Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player so far. Once he was making a television advertisement. All Michael needed to do in the advertisement was to miss a shot. For Michael, this was difficult. He always succeeded whenever he was throwing the ball. Every time he threw a basketball, it went in. Every time he tried to miss a shot, he failed. In total, it took him over 20 times before he missed a shot.

For Michael, success is a strong habit. He had formed a habit which was so strong that it took him a lot of time to break it and “fail”. Just like drinking, smoking and collecting things, success is also a habit. Like all habits, once it is established, it is difficult to break. Many people think that success is difficult to maintain（维持）. They feel that it will be hard work and will need too much action and focus. The truth is that it is simply a habit, and as easy to keep as any other habit.

Spend some time making success a habit in your life. Once you have developed it, it is not something you will want to change again. Then, the only thing you will fail is failing.

Have you ever heard of a rattlesnake? It is a poisonous (有毒的) American snake.When it is angry or afraid, it makes a noise like a rattle with its tail. It's very scary. But Heather Ramirez and her husband, from California, in the UnitedStates, make a living in an unusual way. They are self-employed (自雇的) snake catchers!They catch snakes, especially rattlesnakes which have gone indoors, and returnthem to the wild.

    Heather describes her work as “protecting people from rattlesnakes — andprotecting rattlesnakes from people!” In the area where they live, rattlesnakesoften come face to face with people. They are found in stores, offices, housesand gardens. Heather explains that it's not the snakes that are moving into places where people live, but it's the other way round. The snakes lived in these places first and then the people built houses.

Most people who see a rattlesnake are feared. If you keep your distance,however, the snake won't bite (咬) you. In twelve years as a snake catcher, Heather has nevertouched a snake. She doesn't take the risk. She picks up the snakes with aspecial tool. This doesn't hurt them,but it keeps them at a safe distance so that they can't bite her.

    Heather and her husband are very busy because they are never off duty.Catching snakes is a full-time job and they don't often have a day off. Peoplecan get to them at any time of the day or night. Not everyone can do this job,but Heather doesn't want to do anything else. “I just love my job,” she says.

    A man was walking along the street when he saw a woman carrying a large box. It was half in and half out of her car. So the man went up and said, “The box looks very heavy. Let me give you a hand.”

 “That's very kind of you,” the woman said, “I'm having a lot of trouble with it. Maybe it sticks (卡住) in the car door.”

 “Together we'll soon move it,” the man said. “I'll get in and take the other end.” And he got in the car.

 “Right,” the man said. “I'm ready,” and he began to push the box hard. For several minutes, the man and the woman tried to move the box. Soon they felt very tired.

    They rested for a moment. Then the woman said, “Let's try again. One, two, three!” They went on moving the box.

    At last, when they were exhausted, the man said, “I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any way to get it out of your car.”

 “Get it out?” the woman cried. “I'm trying to get it in! You know?”

    If you were to walk up Arthur Bonner and say, "Hey, Butterfly Man." his face would break into a smile. The title suits him and he loves it.

Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blues butterfly, once thought to have died out. Today the butterfly is coming back—thanks to him. However, years ago if you'd told him this was what he'd he doing someday, he would have laughed, "You're crazy." As a boy, he used to be "a little tough buy on the streets". At the age of thirteen, he was caught by police for stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man.

    "I knew it had hurt my mom," Bonner said after he got out of prison. "So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again."

    One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat for an endangered butterfly called EI Segundo blue. He saw the sign "Butterfly Habitat" and asked, "How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?" Dr. Mattoni laughed and landed him a magnifying glass, "Look at the leaves. I could see all these caterpillars on the plant." Dr. Mattoni explained, " Without the plant, there are no butterflies."

    Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly that needed help. That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he's been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back. He grows astragalus, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and bring them into a lab to lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.

    The butterfly's population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.

    For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he's bringing back the Palos Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.

    Roger, a young man from China, has taught Chinese in a primary school in England for 3 years．A lot of children like his class and he enjoys teaching them very much．All the pupils are quite interested in what Roger teaches them．They learn quickly and do everything carefully．

    One day he said to the children, “People in a lot of Asian countries wear white clothes at funerals(葬礼), but people in America and in Europe wear white in the weddings because white means purity and happiness．What colour does an English woman wear when she gets married?”

    Mary said, “White, sir, because she is happy．” “That is good, Mary,” Roger said．“You are quite right．She wears white because she is happy．”

    But then one boy in the class put up his hand．“Yes, Dick?” Roger said, “Do you have a question?” “Yes,” Dick said．“Why do men wear black in our country when they get married, sir?”

    Pat Hogan is traveling around the country in his car. One evening he is driving along a road and looking for a small hotel. When he sees an old man at the side of the road, he stops his car and says to the old man, "I want to go to Sun Hotel. Do you know it？"

    "Yes," the old man answers. "I'll show you the way."

    He gets into Pat's car, and they drive for about twelve kilometers. When they come to a small house, the old man says, "Stop here." Pat stops and looks at the house. "But this isn't a hotel," he says to the old man.

    "No," the old man answers, "this is my house. And now I'll show you the way to Sun Hotel. Turn around and go back nine kilometers. Then you'll see Sun Hotel on the left."