A Good Man

    It's a late Saturday afternoon in early March, and I am sweating in search of the only gift my son wants from Los Angeles: a 1 to the homes of the stars such as Brad Pitt and Jet Li.

    A cheerful taxi driver says, “No problem. Map sellers are everywhere!” When the taxi stops, a fellow 2 with a thin folded sheet and says: “Ten dollars.”

    Ten dollars! With absolute 3I inform him, “That's too much.” The map man leaves. I begin walking, certain I'll find a (an)4 star map soon.

    I am 5. There's hardly anybody on the street. There don't seem to be many real stores, just cars and bars. No maps. No stars. Blocks pass. The sun begins to sink. At the edge of West Hollywood6fellow wanders ahead, selling star maps to some teenage girls.

    Ten dollars7. Forget it. My son will 8.

    That night, I call my wife. “Did you get one of those maps to the stars? He's been talking about 9else.”

    This10is hard to ignore. It's late. At all-night markets: no maps. I head back to the hotel. Morning is coming. There will be one last11. After I check out, I take a taxi. But at nine in the morning, map sellers are 12 to be found.

    “You know,” says the driver, “The guys with the maps just aren't up yet!” He's right.

    “Forget it. Let's go to the airport.”

    “Well,” says the driver, “I could 13 you one if you like.”

    Sure. Trust this guy? I might as well throw cash onto the freeway. But exiting the taxi, I14 my last chance. I hand him $13 and my business card. Three weeks pass. I've15 on the star map. My son has stopped mentioning it.

    Then one afternoon, sticking out from under piles of flyers, there it is: a big white envelope. There is a small note. I can hardly read it16 I make out a few phrases一“forgive17 “taxi's been down” and, finally, “here's map for your son.” There's no return address. It's signed, “kind regards, M.”

    I hold the note in my hand18 what my son said to me when I got back from Los Angeles.

    “Did you meet any 19 Dad?” he asked.

Now I know what to tell him.

    “Yes, I did. I met a guy named M.”

    If you never 20 anybody, you'll never find the good guys.

    There was once a famous king whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he 1 to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great 2 and made war on other countries. He conquered many kings and 3 many cities. But at last his army was beaten; and Tamerlane escaped alone from the field of 4.

    For a long time he wandered in 5 from place to place. His enemies were 6 him. He was about to lose all hope.

    One day he was7 under a tree, thinking of his failure. He had now been a wanderer for twenty days. He couldn't  8any longer. Suddenly he saw a small object climbing up the trunk of the tree. He looked more 9and saw it was an ant,10a grain of wheat as large as itself.

    There was a 11 in the tree only a little way above, and that was the home of the ant.

    “You are 12, Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you are carrying something that is too heavy for you.” Just as he 13, the ant lost its footing and fell to the ground. But it 14 held on to the grain of wheat. Tamerlane 15 the little insect. It tried the second time, the third time ... the twentieth time — but always with the same 16. Then it tried the twenty-first time.17, one little step at a time, it climbed across the rough place where it had 18 so often. The next minute it climbed 19 into its home, carrying the grain of wheat. “Well done!” said Tamerlane, “you've taught me a lesson. I, too, will try again,20 I succeed.” And he made it.

    My dad is my hero because he is brave, skilled，and respectful. I know many people say their dads are their heroes, but my dad 1 me about becoming a man, which is 2 important for a young boy.

    Respect goes a long way with my dad, as does patience. As a(n) 3 ，my dad must  4 people every day, some of whom are nice and some are not. Either way, he 5  his well-mannered attitude.

    Dad is not afraid of many things, or if he is, he doesn't tell me 6  he wants to seem tough. He may not be a big guy but since he works with his 7 all day, he is very strong. Dad works outdoors in all kinds of 8 but the worst thing he has to do is 9up and work in an attic (顶楼) in the middle of the summer. Trust me. That is the 10 place you will experience as an electrician and when you come back11, what is in your lungs will make you12for hours.

    My dad and I have a very good 13. We talk about almost everything. We go hunting, fishing, and everything a dad and son would do. My dad and I enjoy hiking 14 because it gives us time outdoors together and there is nothing like that. He has15 and taught me everything I need to know about16.

    I am17  to be the son of Mike C., and would not have it any other way. People come up to me all the time to18me I have a good dad. It makes me feel 19 that a lot of people think so 20 of him. He is a good teacher of my life and would do anything for me. This is why my father is my hero.

    Dr. Lee was one of my favorite professors in college. He was1because of a trick he employed at the beginning of his first class. "I will put a2into each of my lectures. Your job is to try and3me in the Lie of the Day."

That was a 4way to focus our attention at the dry and 5subject—Capital Markets. On those days we actively 6Dr. Lee's statements. Every once in a while, a lecture would end with 7seeing through the lie. Dr. Lee would say, "Ah ha! Each of you has a lie in your notes. 8among yourselves what it might be, and I will tell you next Monday."

What made Dr. Lee's teaching 9smart was that there was no lie during the most technically10lecture. He offered the same challenge to11 our lecture notes. On the following Monday, he would hear our12for almost ten minutes before he finally said, "Do you13the first lecture—how I said that every lecture has a lie?"

    Tired from having our best theories shot down, we14.

    "Well, that was a lie. My previous lecture was completely true and15. But I am glad you reviewed your notes16this weekend. Moving on …"

While my knowledge of the Capital Markets has17over time, the lessons have stayed with me. "Experts" can be18and say things that sound right—so build a habit of 19new information and check it against things you already accept as20.

    Todd Jones is a 15­year­old student from Washington, D.C. In a chat room called Webfriends, he started talking to someone 1 to be a 13­year­old junior high school student in Texas named Josh. For several weeks, they chatted online about their hobbies and quickly 2. Then Josh started telling Todd about his 3. He said that his father had lost his job and his grandmother was very ill. 4 money was urgently needed, he wondered if Todd could help. Feeling bad for his new friend, Todd transferred(转账) $50 to Josh's bank account.

    Two weeks later, Josh asked Todd for $50 to help pay for school supplies like notebooks. 5, Todd sent the money. Over the next month, Josh asked Todd for money five times, for a total of $300. Gradually, Todd was beginning to feel 6 of his chat room friend. He turned to Bob Howard, a cybercrime specialist at the police department. After some checking, Howard discovered that Todd's chat room friend was not 13­year­old Josh from Texas but 38­year­old David Klein from New York. As it 7, Klein had made friends with more than twenty middle school students in different chat rooms, using a different 8 each time. By claiming to be poor or ill, Klein had 9 more than $3, 000 from these students.

    Howard urges everyone to be 10 when they visit chat rooms: "Never send money to someone you meet online or meet online friends in person."

    It was a busy morning, about 8:30,when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital .I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for all appointment(约会)at 9:30 The nurse had him take a 1 in the waiting area, 2 him it would be at least 40 Minutes 3 someone would be able to see him I saw him4his watch and decided, since I was5busy—my patient didn't6 at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound .While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment .The gentleman said no and told me that he 7to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his8. He told me that she had been 9for a while and that she had a special disease I asked if she would be10if he was a bit late. He replied that she 11 knew who he was，that she had not been able to 12 him for five years now. I was13, and asked him, "And you14go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled and said. "She doesn't know me but I know who she is" I had to hold back 15 as he left.

    Now I 16 that in marriages，true love is17of all that is .The happiest people don't 18have the best of everything; they just 19the best of everything they have.20 isn't about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.