Steve, a twelve-year-old boy with alcoholic parents, was about to be lost forever, by the U.S. education system. Remarkably, he could read, yet, in spite of his reading skills, Steve was failing. He had been failing since first grade, as he was passed on from grade to grade. Steve was a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a twelve year ol

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot.
The sky is still black. The world is still asleep.
The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive.
It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun.
The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day.
The calm of solitude will be replaced by the poundi

Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.
One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appear

Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.
There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours, the afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day for approximately two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

"But what if I break my arm again?" My five year-old daughter asked, her lower lip trembling. I knelt holding onto her bike and looked her right in the eyes. I knew how much she wanted to learn to ride. How often she felt left out when her friends pedaled by our house. Yet ever since she'd fallen off her bike and broken her arm, she'd been afrai

"Mom, you should put some of your things away. Baby proof this house," stated our oldest son Mark as he lumbered up the stairs followed by his wife, Kim, and fifteen－month－old Hannah.
Visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday, he finished unloading the luggage and took it to the guestroom downstai

Can it really be sixty-two years ago that I first saw you?
It is truly a lifetime, I know. But as I gaze into your eyes now, it seems like only yesterday that I first saw you, in that small café in Hanover Square.
From the moment I saw you smile, as you opened the door for that young mother and her n

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”
God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”
Bu

She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the Earth it has no time to flow down the spout.
We all stood there u

Once upon a time, a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for using up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a shoebox to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possibl

Not a word does the cloud-kissing mountain say, yet everyone looks up at her in admiration.
Not a moment would the fly stop humming, yet everyone means to keep it silent forever.
Silence is not weakness in a debate. Instead it is respect to the opponent and authority in silence.
Silence sometimes is more expressive than the words.
T

Two men walked slowly, one after the other, through the shallow2 water of a stream3. All they could see were stones and earth4. The stream ran cold over their feet. They had blanket packs on their backs5. They had guns, but no bullets6; matches, but no food.
　　Suddenly the man who followed fell over7 a stone. He hurt his foot badly and called:

Since the tender age of 5, Alicia Keys has proven herself a true musical prodigy. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, a great deal of her upbringing was devoted to music. Piano lessons beginning at such an early age allowed Alicia to blossom into the exceptionally talented pianist she is today.
　　She credits much of her success to her mothe

David McConnell sold books door-to-door. Housewives were not interested in the books and frequently slammed the door in McConnell's face before he had a chance to make his sale. Instead of giving up, McConnell decided to give away a free gift, a small vial of perfume, which he made himself. He soon discovered that the women preferred the perfume to

I was a rotten teenager. Not a common spoiled, know-it-all, not-going-to-clean-my room, and self-conscious teenager. No, I was sharp-tongued and eager to control others. I told lies. And I realized at an early age that I could make things go my way with just a few small changes. The writers for today's hottest soap opera could not have created a wo

If I could make a change in my life I would live far far out in the country. That way I could realize my dream to run an animal shelter. The shelter I would own would be “no-kill” shelters. The only way an animal would die in my shelter would be if it were really suffering or old and in pain, and nothing could be done to help it. I would collect al

Love.. what is love? A lot of people shared their views to what Love really is, or at least what Love is in their eyes. Perhaps love is just an illusion. A strong illusion, especially for those who are searching for a purpose of life. Is love an answer? Love can be wonderful, special, complicated, a distress, a gift, a curse, a tragedy, and most

A drift of torn cloud， daylight that's open and clear.
    The grackles wheeze and groan like old retired gamblers as they wander and gather.
    A sleeping rhythm in the day，
    and then sometimes the wind comes through and makes them lift and fall，
 

It is an oft repeated axiom that money cannot buy happiness. While this is certainly true, poverty will not buy Happiness either. Some people become very wealthy, yet struggle to enjoy their lives. On the other hand, others manage to go through life with very few money problems simply because they are able to make the most of what they have.

端午节（农历5月5日）是中国古老的传统节日，始于春秋战国时期，至今已有2000多年历史。
The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years. It is usually in June in the Gregorian calendar.

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

Often we're told that we have to suffer now — give up what we want — in order to succeed later, that in order to save we must sacrifice. Give up instant gratification to get delayed gratification.
But you can do both.
For years, I was confused about this, as I read books and websites that sent me two different messages:
P

Eric Newby, travel writer and fashion buyer, died on October 20th, aged 86
    BY THE standards of many British explorers, Eric Newby was not particularly intrepid. He could not bear the thought of pain, and would faint away in any film that featured an operating theatre. Horses terrified him, especially when, in

Although neither or them remembered the occasion, Diana first met her future husband when she was just a baby. It happened during the winter of 1961, when twelve-year-old Charles, Prince of Wales, was visiting his mother’s Sandringham retreat.
At the time, your Prince Charles barely glanced at the tiny baby sleeping in her cot. After al

My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally - but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn't know he had a problem when you saw him walk .

My dream ended when I was born. Although I never knew it then, I just held on to something that would never come to pass. Dreams really do exist. But in the morning when you wake up, they are remembered just as a dream. That is what happened to me.
    I always had the dream to dance lik

All you remember about your child being an infant is the incredible awe you felt about the precious miracle you created.
当你的孩子是个婴儿时,你所记得的,是你对自己创造出的堪称完美奇迹的作品,感到不可思议的敬畏。
You remember having plenty of time to bestow all your wisdom and kno

      "Come in," God said to me, "so, you would like to interview Me?"
      "If you have the time," I said.
      He smiled through His beard and said: "My time is called eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions d

Do you ever find yourself longing for some time for yourself? Many of us are so busy with work, school, and Home life that often there is no time left over to do something that you enjoy. What follows are some ways to carve out that essential time you need to slow down, enjoy life, and rejuvenate yourself.
S

My mother did not work outside the home until later in life. And then she worked part-time in a bakery, waiting on people. She had me play where she could see me from the window, and often I would run inside to get a treat. At the time, she believed only her eyes were good enough to ensure my safety. She was always a mother firs

Often we're told that we have to suffer now — give up what we want — in order to succeed later, that in order to save we must sacrifice. Give up instant gratification to get delayed gratification.
But you can do both.
For years, I was confused

A：
ACACIA, Blossom - Concealed Love, Beauty in Retirement
洋槐，花朵 - 隐秘的爱，隐居的美人
ACORN - Nordic Symbol of Life and Immortality
橡实 - 北欧人生命与不朽的象征
AMBROSIA - Your Love is Reciprocated
(不知道是什么) - 你的爱得到了回报
AMARYLLIS - Pride, Pastoral Poetry
宫人草 - 自豪，田园诗
ANEMONE - Forsaken, Sincerity
秋牡丹 -

    1、Growth and change are the law of all life. Yesterday's answers are inadequate for today's problems ----just as the solutions of today will not fill the needs of tomorrow. (Franklin Roosevelt, Averican president)
　　生长与变化是一切生命的法则。昨日的答案不适用于今日的问题——正如今天的方法不能解决明天的需求。(美国总统罗斯福.F.)
　　2、Almost any situation---good or b

In the doorway of my home, I looked closely at the face of my 23-year-old son, Daniel, his backpack by his side. We were saying good-bye. In a few hours he would be flying to France. He would be staying there for at least a year to learn another language and experience life in a different country.

Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs. Be it hunger, shelter or search for a mate, he has always manipulated the circumstances to the best of his advantages. Probably this might be the reason why we human are the most developed of all living species on the earth, and probably also in the universe. As we climbed t

When I first conceived of Earth Day, a global holiday to celebrate the wonder of life on our planet, I thought long and hard about the day on which it should fall. It must be meaningful. One that might be accepted universally for all of humankind.
When the Vernal Equinox dawned on me, I immediately knew it was right. The Earth

A British department store is selling a special coffee, harvested from the dung of Indonesian jungle cats, for $100 a cup.
英国一家百货商店目前正在出售一种特殊的咖啡，这种咖啡取材于印尼一种丛林猫的粪便，每杯售价100美元。
The pricey coffee known as Caffe Raro is a blend of extremely rare Jam

Do you know what is modern English? That means every English sentence neither old nor difficult, and also very useful for us to use in our life. They are very popular in foreign countries.