【８】

What is a wise man? What is wisdom? What does it mean to act wisely? Being wise does not necessarily mean learning a lot of facts or getting a lot of knowledge from books. A wise man understands human nature, relationships among humans, and the complex situations in which humans become involved. Through his own experience and understanding he knows how humans are likely to act and react in a given set of circumstances and so he makes his own decisions and controls his own acts so that they will have the best possible results, both for himself and for others. Thus a wise man is defined not by what he knows but by what he does.

【７】

　One of the biggest decisions you have to make in your life is the decision about your job. Between now and when you die, you will spend many hours at work. You can find out a lot about the job by reading and asking about it, but sometimes that doesn’t help much. If you shop for a coat, you can check the color, the design, the material, and so on, but it is only after you have tried it on that you can believe that a particular coat is the right one for you.

　How can you “try on” a job for a while before deciding that it is the right one for you? One possibility is through work experience. But how can you get such experience? Well, for example, while you are still at school, you could spend a few days working at a job that interests you. That would give you work experience. It’s a good way to “try on” a job.

【６】

Through endless watching, ancient people could follow the course of the sun and tell where it would move. They had almost no idea of what the sun was like, however. True, it can be seen many hours of each day, shining brightly in the sky；but it is this brightness which makes it difficult to watch. The sun cannot be studied with the unprotected eye. Looking at it for a long time can cause total blindness and even a quick glance can make the eye hurt. But not even this great danger has stopped man from searching out the secrets of the sun.

【５】

Our dictionary tells us that the ant is a social insect. That means that ants live in a society and that in that society they depend on one another. The rules that govern them in their society have developed over the millions of years ants have been on the earth.

　But the scientists say that ants do by instinct most of the things that they do. It is true that man obeys instincts too, and in that way he is like the ant, but there is a difference between the instinct of the ant and that of the human being. The difference lies in the fact that man can decide between the action that his instinct urges and that which reason suggests.

【４】

　In a hurry, people often make use of what we called “fast food” such as instant noodles, curry and packaged soup, which are quick and easy to prepare.

　Convenience is their great advantage. On the other hand, they often contain lots of added chemicals and are lacking in things essential to good health, which only fresh food can provide.

　No one wants to spend more time than necessary working in the kitchen. Yet it is reasonable to say that eating is one of the most important activities in life.

　Food and health are closely connected. It does not make sense to save time by spoiling our health and perhaps shortening our lives.