—                .

    From Monday to Friday most people are busy working or studying. But in the evening and weekends they are free and1themselves. Some watch television or go to the movies, and other2sports. This is decided by their own3.

    There are many different ways to spend our4time.

    Almost everyone has some kind of5 it may be something from collecting stamps to6model planes. Some hobbies are very7, but others don't cost anything at all. Some collections（收藏）are worth8of money, and others are valuable（有价值的）only to their owners.

    I know a man who has a coin collection worth several9dollars. A short time ago he bought a rare（罕见的）fifty cent piece which10 him $250！He was very happy about this collection and thought the piece was all right. On the other hand, my youngest brother collects match boxes. He has almost 600 of them. But I wonder11they are worth any money. However, 12 my brother they are quite valuable. 13makes him happier than to find a new match box for his collection.

    That's what a hobby means, I think. It is something we14to do in our free time just for the15of it. The value in dollars is not important, but the pleasure it gives us is.

    Jack worked in an office in a small town. One day his boss said to him, "Jack, I want you to go to Manchester（曼彻斯特）, to an office there, to see Mr. Brown. Here's the address（地址）."

    Jack went to Manchester by train. He left the station and thought, "The office isn't far from the station. I'll find it easily."

    But after an hour he was still looking for it, so he stopped and asked an old woman. She said,"（Go along this street, turn to the left at the end and it's the second building on the right. "Jack went and found it.

    A few days later he went to the same city, but again he did not find the office. So he asked someone the way. It was the same old woman！She was very surprised and said, "Are you still looking for that place?"

    Years ago I worked at a factory in a small county. Every day I got up very early and often did much extra work at night. I was so tired and exhausted. My whole life was hopeless. Then one day I read the following article from a magazine：

    "A woman went to live with her husband in camp on the Mojave Desert（沙漠）during the war. She simply hated the place: the heat was almost unbearable, 125degrees in the shade, the wind blew incessantly, and there was sand-sand everywhere. Finally, in desperation（不顾-切地）she wrote her parents in Ohio that she couldn't stand it another minute and was coming home.

    Quickly came the reply by airmail from her father just two lines：

    'Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars.'

    The daughter did some real thinking, not only with the intellect（思维）but also with her heart. She decided to stick to her post.

    She made friends with the natives, learned to love the country, and eventually wrote a book about it. The desert hadn't changed, but her attitude had. Because she listened with her heart to the words her father sent, a whole new world opened up to her. "

    A change of attitude could change everything. After reading the article, I was deep in thought（陷入沉思）.