When my father was getting ready for work, our house was ruled by knocks and words．

　　He used to come downstairs for breakfast．The morning paper lay beside his plate．He always read the Deaths first, and then he knocked once on the table．One of my sisters brought his bread, already buttered for him．Usually he said nothing, but once I heard him say, “I love you very much, Edith．I would love more if you buttered my bread on both sides．” He read the paper all through breakfast．

　　Two knocks on the table meant “I am ready for my tea．” If a single knock followed, that meant “More bread, please．” After breakfast he said “Boots．” The paper was spread(展开) for him over the back of an arm-chair．

　　Yesterday's paper was put on the chair for his feet, and his boots were brought to him, freshly-cleaned．He stood reading at the same time putting on his boots．With one boot finished, he said “Bus．” At that point one of the girls went outside to the garden gate and waited there．Her job was to stop a bus when it came．It came early sometimes and it had to wait for my father．“Overcoat, hat．” One of my sisters had already brushed his overcoat．Now she held it open for him．Another girl came with his hat, nicely-brushed．“Handkerchief, pipe(烟斗)．” They were brought and put, with his tobacco(烟草), into his pocket．He looked out of the window and said either “Walking stick” or “Umbrella”．It was handed to him．Ready now, he was still reading the paper．He didn't put it down until he heard the shout “Bus coming!”

　　Then he kissed my mother and went out．The girls breathed freely．How lucky the man was to have a wife and five daughters at home!

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　　I know a fine 45-year-old gentleman who suffered from a serious illness that can't be treated．At first he was so unhappy, disappointed and angry．But then he realized that he really had two choices．Number 1：He could live the rest of his short life complaining and making life sad for himself and his family．Number 2：He could choose to be thankful for the remaining health and strength he still had, and to make the most of each day by loving and helping his wife and kids．

　　Finally, he chose the latter．This man is not alone．This is a choice many people make every day．And it's the choice that decides so much about our life．Someone said, “Life is 10％ of what happens to us and 90％ of how we choose to react to it．” And the attitude we choose to have every day makes the difference between being happy and being sad．You know, our attitude is more important than what happened in the past．It's more important than our education, or the kind of family we come from, because unfair, bad things happen to all of us, such as sickness, unfortunate accidents, problems at work or in our marriage and so on．

　　You know, there are some things in life we simply cannot change or control, like certain disease, laws, the weather, and accidents on the road．We cannot control other people's attitude toward us either, but we can always control our own attitude! And friends, your attitude every day makes all the difference to your life．So no matter how bad things become, you can still choose to either let it make you bitter, or let it make you better．Just think for a minute …

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　　Nine-year-old Louis Pasteur rushed into the little house, with his face pale．

　　“Mother,” he cried, “A mad dog bit my friend Henry, and now they are burning him with red hot irons(烙铁)．It's terrible．”

　　“Rabies(狂犬病), Louis．Burning the bites is the only hope of stopping Henry from catching the disease．”

　　Henry did get rabies and died some days later, in great pain．Louis Pasteur never forgot．“One day,” he thought, “I must do something to help people like Henry．”

　　Sixteen years later, Pasteur became a Doctor of Science．And he began making important discoveries in his special field．

　　Pasteur achieved great success in his life．But during the years of research he lost the use of his left arm and leg．Yet he worked on and on, as hard as ever, as he was eager to find a way of curing rabies．He never forgot his friend Henry．

　　After many dangerous experiments on mad dogs, he finally found the answer．Just then a boy who had been badly bitten by a mad dog arrived at his lab．Pasteur treated him carefully．A few days later, the boy got better．He did catch rabies．

　　The discovery gave new hope to people in many countries．People sent money to help build the Pasteur Institute in Paris．Today it is one of the world's most famous centers for research．

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　　John H．Johnson was born in a family in Arkansas city in 1918．His father died in an accident when John was six．He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high schools for the blacks．

　　Fortunately he has a strong-willed and caring mother．John remembers that his mother told him many times,“Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe．” She told him not to be dependent on others, including her．“You have to work hard to suceed,” she said, “not all the people who work hard succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard．” These words came from a woman with less than a third-grade education．She had worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son to Chicago．

　　Chicago in 1933 was not the Promised Land that black southerners were looking for．John's mother could not find work．But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words－as an editor of a newspaper．His wish was to publish a magazine for the blacks．

　　While others discouraged him, John's mother offered him more words to live by：“Nothing beats a failure but a try．” She also let him sell her furniture to get 500 dollars he needed to start the Negro magazine．

　　It's natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely before he became very successful．However, he always keeps his mother's words in mind．“ Son, failure is not in your dictionary．” Now John H．Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America－worth 150 million dollars．

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　　“Honesty may well be the best policy, but it often deserts us when no one is watching,” psychologists report today．Experiments with an honesty box to collect payments for hot drinks show that people are better at paying up when under the gaze of a pair of eyes．The surprise was that the eyes were not real, but photographed．

　　Researchers at Newcastle University set up the experiment in secret．They attached a poster to a cupboard of mugs above an honesty box alongside a kettle, with tea, coffee and milk．Over 10 weeks, they alternated(交替)between images of eyes and pictures of flowers each week．

　　Dr Bateson, a behavioral biologist and leader of the study, said that even though the eyes were not real they still seemed to make people behave more honestly．The effect may arise from behavioral characteristics that developed as early as humans formed social groups to increase their chances of survival．Individuals had to cooperate(合作) for the good of the group, rather than act selfishly．

　　“If nobody is watching us, it is our instincts to behave selfishly．But when we think we're being watched, we would behave better, so that people think of us as cooperative and then will behave the same way towards us,” Dr Bateson said．

　　“We thought we'd get a slight effect with eyes, but it was quite striking(显著的) how much difference they made．Even at a subconscious level, it seems people respond to eyes, and that might be because eyes send a strong biological signal we have evolved(进化) to respond to．”

　　The finding, which researchers believe sheds light on our evolutionary past, could be turned to practical use．The psychologists say images of eyes could promote(促进)ticket sales on public transport and improve monitor systems to prevent antisocial behavior．

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　　When you watch TV programs about wild animals, it is surprising to see how an antelope can escape a lion's attack．In the wilderness, everyone has a stunt(绝招)．

　　Even plants have their own ways of fighting off enemies．

　　Over millions of years of evolution, plants have developed a unique defence system(独特的防御系统)．Chemicals are wildly used for survival．By making their leaves, flowers, roots and fruits distasteful or poisonous to enemies, plants can fight back．

　　One such plant is the Golden Wattle tree(金合欢树)．British scientists David Cameron has found that when an animal eats the tree's leaves, the amount of poison increases in the other leaves．“It's like the damaged leaves telephoning the others and telling them to fight together against the enemy,” he said．

　　The tree also sends defence messages to neighbouring plants by giving out a special smell．Other Golden Wattle trees within a distance of 45 meters will get the message and produce more poison within 10 minutes．Now, if an enemy eats too many of the trees' leaves, it will die．

　　Every species of plant or tree is good at producing a particular set of chemical．A herbivore that can survive after eating the leaves of one tree may be poisoned by its neighbor．

　　In this way, plants have developed not only individual defence systems, but also shared it with others, which makes it impossible for a single animal to destroy even a small area of forest．

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　　Years ago, while lying in my hammock(吊床) and drinking JD from the bottle, I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence．Upon inspection, to my disappointment, I realized it was my neighbour's 10-year-old daughter's rabbit．For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard．I knew that day would be no different．To protect my dog, I had to think an idea．

　　The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the blower．Upon finishing this, I jumped over the fence and put the rabbit back in its cage, hoping its death would be regarded(认为) as “natural caused”．

　　Then I went back to the hammock．Before long, the neighbor's Volvo pulled in as usual and out popped(蹦跳) the little girl, and as usual she headed straight to the cage．Only this time she stopped at about six feet away and screamed：“D-A-D-D-Y!”

　　Her father, panic-stricken, stood looking at the cage．Pretending not to know anything about it, I rushed to the fence and asked if there was anything I could do．

　　Her father shouted angrily, “Who has dug up a little girl's rabbit and put it back in its cage?”

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　　I knew they were out there somewhere, and I was determined to find them．

　　Like most tourists who visit Ranthambore National Park in India, I went with just one goal in mind：to see tigers in the wild．

　　Twice a day, all year round, 10 open-topped trucks are allowed to rumble along the park’s dirt roads for a few hours．It costs 360 rupees(about ＄8, U．S．)to buy a seat on one of the trucks．Glimpses of tigers are free．

　　Of course, nothing is guaranteed．Forty tigers wander Ranthambore’s 388 square miles．But tigers hear and smell us long before we can see them．Some tourists I met near the park were lucky enough to see a handful of tigers up close during just one trip．Other people saw none, even after going out six or more times．

　　Still, I couldn’t pass up(miss)the excursion(short journey)．It was an opportunity that might someday disappear．Tigers are among the most endangered animals on Earth．In India, where about half of the planet’s remaining 7000 wild tigers live, tigers face a number of threats, especially from a growing human population．More than a billion people live in India today, and development is rapidly expanding into what was once largely tiger territory．

　　Conservationists nonetheless(in spite of that)remain optimistic．“The tiger will not disappear,”said P．K．Sen, director of the Tiger and Wildlife Program for World Wildlife Fund-India(WWF-India)．He was kind enough to meet with me in his New Delhi office on a Sunday, the only day I spent in the city during a recent 3-week trip to India．

　　There’s no way, Sen said, that people will ever let the majestic cats die out．“The tiger has been a symbol of strength and might for thousands of years,”he said．

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　　Every year just after Christmas the January Sales start．All the shops reduce their prices and for two weeks, they are full of people looking for bargains．My husband and I do not normally go to the sales as we don’t like crowds and in any case are short of money as we have to buy lots of Christmas presents．

　　Last year, however, I took my husband with me to the sales at the large shop in the center of London．We both needed some new clothes and were hoping to find a television set．When we got to station, I left my husband and started looking around the shops．Unfortunately all the clothes were in very large sizes and so were not suitable for me．But I did buy a television at a very cheap price, so I felt quite pleased with myself．

　　When I arrived at the station, my husband was not there．So I sat down in a nearby cafe to have a cup of tea．I quickly finished my tea when I saw my husband and went out to meet him．He looked very happy．Then I saw he was carrying a large and heavy cardboard box．“Oh, dear!”I thought．Yes, we had no new clothes but two televisions．We shall not be going to the sales again．

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