One morning it was shining brightly when I woke up. I looked at the alarm clock. It said 3:45! It had stopped! What time was it? I climbed out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen clock said 8:30—I was late! My parents were away. My aunt had gone to work without checking if I was up. The school bus went at 8:00. I had missed it. I rang my friend Tony on his mobile phone.
    “Tell the teacher I'll be in as soon as I can!”I said.
    “Come on your rollerblades,” Tony said. “It will be faster than the bus.”
    I washed and dressed in a hurry. I grabbed an apple to eat on the way. That was my breakfast! Then I put on my rollerblades and set off for school. It took half an hour to get to the school. I took all the shortcuts I knew. I went across the park — even through some backyards! When I got to school, I was very hot and my legs ached. I had missed math, our first lesson of the morning. But I made it just in time for history, our second lesson. I was very happy because history is my favorite subject.

    One Tuesday morning, Harry saw all ad(广告) in a window. It said, "Wanted, the Best Salesman in the World. Top Pay." Harry thought he was a great salesman and went to ask for the job. "I am the best salesman in the world," he said to the manager, "Give me the job."

    "You must prove you're the best," the manager said.

    "OK, I will!" Harry answered.

    "Good!" The manager took a box of sweets out of his desk. "Last week I bought a thousand boxes of sweets. If you can sell them all before the end of the week, you can have the job," said the manager.

    "That's easy," Harry said. He took the boxes of sweets and left the office.

    Every day and all day, he went from shop to shop, trying to sell the boxes of sweets. But he couldn't sell one. The sweets were too bad for him to sell. At the end of the week, he went back to the manager. "I'm sorry, Sir." he said. "I was wrong about myself. I'm not the best salesman in the world, but I know who is."

    "Oh," said the manager, "Who?" The person who sold you a thousand boxes of these sweets," Harry said.

      I work as a volunteer for an organization(组织) that helps the poor in Haiti. I decided to take my son Brain there for a week, hoping to educate him.

      Before getting out, I told Brain this trip would be tiring and hard. For the first two days, he said almost nothing. Then on the third day, when we were climbing over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and smiled, “Really hard.”

      After that, a five-year-old girl, wearing a too large dress and broken shoes, followed Brain around. Later he said regretfully(遗憾地), “I wish I could speak French.”I was surprised that this was from a boy who always hated French classes.

      However, the moment that really reached my heart occurred in a village deep in the mountains. I was interviewing a woman villager for an article. By working hard, she had learned to read and write and became part of the leadership(领导层) of the village.

      Learning her story, Brain was greatly touched. His eyes were wet and there was love and respect on his face. He finally understood the importance of my work. When leaving for home, Brain even offered to stay in as a volunteer. This trip was very meaningful.

    Mr. King was the owner of a large company. One day, he went into his office early in themorning to get ready to go to the airport and set out for a city.

    He was leaving his office when Bill, a night watchman, came in Bill just came off work(下班).

    After saying “Good morning” to Mr. King, Bill told the owner about his bad dream. Last night he dreamed Mr. King's plane crashed after it took off. Mr. King was surprised to hear this. He decided to go by land.

    Bill's dream came true. That morning the plane really crashed just after it had taken off. Later Mr. King returned to his office and heard the accident. To express his thanks, Mr. King gave Bill 5,000 dollars with a letter. Mr. King told Bill that a man like him should be sent away. Bill was surprised and asked, ”Why?” Mr. King said,” Go home and read the letter, and you will know why.”

    Bill went home and opened the letter in a hurry. After he read it, he became sad. In the letter there is only one sentence. But it was enough to tell the reason.

根据短文回答问题

    “Everything happens for the best, (一切都会变好的)" my mother said, whenever things weren't going my way. "Don't worry. One day your luck will change."

    After I had finished my college education, I discovered that Mother was right.

    I had decided to try for a job in radio. I wanted to host a sports program. I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I got turned down every time. In one station, a kind lady said my problem was that I hadn't got enough experience. "Get some work in a small station and work your way up, "she said.

    I went back home. I couldn't get a job there, either. I felt really down. “Your luck will change, " Mom said to me. I tried another radio station in lowa. But the owner told me he had already had someone.

    As I left his office, I asked, "How can someone be a sports announcer(播音员)if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was waiting for the lift when I heard the man call, "What did you mean? Do you know anything about football?" He put me in front of a microphone(麦克风)and asked me to try to imagine that I was giving my opinion on a football game.

    I succeeded!

    On my way home, Mom's words came back to me, "One day your luck will change, Son. And when it happens, you'll feel doubly good because of all the hard work you've done." At that moment I knew just what she meant.