"Everything happens for the best." Whenever I faced disappointment, my mother would say this to me.

    After I graduated from college in 2002, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer (播音员 ).I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I was refused every time.

    At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn't hire(雇用) an inexperienced person and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon. There were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local sportsman to work for it. I applied for the job, but I was refused again.

    "Everything happens for the best," Morn reminded me. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Lowa. The program director, Peter, told me they had already hired an announcer.

    I left his office, and felt totally disappointed. While I was waiting for the elevator, 1 heard someone calling. It was Peter. "What do you know about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he asked me to broadcast (播报) an imaginary game. Pleased with my performance, he offered me a chance to work there.

    On my way home, I thought on my mother's words, "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous (先前的) disappointment. "

    Henry is nine years old. It is half a kilometer from his home to school, so he goes to school on foot every day. He usually gets home at five in the afternoon.

    It was Thursday, and he came home one hour late. When he came home, his mother asked him, “Why are you late, Henry?”

    “My math teacher Mr. Smith is very angry (生气的）with me and asks you to go to his office tomorrow.”

    “Why does Mr. Smith ask me to go to his office?” his mother asked. “He asked us a question and no one could answer it, but I could.”

    “What a clever boy! Then what was his question?” his mother asked with a big smile.

    “His question was ‘Who put some ice-cream on my chair and made my trousers dirty? "said Henry.

    Sarah is thirteen years old. She comes from Manchester in the UK; but now she is living in Geneva in Switzerland. Her father works for the UN and because of that she and her parents have to move a lot.

    Sarah has lived in five different countries: the US, Morocco, Turkey, Switzerland and the UK. But she doesn't remember the UK very well, because they moved to the US when she was only two years old. Still, she visits it often during vacation. She usually stays at her grandparents' house in Manchester. She likes visiting her grandparents, because they often take her to the Peak District National Park. It is very beautiful. Sometimes she stays with her uncle in the little town of Penzance in Cornwall. Sarah likes Penzance, too, but it's often very cold and windy. Penzance is very different from Geneva. In Geneva it is much warmer (更暖和的) in summer, but. also colder  in winter.

    Sarah likes going to new places. But every time she moves, she has to leave behind her old friends. She always needs to make new friends, and then leave them again. Luckily, they can write e-mails to tell each other about their lives.

    Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

    The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

    Many people are like garbage (rubbish) trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy with what you did.

    I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day

    I said, "I'm not going to do anymore."

    Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you'll be happier. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.

    Corky was a brave young man and he dreamed of becoming the best fighter in the world.

    To become stronger and get better fighting skills, he went to many schools. One day, he went to the best school in the world. Before entering the gate, he was made to hand in all his weapons (武器).

    "You won't need those any more. Here you'll get better ones," said the guard. Corky handed his weapons to him. A serious old teacher took Corky to his room. Before he left, he said to Corky, "In a hundred days the training will start." A hundred days! At first Corky thought that was a joke, but he soon realized the old teacher had been serious. Corky felt nervous during the first days and he tried many ways to try to get the teacher to start the training. However, it didn't work. At last Corky waited patiently and enjoyed each day in the school.

    "You've already learned how to use your main weapon—patience," said the old teacher. Corky could hardly believe it, but he really understood that the teacher was right. Finally, the lesson began. "Now it's time to learn how to win every fight," said the old teacher. That sounded good to Corky until he found himself tied hand and foot. Many villagers tried to hit him because they were told that Corky was a dangerous man. The same thing was repeated for days, and Corky knew he had to do something. He realized that the only way would be to deal with the villagers' anger (怒气). In the following days, Corky kept talking to them until he managed to make them believe that he was not an enemy. In the end, the villagers made friends with Corky.

    Finally, Corky knew what the most powerful weapon was. He said thanks to the teacher and left.

    Mrs. Smith is a teacher. Her house is not far from her school and she walks to school every day. All the students like her. Mrs. Smith walks to school on a very cold and windy morning. The cold wind cuts her face, and big tears go down her face. She arrives at the school and goes into the classroom. It is nice and warm there and Mrs. Smith is happy. But then a small boy looks at her and puts his arms round her and says, "Don't cry, Mrs. Smith. We all love you."