After Columbus discovered the New Continent(新大陆) and 1 back to his motherland, Spain, he was warmly 2. But not everyone felt  3 at Columbus' Success. Some people thought Columbus was only a 4 and what he had done could be done by any other seaman. One day, at a dinner, some self-important men did what they could to 5 Columbus unhappy, saying that he had only done the 6 thing in the world. Hearing this instead of jumping up angrily, Columbus took an 7 from a dish and asked,“Look, here, gentlemen, is there anyone here who can make this egg stand upright?” They tried one by one but none could. Then the egg 8  back to Columbus. He broke it a little, put the egg on the table and it stood upright. “What can be easier than this, gentlemen?” he said, “Now you will say it's so 9 that everybody can do it. Of course, because I have shown you now.” They looked at each other and talked 10.

    Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

    Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and us. This family made a big impression on me.

    There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children talked excitedly about the clowns. It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother seemed happy as they could be.

    The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus."

    The ticket lady told him the price.

    The man's wife lowered her head. There was no longer a smile on the man's face. He quietly asked, "How much did you say?"

    The ticket lady again told him the price.

    The man obviously didn't have enough money. But how could he tell his kids the bad news?

    Seeing what was happening, my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped in on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all!) He then tapped the man on the shoulder and said,

    "Excuse me, Sir, you dropped this."

    The man understood my father was helping him. He picked up the money, looked straight into my dad's eyes, and in tears replied, "Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family."

    Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn't go without.

    Johnnie Martin was born in a worker's family. His parents lived a simple life, saving money for the day when they could send him to a good university. They had dreamed that their son could get a good job and live a better life. However, to Johnnie, school lessons seemed like a wall that was impossible to go through. They were not so easy for him.

    One day when he was in Grade 11, Johnnie went to the school psychologist's (心理学家的) office to ask for help. "I've been trying hard, but…" Johnnie was about to cry.

    The psychologist put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "People have different kinds of talents, Johnnie. There are painters, who were never able to learn math, and some day you will find what you are good at. When you do, you will make all of us very proud of you."

    Johnnie didn't go to university. He found a job in the garden in the town. Soon something amazing happened. People began to notice that Johnnie had what they called a "green thumb". The plants grew well and the roses were in bloom (花). People started to accept his advice for gardening (园艺).

    One day while he was walking, he found an unusual dirty land. He volunteered to make it into a garden. That afternoon he started the work, but he couldn't afford all the tools or the plants. People gave him young trees, rose-bushes, benches and many other things. Before long, it had become a beautiful little park.

    Today Johnnie is the head of the business in gardening. Wherever he and his men go, they spread beauty before the eyes of people.

    My name is Jack. My home is about 3 miles1school. I leave2school at about 6：20. I usually go to school3. It takes me 30 minutes. But sometimes I go there 4. It takes5 only ten minutes.

    My friend Bob6Kaishandao. He usually goes to school by boat. He7at 5：30 every day. Then he has a quick breakfast and goes to school at six. First, he8to the river bank（岸）. Then the boat takes9 to school. It usually takes him forty minutes to get to school.

    There're different10to get to school. But I think walking is the best.