"Never give up!" It is my law(法则) of life. It has brought me 1. I learned the law from my father's 2 story.

    My father was 3 in a poor village in the north of Jiangsu, in China. When he was a young boy, he went to school in the morning, then 4 in the fields till sunset. And then he did his homework 5 midnight. Life was hard, because they had no 6!

    At the age of 14, my father heard of the United States of America. It was the land of gold, the land where 7 people can become rich.

    "8 don't I go to America?" he thought to himself, full of hope.

    So my father came to America. “I had thought it was easy to 9 money in America," he told me. "But when I arrived there, I realized it was not true.  They did not like to hire (雇佣) me because I spoke 10 English. Later, I worked in a small restaurant, cleaning up tables, 11 dishes and sweeping the floor. Life was 12 for the first few years. I worked from 10 a.m. to 11 p. m. I wanted to go to school to learn English, but it was impossible. I couldn't  13 the schooling (学费). "

    My father 14 working hard, and reached his goal.

    "Alan," he often says to me. "If you want something, you have to work for it and never give up. Things do not come 15 in life." That is what I learned from my father.

Black or White

    When I was in elementary school, I got into an argument with a boy in my class. The teacher  1 to teach us a very important lesson.

    She brought us up to the front of the 2 and placed him on one side of her desk and 3 on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could 4 see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he 5.

    I couldn't 6 he said the object was white, when it was clearly black! Another

    7 started between my classmate and me, this time about the 8 of the object.

    The teacher told me to go 9 where the boy was standing 10 told him to come stand where I had been. We changed 11, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I 12 answer, "White."

    It was an object with two 13 colored sides, and from his viewpoint (视角) it was white. Only from my 14 it was black.

    I have never  15 the lesson I learned that day. Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person's viewpoint in order to truly understand his / her view.

    When I was young, I went to a boarding（寄宿）school in Edinburgh. It was far from home because I1on an island in the north of Scotland.

    It was a music school, and I studied the violin. At the end of the term, we all packed our bags and our 2  to go home for the holidays. Most kids went by train or bus. Some were 3  by their parents. But I had to go home by ferry—14 hours overnight on the open sea.

    One summer, after packing my suitcase and violin, I said4to my friends. I took the train to the ferry terminal（渡船码头）and then got on the ferry. But when the ferry started moving, I realized a(n)5thing! I left my violin on the train!

    Oh no! What should I do? What would my dad say? He'd be really6! I got so scared（害怕）that I didn't sleep all night.

    The next morning, I7the ferry to meet my dad. After I told him everything, he laughed. I looked at him and couldn't believe it.8was he laughing?

    I always had a label（标签）in my violin case with my address and a telephone number. My dad told me, "A cleaner found your violin on the train and took it to the police. They  9 me and put it on a plane. It arrived an hour ago." 10, my violin was safe.  I was so happy!

    A truck is running across the Steel Bridge. David Fisher and Anna, his 3-year-old dog, are sitting quietly in the truck. This evening's work has been 1. They collected two bags of garbage.

    Since three years ago, Fisher has been doing the 2 thing. Every evening after work he drives back home to meet Anna and then to the Willamette River. The thing they want to get is 3 instead of fish.

    "Collecting is always good," Fisher always says with a big smile when he 4 garbage on a beach. At the same time, Anna plays nearby. Sometimes Anna brings Fisher some old cans or bottles, 5 its owner's high praise.

    "I can work with Anna on a beach for many hours at weekends. It's very 6 !" Fisher says happily.

    Fisher thinks small changes can make a big 7. Since he started picking up garbage, he has been more careful to put empty bottles into his pocket, collect the cans that others throw away 8 recycle everything he can.

    Fisher has 9 not only himself but also others. Once, a family with two little girls were playing on the beach where Fisher was collecting garbage. After seeing what Fisher was doing, the two girl 10 to help him pick up garbage. Fisher has actually done a lot to protect the environment.

    One day Einstein1 in the street in New York. His friend 2 him and says to him," Einstein, you should buy a coat. Look, how 3 your coat is!”

    But Einstein answers, "It doesn't 4. Nobody 5 me here."

    After a 6 years Einstein becomes a famous scientist. But he still 7 the old coat.

    His friend meets him again and asks him to buy a 8 one.

    But Einstein says,” I needn't buy a new one. 9 knows 10 here.”

    I was in a hurry as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn't be late for! A PhD student without a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers.

    I found myself at a checkout counter 1 an elderly woman who was going to pay for her groceries. The woman stopped emptying her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile-warm and comforting-and I smiled back.

    "It must be a special lady to get those beautiful flowers," she said.

    "Yes, she's special," I said, and then to my surprise, the words kept 2 

    "It's only our second date to meet, but somehow I am just having the feeling she's the one'. " Jokingly, I added, "The only problem is that I can't figure out 3 she'd want to date a guy like me. "

    "Well, I think she's very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is clearly in love with her," the woman said, " My husband used to bring me flowers every week-even when times were 4 and we didn't have much money. Those were unforgettable days; he was very romantic and-of course-I miss him since he's passed away,"

    I paid for my flowers as she was5her groceries. Almost immediately, I walked up to her and said," You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady. " I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice talk.

    It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just bought. " You have a wonderful evening," I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart6as I saw her smelling at the beautiful flowers.

    I was a it late for my date that night and told my girlfriend the above story. She smiled. Two years later she told me it was that night that I won her heart.