stop me from trying at all. On the other hand, whenever I had plunged into deep water, forced by courage or circumstance, I had always been able to swim until I got my feet on the ground again.

Boldness means a decision to bite off more than you can eat. And there is nothing mysterious about the mighty forces. They are potential powers we possess: energy, skill, sound judgment, creative ideas — even physical strength greater than most of us realize.

      Admittedly, those mighty forces are spiritual ones. But they are more important than physical ones. A college classmate of mine, Tim, was an excellent football player, even though he weighed much less than the average player. “In one game I suddenly found myself confronting a huge player, who had nothing but me between him and our goal line,” said Tim. “I was so frightened that I closed my eyes and desperately threw myself at that guy like a bullet（子弹） — and stopped him cold.”

      Boldness — a willingness to extend yourself to the extreme—is not one that can be acquired overnight. But it can be taught to children and developed in adults. Confidence builds up. Surely, there will be setbacks (挫折) and disappointments in life; boldness in itself is no guarantee of success. But the person who tries to do something and fails is a lot better off than the person who tries to do nothing and succeeds.

      So, always try to live a little bit beyond your abilities—and you’ll find your abilities are greater than you ever dreamed.

I recently bought a house and moved in the first weekend of July.
    Since I have been in my new neighborhood, I have had the pleasure of meeting a few of my neighbors who seem to be extremely nice people. For Christmas, I thought I would do something nice for each of the neighbors that I know. I sat down and counted. There were nine neighbors but I decided to add one more person to my list for a total of ten. This lady that I decided to add lives down the street from me. I meet her every morning walking to work as I drive down the street. She always manages a sweet smile and a hearty wave. I had no idea what her name was and was not even sure which house she lived in.
    My gift idea was to make small fruit baskets and leave them on each of my neighbors’ front porches or door-steps the night of Christmas Eve for them to find, either that night or the next morning. I signed the cards—“Happy Holidays from 5104 Northumberland Road.”
    My neighbors really appreciated the baskets and would tell me as they saw me in the yard or they would call, and a couple even came by to thank me.
    This morning on my way to work, I placed my mail in the mailbox and noticed a small note inside. It was addressed simply “Resident, 5104 Northumberland Road.”
    I opened the envelope and took out a Thank You card. I opened the card and read the message which really caught me by surprise.
    The card said：“Thank you for the lovely fruit basket you left on the porch of Richard Kelly. It was very thoughtful. Richard Kelly passed away less than a month ago. He never stopped talking about how nice it was that someone remembered him in his time of illness. He really appreciated it.”
    I was sincerely moved. I had no idea who Richard Kelly was or that he had been seriously ill. I had left that nice lady’s basket on Mr. Kelly’s porch by accident.

Everybody in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?

As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life.

Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.

According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are: the ant, the cricket and the snail.

The ant—works first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don’t care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.

The cricket—fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn’t think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.

The snail—lives under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure whether they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.

C

      Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee(拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

        Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder(火药) and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法)to be one of their primary contributions to civilization（文明）. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet（拉丁字母表）. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

       But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

        In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.