When he was small, Hill was a famous bad boy.

    At the age of 9, his father married his stepmother. At that time they lived poor in the countryside while his stepmother was from a wealthy family.

    His father introduced Hill to his stepmother as he said, “Dear, I hope you notice in the entire shire this is the worst boy, who has made me have no other way. Maybe before tomorrow morning he will throw a stone at you, or do a bad thing you will never imagine.”

    To Hill's surprise, his stepmother went up to him with a smile, held up his head and looked at him carefully. She then turned around to tell her husband, “You're wrong. He is not the worst boy in the entire shire, but the cleverest and creative boy. Only he doesn't find a place to show himself. ”

    His stepmother's words warmed his heart, his eyes full of tears. With this, he started building friendship with his stepmother. And this became the drive of his life, making him create 28 successful golden rules, which helped tens of thousands of ordinary people walk on the road to success.

    Before his stepmother came, no one praised him smart, and his father and neighbors considered him as a bad boy. However, his stepmother's words changed his life.

    When Hill was 14 years old, his stepmother bought him a used typewriter and said to him, “I believe you will become a writer.” Hill accepted his stepmother's gift and expectation, and started writing things to a local newspaper. He understood his stepmother's strong feeling of interest in his family while he saw with his own eyes she had changed his family. Therefore, he would do as well as she expected him to.

    The strength from his stepmother made him a rich man and famous writer in the United States and one of the most important persons in the 20th century.

    Praise will never be unnecessary, especially for children. A sincere (真诚的)praise may be better than 10, 000 bad words.

    When I first came to New York, I didn't have many friends. I got upset easily. Luckily, one of my co-workers (同事), Frank, took great care of me. Actually, he changed me.

    I used to be shy. I had a hard time talking Io strangers. Frank knew it.  And he helped me deal with it.

    One day we were at a restaurant.  I dropped a piece of pizza on my shirt while eating. Frank told me to borrow a Tide pen (去污笔) from someone. I was nervous, but Frank encouraged me. So I went to ask for help. In the end, I was not only able Io clean my shirt, but also made friends with a stranger.  It was a good start for me.  I became more and more confident (自信的).

    Frank was optimistic about life. He always finds a way to change the bad things into something good.

    Because of a new job, I moved to a new city. Frank and I communicated with each other less and less. Then, one day, I got a call from a friend. Frank had passed away. It was one of the worst moments in my life. There was nothing I could do to deal with my sorrow (悲伤) except go lo sleep.

    I looked at a lot of videos about Frank. At the end of one video, Frank said, "After the rain, the sun shines through the clouds." I remembered Frank's optimism. Then I stopped crying. I decided to smile a bit wider and love fife more.

    One day a man found a cocoon (茧) of a butterfly in the forest. He sat there for several hours and watched the butterfly. Suddenly a small opening appeared, and the butterfly made its great effort to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.

    So the man decided to help the butterfly. He cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon so that the butterfly could come out easily. But to his surprise, the butterfly got a heavy body and very small wings when it came out of the cocoon.

    The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that the body would grow smaller at any moment and the wings would become larger and be able to fly. But neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling (爬) around with a heavy body and small wings. It was never able to fly.

    The man was in his kindness, but he did not understand the nature rules. Before the butterfly came out of the cocoon, fluid (流体) from its body must be forced into its wings, and then it would be ready for flying. It must have a hard struggle (拼搏) to get through the small opening to get its freedom from the cocoon.

    Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any difficulties, it would make us fail. We would not be as strong as we could have been; we could never fly.

    "My dear lady," says Holmes. "You're shivering. Are you cold? Do you want a cup of hot tea?"

    "I'm not cold," the woman replies. "I fear for my life!"

    "We are here to help you. Don't worry about anything. I don't know you. But I know many things about you. For example, I know how you travel. You came to London by train. You also rode to the train station on a horse­drawn wagon(马拉车). "

    "Why, yes. You're right. But how do you know these things？"

    "I see a return ticket in your glove. I see fresh mud on the left arm of your dress. Now tell us your problem. "

    "My name is Helen Stoner," she states. "My mother and father are dead. I am living with my stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott. He comes from a rich family. But they are no longer rich. They have nothing except a small piece of land and a huge old house. We are living in the house. Dr Roylott is using my mother's money for expenses(开支). Part of it was for my sister and me. It was for our marriages."

Holmes is sitting in his chair. His eyes are closed. He is listening carefully to Helen's story. He hears every detail.

    Helen continues. "My stepfather has no friends. He fights with everyone. He is strong and gets angry quickly. Everyone is afraid of him. "

    "He has no friends at all?" asks Holmes.

    "No. He talks to no one except the gypsies. They are poor people who travel from place to place. A band of gypsies is staying on our land right now."

    "Are you and your sister afraid of the gypsies?"

    "My dear Mr. Holmes. You are making me so sad. My sister is dead. That is why I am standing here in this room."

    Bill andCathy wanted to go on a holiday. They chose a place called Maldives (马尔代夫). And they decided to1therefor two weeks in spring, because they heard that the weather there would beperfect at that time. They worked very hard for several2.Finally, they made enough money for their dream3.But their trip was more like a nightmare (噩梦)!

    Theproblem4when the flight was put off because ofbad weather. They couldn't leave5night. They finally goton the plane twelve hours later! But they6fly to Maldives becausethere was a storm. They had to fly to the capital city7.There they stayed in a small hotel8the airport.

    The hotelwas next to the sea, but the sea was9dirty that they couldn'tswim in it. And the hotel swimming pool was full of leaves! The food was awful10.For breakfast there was11bread and milk! The worst part was whenthe storm came, they felt really12. Because of the bad weather,they had to stay for13night in the small hotel. And they had14todo. It was so boring. Finally, they15in Maldives three dayslater. And someone told them the weather there had been wonderful all the time!

I was always busy with work and travel. I didn't think I would have 1 or energy to care for a pet. But everything changed when I met Kitty.

Kitty was a homeless cat that I found on the street one 2 night. She was wet, hungry and frightened, and she looked at me as if she was begging (祈求) for 3 . So I decided to take her to my 4 .

At first, Kitty was 5 and nervous. She hid under the sofa and only came out when I offered her food and water. She didn't like to be 6 or held, and she would scratch (绕) me if I tried to pet her. I wondered if she would ever 7 me or love me.

But as time went by. Kitty started to warm up to me. She began to 8 me around the house, and sit next to me on the sofa or the bed. She would play 9 with the toys I bought her and would wait for me at the door when I came home from work.

Kitty 10 my life for the better. She made me feel more relaxed. She taught me how to be more patient and caring.