“Are you happy？”I asked my brother，Ian，one day.

“Yes. No. It depends on what you mean，”he said.

“Then tell me，”I said，“when was the last time you think you were happy？”

“April，1967，”he said.

It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life. But Ian’s answer reminded me that when we think about happiness，we usually think of something extraordinary，a pinnacle（顶点）of delight. And those pinnacles seem to get rarer as we get older.

For a child，happiness is simple，such as playing with friends. In the teenage years，the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement，love and popularity. For adults，happiness is complicated—love，marriage，responsibility and the risk of loss.

My dictionary defines happiness as“luck”or“fortune”，but I think a better definition of happiness is“the capacity（能力）for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have，the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook the pleasure we get from loving and being loved，the company of friends，the freedom to live where we please，and even good health.

I added up my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I had my breakfast and enjoyed myself in the house. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing，which I love. When the kids came home，I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.

You never know where happiness will turn up next. When I asked friends what makes them happy，some mentioned seemingly unimportant moments.“I hate shopping，”one friend said.“But there’s a shop assistant who always chats and really cheers me up.”Another friend loves the telephone.“Every time it rings，I know someone is thinking about me.”We all experience moments like these. Too few of us think of them as happiness.

Happiness isn’t about what happens to us；it’s about how we think of what happens to us. It’s not wishing for what we don’t have， but enjoying what we do have.

When I was young，I read many kinds of books，including fairy tales. Most of the books described handsome heroes and beautiful heroines. 【小题1】I believed I had to be beautiful if I wanted to become a great person. It was a hard time for me. Whenever I looked at someone 【小题2】was more beautiful than me，I was 【小题3】（stress）.

As I grew up，I began 【小题4】（realize）outer beauty was not so important to make someone good. I remember a friend of 【小题5】（me）who was so beautiful that every classmate wanted to talk with her. She was proud of that and believed that she could do everything she wanted because she was so beautiful，but she lost friends one 【小题6】one. My poor friend！But she learned a good lesson: inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. After she 【小题7】（learn）that，she changed her attitude and made friends again.

In many novels and fairy tales，such as in Cinderella，the main characters are usually beautiful or handsome. Beauty is representative of good deeds and kindness. In our society，beauty also gives us many 【小题8】（advantage）such as having a good social life，making friends，getting a job，and getting a 【小题9】（promote）.Whenever we look at good-looking guys and girls，we usually form stereotypes（模式化的思想）.We think he or she is a good and kind person. This is 【小题10】cosmetic surgery（整容外科手术）is so popular in our society.

I am writing to express my thank for your help when I was in New York. It was very kind of you to offer me a comfortable but clean room in your house. I like delicious food cooked by Mrs. Green, that made my journey more unforgettable. Hopeful, I will have the chance to taste them again in the future. In addition to, I really appreciate you practised spoken English with me. I had made great progress in my spoken English.

I really hope you can come to China for a visit when it is convenience for you.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua