C

    Have you ever wanted to achieve something really amazing in life? Well, Greg Mortenson wanted to climb a mountain, but he ended up helping thousands of people to have a better life.

    Greg's story began with failure. In 1993, he set out to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain. But Greg never made it to the top. After five days, he stumbled (踉跄) into the village of Korphe in northern Pakistan, injured (受伤) and hungry. The kind villagers there looked after him for several days.

    Greg saw that the villagers were very poor and hungry, and some of them were ill. Also, the village school didn't have a roof (屋顶) and the children wrote on the ground with sticks. Greg knew he wanted to do something to help. "I'll build you a school, " he told the villagers. "I promise."

    Greg went back home to the USA to raise money for the school. He even lived in the car to save money! Finally he went back to Korphe and built the school. But this was just the beginning of something bigger! Since then, Greg's organization has built around 80 schools and run many others in Pakistan and other countries, too.

    Greg hasn't finished yet. He does many other things to help people in poor countries. He has got many prizes, but it's the smiles of the children he has helped that make him happy!

    Greg has just written a best­selling book about his story called ThreeCupsofTea. It's an interesting and exciting book which tells us what ordinary (普通的) people can do with courage and determination (决心)!

    Many people thought that U.S. President Calvin Coolidge always lived in the White House. However, he sometimes lived in the nearby Willard Hotel.

    Once, in the middle of a night, the President woke up to see a thief searching his clothes. Coolidge calmly spoke up from the darkness, “I wish you wouldn't take that watch.”

    “Why?” asked the shocked man.

    Coolidged answered, “Take it near the window and read what is engraved（雕刻） on the back of it.”

    The man read, “Presented to Calvin Coolidged, Speaker of the House, by the Massachusetts General Court.” He was very surprised!

    “Are you President Coolidge?” he asked. He had never thought he would find the president sleeping in a hotel!

    “Yes, I am.” Coolidge said. Then he asked, “Why are you doing this, Son?”

    The young man explained that he and two friends traveled to Washington during their college vacation. They spent all of their money and had no money to pay the hotel bill and the train tickets back to school.

    Coolidge added up the cost. It came to $32. That may not sound like much now, but it was a big number then. “I'll give you the $32 as a loan(借款）,” the President said, “And I expect you to pay me back.”

    The young man thanked him. Coolidge left him with this warning: “Son, you are a nice boy, you are better than you are acting. You are starting down the wrong road. Just remember who you are.”

    It wasn't until after the death of Mr. Coolidge that this story was allowed to come out. It was first published in the newspaper Los Angeles Times. And the most interesting of all is that the President's notes show that the young man was indeed better than he was acting. He repaid the $32 loan in full.

    When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I would make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have the three-day holiday posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers. It was Christmas Eve when I arrived home, and a little snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood, there were lights, all colors, and ornaments (饰品) shining against the green of a pine.

    “Where did it come from?” I asked.

    “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn't have had one just for myself, but when in great need…such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon.”

    The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Crystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached out a little awkwardly(难看) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with the pleasant smell of Christmas.

    “It's not like the one you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn't know where to look for a better one. But I couldn't be fussy because he had tried his best.”

    “Don't worry,” I told her. “It's perfect.”

    It wasn't, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.