A man lived at the foot of a hill. For a long time, he heard of tales of the other side of the hill—stories of rich land,  1 weather and beautiful scenery.

         One day, he was  2 life in his hometown and thought it was  3 to improve it, so he packed his bags, left his home and started climbing the hill,   4 to live a better life.

         The climb was very 5.The man had to stop to rest many times. At some 6 ， the hill was very steep(陡峭的) indeed, and he almost wanted to  7. But his dream of a better life 8  him going.

         One afternoon, the man came to another steep part of the hill. And at the top stood some thick plants. The same 9 had happened to him many times before.  10  this time it was a little hard to get it over, he surely was able to do it.

         11 ， the man was too tired after all those days of   12 and pushing through high plants. He was 13 that he still had no results to show, no fruit to enjoy. He just didn't want to 14  any more. He said to himself, “Maybe life on the other side of the hill is not like what the   15  told. My old home isn't that  16 anyway.” He finally made his decision,  17  and set off for his home.

         Actually the man didn't know that 18 he climbed over that slope (斜坡), he could see the other side of the hill and all he had heard about that place was  19. The man had already done the hard part, but he  20  to stop trying when things were going to get much better.

—It's no________that he seems tired and asleep in class every day.

  　With the help of Gloria, his wife, Tom Peterson worked for many years to build a solid business selling television sets, stereo systems, and home appliances. Tom developed an excellent1with their full satisfaction guarantee and friendly service. He was proud ofhis high percentage of repeat2.

About five years ago, Tom was3 by the owners of a competing company,Stereo Super Stores. They wanted him to 4 them out. The price wasvery attractive. Everything looked good. Before making his final5Tom asked Gloria what she thought about the purchase. She told him that 6the numbers looked good it didn't feel 7 to her. However, Tom was soself－confidentand so convinced that this was a rare 8 ， he went ahead and made the 9.Within months he discovered that he had made a big 10. He had paidtoo much for a 11company. He tried as hard as he could to make itwork out, but he couldn't turn things 12. He was forced intobankruptcy (破产).He was about to lose everything, including his 13 business.

Tom was embarrassed, but he is a survivor. He looked at his situation. He decidedto 14 admit his mistake and, rather than getting stuck in lawsuits (诉讼), he would focus his 15onsaving and rebuilding his original business. He saw also that he had made amistake by not listening to his 16 ， and that he needed to learn from this 17. He dealt with the crisisin a way that delighted people, who in turn 18 respect for him. Oldcustomers poured into his store. He and Gloria 19 to changes inretailing (零售)and have built an even better business than before.

In the business world, it is natural to gain and lose, of20Peterson'sexperience is an example. Only those who regard their mistakes as gifts andlearn from them attract endless profits.