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    Kyle walked up and down as he waited for his turn at the back stage. This would be his most important piano performance yet. At ten years old, he was the youngest performer in the Christmas concert. Although his teacher Ms. Neal said he was good enough at the song he would play, he still practiced it more than 30 times that week. When he closed his eyes at night, the music played over and over again in his mind

    Now, the day finally arrived, but Kyle was not sure he was ready. He kicked a small ball which was picked up from a Christmas tree, and then looked himself in a mirror—trying to make his bow tie more smooth and beautiful. He thought of his mom who bought him the new suit with this bow tie. He would make her feel proud of him. He noticed that his hands were shaking. How could he play the notes of the song if his hands were shaking? He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but his hands shook more.

At this time, Ms. Neal walked up to speak to him. “I have something for you,” she said, putting a smooth black stone into Kyle's hand. “It's a special stone. There's no other one like it in the world. You've practiced so much, so you don't need anything else.”

    The stage lights reflected on it. “Thank you.” Kyle said.

When Kyle's name was called, he rubbed the stone, stepped onto the stage, and played better than ever. After his performance, he noticed that Ms. Neal had a whole bag of black stones. “Why did you say this one was so special?” he asked.

His teacher smiled, “Like your talent, it is special because it belongs only to you.''

    A very new, young officer（军官）was at a station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town, and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of this train, so that she could meet him at the station in her car. He looked in all his pockets, but he did not have the coins（硬币）for the telephone, so he went outside and looked around for someone to help him.

    At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, "Do you have change for ten pence（便士）?"

    "Wait a moment,' the old soldier answered. He began to put his hand in his pocket, "I'll see if I can help you."

    "Don't you know how to speak to an officer?" the young man said angrily. "Now let's start again. Do you have change for ten pence?"

    "No, sir," the old soldier answered politely and quickly.

    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）.

    An elephant and a crocodile were once standing beside river. They were disputing which was the better animal。

    "Look at my strength," said the elephant. "I can pull up a tree, roots and all, with my trunk"

    "Ah! But your skin is not nearly so thick as mine," replied the crocodile." No knife or tooth can cut through it."

    Just as they were coming to blows, a lion happened to pass.

    "My dear friends!" said the King of all animals, going up to them. "Let me know the cause of your disagreement."

    "Will you kindly tell us which is the better animal?" cried both at once.

    Certainly, "said the lion, pointing across the river." Do you see the soldiers metal hat on that wall?"

    "Yes!" replied the beasts.

    "Well, then," continued the lion, "go and get it, and bring it to me, and I shall be able then to decide between you."

    Upon hearing this, off they started. The crocodile, being used to the water, reached the opposite side of the river first, and was soon standing beside the wall.

    Here he waited till the elephant came up. The elephant, seeing that the crocodile had no way of reaching their goal, raised his long trunk, and took down the hat quite easily.

    They then made their way together back again across the river. The elephant was trying to keep up with the fast-moving crocodile in the water and became careless. When he was forced to turn sharply to avoid a floating tree branch, the elephant dropped the hat and it fell to the river bottom. The crocodile noticed the accident, so down he dived, and brought it up in his huge mouth. They then returned, and the crocodile laid the metal hat at the lion's feet. The King took it up, and turning to the elephant, said:

    "You, because of your size and trunk, were able to reach the hat on the wall but, having lost it, you were unable to get it back. And you, said the lion to the crocodile, "although unable to reach the hat, were able to dive for it and save it. You are both wise and able in your own ways. One is no better than the other."