A

    Mr. White works in an office. He liked reading in bed when he was at school. It was bad for his eyes and now he is near-sighted. But he wouldn't want anybody else to know about it and he never wears a pair of glasses. It often brings him some trouble.

    One winter morning he was sent to a village school on business. He got off a bus at a stop in a small town. Then he had to walk there. The road to the village wasn't smooth. There were stones here and there. He fell over several times and it made his clothes very dirty. At last he got to the village. Suddenly it began to blow strongly and it got much colder. His hat was blown off while he was looking for the school. He had to run after it but he couldn't catch it. He was wondering why his hat ran into a house as if it had legs. And then he ran into the house, too.

    A big woman appeared and stopped him by shouting angrily, "What are you running after my hen for?"

    A group of old classmates, who have succeeded in their work, got together to visit their teacher. Their conversation soon turned to complaining(抱怨) about the stress(压力 ) in their work and life. The teacher went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and many cups. Some of the cups are expensive and lovely, but some are cheap and not beautiful.  The teacher told them to help themselves to the coffee.

     When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the teacher said, "Have you noticed all the nice looking expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the cheap ones? It's OK for you lo want only the best for yourselves, but that is why you have the stress in your work and life even if you're very successful now. "

    "All of you really wanted the coffee, not the cups, but you cheese the beast cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

    "Now think about this: life is the coffee, and money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold life. They do not change the quality (质量) of life. Sometimes, we just care about the cups, and we fail to enjoy the coffee. So, don't let the cups drive you; enjoy the coffee instead. "

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    Perhaps the only test score that I remember is the 55 I got when I was in high school.

    The test was the last one of the term. I remember waiting nervously as my teacher Mr. Right gave out our papers one after another. It was a rather difficult test. I heard my classmates groaning(叹息),and I could guess by the groans that the scores were not looking good.

    Mr Right put my paper on my desk. There in big red numbers, circled to catch attention, was my score, 55! I let my head go down, and covered the score up quickly. A 55 is not something that you wanted your classmates to see. "The scores were not very good, none of you passed," Mr Right said. "The highest score in the class was a 55."

    A 55. That's me! Suddenly I didn't feel so bad. I had the highest score. I was getting a little better.

    I walked home alone that day with the low but high score. My mother knew that I had a big test that day and asked me as soon as I got home, "How did you do in your test? ""I got 55, "I said. A frown (皱眉) appeared on my mother's face I knew I had to explain at once. "But Mum, I had the highest score in the class," I said proudly. "You failed, Dave!" my mother replied. "But it's the highest!" I insisted (坚持). "I don't care what scores others had, you failed. The important thing is what you do!" my mother said in a strong way.

    For years, my mother was always in that way. She didn't care what others did, only cared what I did and that I did it excellently. My mother's words have made a big difference to my life.

    Once upon a time, a proud (骄傲的) Swallow lived in a large tree. He liked his colorful feathers (羽毛) and his long tail so much that he believed nothing could be better than them. One day he saw a Crow and thought. "How silly this bird is! All his feathers are black." He looked at himself lovingly and enjoyed his own feathers.

    Just then, the crow flew and sat on the same branch as the Swallow. The Swallow said, "All your feathers are black and your tail is so short." The Crow smiled and said. "But they help me fly." The Swallow said. "So do mine. But look at how beautiful they are!" He spread (展开) his wings and flew a little closer to the Crow. The Crow saw that the Swallow had lots of blue feathers and some white and pink ones, too. He looked at his own feathers and thought, "It's true. The Swallow's feathers are much prettier than mine."

    The Crow said, "Swallow, you're right. You have lovely feathers and a long tail, but only in summer. Your little feathers cannot keep you warm in winters at all. While you shiver (颤抖) in the cold, my thick feathers keep me warm in the cold winters."