—Oh. ________ I haven't seen her these days.

        Anyone who is afraid of failure and afraid to face challenges will never taste success, so said our professor in marketing. I laughed it off at that time, but got frightened when it actually happened in my life.

        I landed in a small city in the Middle East to set up a firm, a world－class car rental firm. Having decided on the project, I earnestly settled in preparation. With a positive mind, I told myself nothing should stop me now, and was more than keen to make it a success.

        However, the least expected thing happened. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Tension ran high in the region. Eventually the war broke out, and many people fled the country, leaving my firm in deep trouble.

       As usual, “things become difficult, and every effort seems to bring disappointment, it can be tempting to lower your expectations or even water_down your goals and ambitions.” I was no exception. I thought of running away. I remembered the words of Thomas Edison, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to succeed when they gave up.”

       I decided to hang on, telling myself, “I am not afraid of challenges and obstacles.” I stayed on through months of uncertainty and insecurity. Finances ran low, and banks could not wait to get their dues. To add to all this, the banks even threatened to take all my vehicles. I felt I made a wrong decision to move there. I was now ready to face failure.

      I was living against all hopes, believing that something good would happen. After 2 months the war ended. My persistence paid off: people started flooding back and the car bookings picked up, five times over.

      Success comes to the one who dares, even after failure, to think positively and look forward confidently. After all, it is only the experience that makes a man tough. Failure does not mean you will never make it. It means that it will take a little longer. It provides us with a learning experience.

        Carrots are easy to raise and easy to harvest. They taste good. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

        When people think of carrots, they usually picture in their mind a vegetable that islong, thin and orange.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} And not all carrots are orange. For example, Paris Market carrots are about five centimeters around. Rome carrots are thin andabout twenty－five centimeters long. And Belgian White carrots are, as their name suggests, white.

        For the best results, carrots should be grown in sandy soil that does not hold water for a long time. The soil also should have no rocks. To prepare your garden for carrots, dig up the soil, loosen it and turn it over. Then, mix insome plant material or animal fertilizer (肥料)．

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Experts say warm days, cool nights and a medium soil temperature are the best conditions for growing carrots that taste great.

Carrots need time to develop their full sugar content. This gives them their sweetness if you wait too long to pull them from the ground.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Usually, the brighter the color, the better the taste.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}If the winter is not cold enough to freeze the ground, you can grow and harvest carrots the same way as during the summer months. If the ground does freeze,simply cover your carrot garden with a thick layer of leaves or straw. Thiswill prevent the ground from freezing.

a．But carrots come in many differentsizes and shapes.

b．They are economic crops.

c．The best time for planting carrots isduring the winter months.

d．Weather, soil conditions and age willaffect the way carrots taste.

e．The best way to judge if a carrot isready to be harvested is by its color.

f．And they contain a lot of carotene (胡萝卜素), which the body make into vitamin A.

g．Many people do not know that carrotscan be grown during the winter months.