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From the window of my room, I could see a tall cotton-rose hibiscus. In spring, when green foliage was hall hidden mist, the tree looked very enchanting dotted with red blossom. This inspiring neighbor of mine often set my mind working. I gradually regarded it as m\ best friend.

Nevertheless, when I opened the window one morning, to my amazement, the tree was almost bare beyond recognition as a result of the storm ravages the night before. Struck by the plight. I was seized with a sudden saddens at the thought "all the blossom is doomed to (all". I could not help sighing with emotion: the course of life never runs smooth, (or there are so many ups and downs, twists and turns.The vicissitudes of my life saw my beloved friends parting one after another. Isn't it similar to the tree shedding its flowers in the wind?

This event faded from my memory as lime went by. One day after I came home from the countryside. I found the room stuffy and casually opened the window. Something outside caught my eye and dazzled me. It was a plum tree all scarlet with blossom set off beautifully In the sunset. The surprise discovery overwhelmed me with pleasure. 1 wondered why I had no idea of some unyielding life sprouting over he fallen petals when I was grieving for the hibiscus.

When the last withered petal dropped, all the joyful admiration for the hibiscus ankh into oblivion as if nothing was left, until the landscape was again ablaze wroth lie red plunk blossom to remind people of life's alternation and continuance. Can't it said that life is actually a symphony, a harmonious composition of loss gain.

Standing by the window lost in thought for a long time, 1 realized that no cenery in the world remains unchanged. As long as you keep your heart basking in ie sun, even dawn will present a fine prospect for you to unfold and the world will (ways be bringing about new hopes.

At some point, however, we all begin lo question our heroes and our need for then). I his leads us to ask; What is a hero?

Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure lo tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere lame.

Heroes serve power or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

the hero lives a life worthy of imitation. I hose who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure lest for would be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What arc1 they willing lo live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

Heroes are catalysts for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without India might still be part of the Britain Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. , we might still have buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnolia personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless. 11. Although heroes may come from different cultures, they

Pao Ding, the well-known butcher of Wei, once was demonstrating his skill of cutting apart an ox before the king. He made a so impressive show of himself that the king, listening to the cleaver singing in its cutting, watching the rhythmical movements of the butcher's shoulders, hands and feet, wondering at the meat and bones being so quickly and neatly separated as if they had never been together, couldn't help gasping with admiration. '

"You are more than equal to your occupation," the king said, ''How did you manage to acquire such wonderful arts?"

"Oh. it's nothing out of the ordinary, so long as you are able to have t lie-frame of an ox at. your finger ends,"3 said the butcher. "At first, 1. too. could not see anything more than a whole in an ox when 1 was going to cut it apart. But after three years' learning and practice, it is no longer an ox before my eye but meat and bones composed together. I can see where the joints are, how should I operate my cleaver and how much strength I need to employ in different places. Along where the meat and the bones meet, I separate them with ease. "

"That's really amazing," said the king, "but surely your cleaver is extraordinarily sharp?" Pao Ding smiled and said, "It's not only a question of sharpness. A common butcher renews his cleaver once a month, as the blade often clashes with the bones; the cleaver of a skilful one may last a year because it is used only to cut the meat; as to my cleaver, you see. it has already had an age of 19 years, and has had thousands of oxen go apart into meat and bones' . yet it is still as young and fresh as a newly-born sharp one. Why? Because actually the blade is thin enough to swim in between meat and bones, where a crevice does exist, only invisible to blunt eyes. I see it. I insert my cleaver into it gently and the meat falls down piece by piece. Nevertheless I give undivided attention to my work whenever I meet with some complicated structures, operating very gingerly and earnestly, like dealing with a delicate object. "

The king nodded his head repeatedly and commented. "Well said! I've learnt a great deal from your wonderful story!"

ABC, Inc. (ABC) exports exclusively handmade silk flowers made by artisans from China. The firm's main office is in Beijing, and it plans to set up three branch offices in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

ABC's quality products are unique and exclusive, and its target consumers are women with upper-middle to high incomes. ABC's competitive edge is that the products are 100% silk and handmade, unlike competitors' products. Because of this fact, the firm hopes to attract people who value the artistry of producing silk flowers. ABC considers itself to be in the retail gift market, although some consumers purchase the product for themselves.

Beginning in 2002, the company plans to attract retailers to distribute the products by attending the Silk 2002 Trade Show in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. This trade show is where suppliers of silk flowers and other silk products and buyers meet to establish business relationships and strike a deal. ABC's projected sales are approximately $1.1 million by the end of the first year of operation.

For the following year, the company plans to expand to direct mail catalogue sales, with a similar target market when the branches have been set up. ABC projects sales of $1.5 million in 2004.

ABC will expand in 2005 by adding 10 different kinds of flowers and flower arrangements. Maintaining an average gross margin of 25 percent is very realistic. The projected rate of annual growth in sales is 25 percent.

"Don't move it! Don't move it, I tell you!" "I've just moved 'the trouser legs' a little. What of it?" "What'trouser legs'?!"

I didn't know which of his nerves told this blind actor that I was stealthily moving the side curtains. My habit of calling the side curtains "trouser legs" irritated him to such an extent that his artificial whiskers quivered. I was sure that under the make-up his face must be black with anger. He deserved the position of art adviser in the troupe for the long years he had been working there. What a comfortably easy job it would have been for him! But he claimed an artist should remain on the stage till death. So I was appointed by the director to see to his safety whenever he went on stage. No one could say when the side curtains on the stage came to be called the "trouser legs. "In fact, some actors would use them as napkins after snacks, and others would lift them to take a short cut off the stage. All this he could no longer see. I had held up the side curtain just in time to keep him from tripping over it, and this was what I got in return from him. "It serves you right if you stumbled on it!" I cursed to myself. With tears brimming in his sightless yet still attractive eyes, he angrily de-manded to know who nicknamed the sacred side curtains "trouser legs." This incident occurred during the Cultural Revolution when he still had his eyesight. At the door of the theater hung a couplet which read:

"A small temple with strong evil wind; A shallow pond with many bad tortoises."

Between the vertical couplet stretched the horizontal streamer which read: "Away with old scoundrels. "At that time only a few young actors were al¬lowed to perform on the stage. It was almost impossible for them to give any good performances. So this veteran actor was soon "liberated" under the pretext of "implementing the policies" and was made stage manager with the concurrent job of playing silent minor roles on the stage. However, this job which kept him free lasted no more than a month. It was all because of "the trouser legs" incident. Some leading actors used to hold up one of the side curtains to strike a pose when going on the stage and hold it up again to show off when leaving the stage. When he saw such behavior he forgot the directive of "remoulding in real earnest" and roared with indignation at these actors. A public meeting was held on the spot by the rebels to severely denounce this "ox" who wanted to "overturn heaven." "Down with the filial son of Stanislavsky!"

Then suddenly one of the old actor's favorite students flung out the article, "On the Integrity of Stage Art", which the old actor had written in secret when he was confined in the "ox shed"'31. This set the whole audience boiling as if salt had been poured into a pot of hot oil. "He even dared to write reactionary articles in the 'ox shed' to poison people's minds!"

Viciously they tore up all the sheets of his article and scattered the pieces swirling around the old actor's feet. Bending his head, he watched the words on the scraps of paper becoming fainter and fainter until he could see no more because of a relapse of glaucoma.

The old veteran then told me as if in apology that he couldn't bear to see art maltreated. Fumbling on the table, he took up a carved bronze-colored photo frame containing a stage photo of himself as a veteran worker. He said to me, "A complete work of art should include the frame as well. The side curtains are a part of the stage frame. If we treat them as 'trouser legs'and abuse them at will, how can we actors deserve to be referred to as 'the engineers of the human soul'?"

How I wished he could see again! He would see my regretful tears. Yes, he did see all too clearly, for he abruptly broke off.

The idea may be that one's benefit — or simply happiness — locates exactly somewhere. If we do not go that far, we do not reach it. If we go farther, we miss it too. I admire the advice and do not allow for any exception: I believe that in no circumstance can we profit from its opposite — "intense focus. "

Society has learned its lessons. Since the industrial revolution, we no longer practice moderation, and have invited trouble as a result. The ambition for everyone to have a car, for instance, has been the source of a lot of troubles we city people are suffering from nowadays. Let me name just one: we are so often held up for hours trapped in those wretched, coffin-like objects that we have marveled at and labored like slaves in order to possess. In worse manners, humanity has been making exploration in all the other "areas of human concern," suffering worse consequences, such as dirty air, poisonous water, and uglier diseases. For these reasons, some people have become nostalgic about the old days and small towns, where we biked easily to work, depending on our muscles plus a simple device, which helped save labor and enabled us to go quicker and farther in a shorter period of time, but brought no trouble whatsoever to oneself or the environment.

Individuals have learned lessons, too. As young children we used to get thoroughly pleased with an apple that our parents rewarded us with for our being a good child the whole day. But ever since the high school days, although we have been making greater efforts, we never seem happy. We work like devil and are worried to death about whether we can get into the university. We are not happy, however, when we do become university students, because some people have got into better universities. We double our efforts in the university because we wish to gain a satisfying job. When we do get it, we are not any happier, because many people have got nicer jobs. After that we may have to make bigger efforts and plunge into crazier action. Moderation? No. We seem to have forgotten how to spell it.

This pattern of endeavor indicates that, while everyone has learned that he has the right to pursue happiness, he fails to understand that the pursuit of happiness, which is instinctive and often irrational, will be as fruitful as it is artfully conducted. That is, in the course of pursuing happiness, you should not wave flags or shout slogans. Instead, the best thing to do is to play underhandedly, without informing the world that you are placing an

"intense focus" on something. With such focus, you invite envy or hostility from your fellow creatures. You bring out rivals, and find obstacles in your way. Then, you will be half as sure to reach your benefit as when you start out and go on modestly, like a gentleman.

"Moderation in all things" is, therefore, the philosophy and art of life teaching how to reach and enjoy life's happiness by limiting your exertion. It teaches that there is never a "better" or "larger" happiness, but there is the one that is within bounds, suitable to you or me. It teaches that the moment we earn a certain happiness, let's be thoroughly satisfied with it and, ever since, never dream about or try to lay hands on another person's happiness. Alas, once you start that endeavor, you plunge into the dark sea of misery that is truly boundless.

To secure such happiness, let's practice "moderation in all things" and guard against, say, the ill-considered advice about "intense focus" for "most things. "

The Chinese were painfully conscious of being perceived to be lagging behind in the latest technology, and their sense of national honor made them determined to show China's technological savvy. Thus, part of the Chinese objective was to learn more about the engineering of the equipment so they could eventually copy the process and produce their own, in a process known as reverse engineering.

Once the negotiations were well under way, the Canadians focused on points of contention that remained unresolved; the Chinese preferred to focus on what had already been agreed. The Canadians found the Chinese slow and unwilling to be specific about the outstanding problems; the Chinese found the Canadians assertive and too absorbed with the negative, unresolved conflicts.

Differences in Ranking Issues to Be Negotiated

Price The Chinese were well aware that the Canadians were more advanced in their technology and wealthier in their resources. It made sense to them in the price negotiations, therefore, that the Canadians should be more generous in their terms since they were dealing with a less-developed country. In earlier years negotiations between Chinese and foreign companies had routinely involved asking for price concessions and getting them, and the practice continued. Li's purchase costs were market-driven, not state-determined as before, but Li was still not very experienced at costing out his expenses or profit. He was not able to rely absolutely on the stability of his financing arrangements. So his inflated opening price gave him a comfortable margin.

When the Chinese reminded the Canadians that other manufacturers — notably the Japanese — could undercut the Canadian price, the Canadians responded with some chagrin that their industry was not subsidized by their government in the way Japanese industries were. They were touchy about that fact and their bargaining position as a consequence of it within the global field of competitors.

Payment Schedule The issue of the payment schedule was thorny. The Chinese manager wanted some leeway so he could make the most of his capital. A decade earlier he had had to get government approval to make equipment purchases. Now he enjoyed the choices open to him, but he was wary about being taken advantage of.

Attitudes toward the Relationship The Chinese also welcomed a chance to form a relationship that they could pursue further when the government gave them more authority to spend foreign currency. For them the relationship was still "on" even if in a dormant period. They were quite well aware of the high quality of the Canadian equipment but were happy to do business with the lowest-priced supplier of quality equipment. The Canadians, for their part, felt that when they lost the sale, they had lost their chance in China, after spending considerable time and money to chase it. For them the deal was dead.

After a summer shower there is often a rainbow in the sky. Everyone likes to watch a rainbow in the sky. It is so beautiful and charming. There is a fairy tale saying that if you see a rainbow and run at once to the place where it touches the ground, and then you will find a pot of gold. Of course it is just a tale. No matter how far you run, it always seems at a great distance.

A rainbow is not a thing which we can feel with our hands as we can feel a flower. It is something abstract, for it is only the effect of light shining on raindrops. The light from the sun shines on the rain as it is falling to the earth. Sometimes raindrops catch the sunlight, and break it up into the wonderful colors which we see.

We call it a rainbow because it is make up of raindrops and looks like a bow. That explains why we can never see a rainbow in a clear sky. We see rainbows only during showers or storms, only when there is still rain in the air with the sun shining through the clouds.

Every rainbow has many colors, which are arranged almost in the same order. The first or top color is always red, next comes orange, then green, and last of all the blue or the deep blue and violet.

Little rainbows can often be seen in the spray of a waterfall. When my mother sprays the grass and flowers on a sunny day, I sometimes see a little rainbow in her garden. A rainbow is indeed one of the wonderful gifts of nature.

Two Norwegian businessmen were visiting a kimono wholesaler in Nagoya. On the day of their visit several suppliers were in the offices of the wholesaler, who was in the market for luxurious and very expensive kimonos. The layout of the offices and the atmosphere were very traditional; all the floors were covered with tatami mats, and everyone had taken off his or her shoes at the entrance of the building. People were sitting on the floor in the traditional style.

The Norwegians discussed several aspects of the business with the wholesaler. While they were talking, a Japanese man approached, but the owner of the business barely acknowledged him. After a deep bow, the "intruder" stayed at a respectable distance. When the Norwegians asked a question about the production of kimono belts, however, the owner waved to the person and asked him to come closer. It turned out that the "intruder" was a kimono belt manufacturer who manufactured exclusively for this wholesaler. The supplier bowed several times and answered the questions asked of him. When the discussion went on to other areas, he was waved away and quietly withdrew. To someone watching the scene, the more powerful partner was easily identifiable.

Earthquakes are something that most people fear. It is one of the most damaging natural disasters. Most places in the world, however, have them regularly. Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous.

A big earthquake can cause total destruction in an area. The shock waves of an earthquake can pull down trees and buildings and damage roads and fields. One of the worst earthquakes ever happened in Tangshan, China, in 1976. It made the whole city ruin and killed a large number of people.

However, we still cannot accurately predict when and where an earthquake will happen. When one comes, it is a surprise. According to modern scientists, earthquakes can be explained by mobile plates of land, which are always moving slightly due to unknown forces deep in the earth. When the forces get strong enough, two or more plates bump against each other, releasing great energy with a burst of shocks which are often felt in the distance.

Now scientists are working hard so as to find the ways to forecast it. Earthquake predicting centers have been built to forecast the location and degree of an earthquake and have successfully retrieved many losses.