I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was 1 and when I was 14 he said, “You're never going to be 2 but a failure.”

    After five years of 3  jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best 4  that could have happened to me. I 5  to do something positive (积极地) with my life because I wanted to prove to 6  that what people said about me was 7 . Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let's 8  it, you've failed at everything you've ever done.” So I tried hard with my 9  and went to college. My first novel (小说) 10  while I was at college.

    After college I taught during the 11  in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a 12  in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of 13  that job to write full time 14  I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself — 15  was a working-class boy who'd 16  school early, now teaching at the university.

    My writing career (职业) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I'm rich and 17 , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. 18  what does it mean? I 19  wish all the people that have put me down had 20 : “I believe in you. You'll succeed.”

    When Glen Kruger picked a small cat from an animal shelter, he did not expect much.  Yet right from the start, eight years ago, there was an uncommon connection between him and the small black cat.  He 1 her Inky.

     “ I grew up on a hundred-acre farm and had only cats 2  playmates ,” Kruger,

The seventy-year-old man , says. “My hearing was damaged by the 3of farm equipment , so I learned to connect with4.  They react to what they see and what you do.  ”

    Inky was a gentle cat, 5 the house with five other cats.  But on a January night in 2009,  Inky did6 that would set her apart from7 cats forever.

    Kruger had gone down to the basement to8 the wood stove for the night.  When he was finished, he 9 to the top of the stairs and reached to  turn off the lights. In doing so , he slipped and 10  his back against an old shelf.  The heavy shelf came crashing down and sent Kruger down the stairs.

    11 in a pool of blood on the basement floor, Kruger felt  12 going into shock（休克）.  He shouted for help , 13   his wife, Brenda , was asleep in their      

bedroom at   the opposite end of the house.  14  Kruger noticed Inky watching from the top of the stairs.

    “Go get Brenda, ” Kruger said to Inky.

    Inky 15  to the bedroom door and scratched 16  until Brenda opened it.  Then Inky led her to  the  17 Brenda found her husband 18  the stairs and called 911.  Kruger was rushed to the hospital. “I spent six months19  therd,”

    Says Kruger .  “Although I became lame , I was blessed. ” Since the accident, Inky has 20

    Left Kruger's side.

    All kinds of people come in to have their shoes shined. Most folks are friendly. But this man was different.

    “How much do you make a week, boy？” he asked me. I felt he was 1 at me. He kept giving a sharp 2 around every now and then. All the time I kept 3 where I'd seen his face. Suddenly I knew. I'd seen his4in the post office many times. He was the big robber 5 by the police in three states!

    “You know，” he was saying, “it's imagination that people lack. You'll never get anywhere as a 6 boy.”

    I kept brushing away on his shoes as 7 as I could. The sooner I finished, the better. He said, “When I was sixteen, I had8 $2,500 of my own.”

    That reminded me of something. Was it $2,500 or $5,000 or $7, 500? I wasn't 9. I knew a big reward was 10 for him.

    But what could I do about it?11him with a can of shoe polish? A man of his 12 could grind (碾碎) me into the floor. If only someone would come in!

    He kept talking away. “Along with13 ， it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. Start something on a shoestring.”

    Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey 14 across the street. Then, real fast, I began tightening the man's shoestrings.

    The policeman was at the window when I cried out, “Officer Dailey,15！ This man's a robber.”

    “16 ， ” the man shouted angrily. He started to jump off the stand. But he didn't go the way he 17. He fell flat on his face and knocked himself out cold.

    “That was pretty 18 of you，” the officer said. “You'll get a reward of $7,500 for him.”

    “Well, it really wasn't my 19 ， ” I said. “It was his. He told me if you had courage and imagination you could start something big on a 20.”

    That day the college entrance exam 1were out at 11: 00 a. m., but I didn't know that. A friend of mine said my 2 remained the same as those I got last year. So I went into deep depression. My hard work 3 and I cried a lot in the bathroom. 4I motivated myself and came to the classroom at 5: 30 p. m. without 5the afternoon activities.

    Just then the headmaster came to our 6 and asked who Snehal Tanwar was. Hearing this I 7slowly and said" It's me". He said that I'd gotten the high score of 665. For a while my mind got struck and I asked him to 8 ; so I told him my hall ticket(准考证) number and waited for the result 9. He checked it in front of me and congratulated me. No words to 10 my excitement and I hugged my friends who were sitting beside me. My11were rolling out and I could not be able to speak a 12word and couldn't control myself. 13 in the class stood up, shouted my name and 14me. I was feeling on top of the world.

    15I was not the person who got the highest score in our high school. It was my best friend who attained the top. He was sitting beside me and at the moment he cried and hugged me tightly16I got my tears out again. I 17very happy and couldn't express the feeling of that moment Just 18the situation, the moment when both tears and happiness 19. Success is achieved by us. It was the best time in my life and of course, the 20moment. I was so happy not only for myself but also for my best friend.

    I remember one of my last few years at an amusement park. I had spent about five years working a booth (货摊) across from a(n) 1 comedian (喜剧演员).

    His name was Moonie. He was 2 amazing, and his act was done using nothing but gestures and noises instead of 3. I remember watching his shows and always being 4 . Even when he was having a bad day, the audience wasn't 5 , or his tightrope skills weren't as good as he would have liked, he always 6 to keep things funny and fresh. That's a very 7 thing to do, considering I watched him do the same act for five years, several times a day, each weekend.

    When I heard it would be his 8 year performing at the amusement park, I had wanted to 9 him for all the amazing shows he had done on that stage. He was 10 with the crowd after one of his last shows of the day. As each person dropped a 11 into his big basket, he was pointing at them with a huge smile and then saying "No, you're the 12!" to each one.

    I 13 him and dropped a twenty-dollar bill into his basket. He turned to me then, smiling very brightly, and continued with another, "No, you're the greatest!" I 14 him directly and stopped him, saying, "No, Moonie, you are the greatest. I have been 15 your shows for five years from that booth right over there. And I just want to say thank you for the years of amazing 16 that you have given me.

    The look on his face said that he was truly touched by that 17 . He asked me what my 18 was and asked to shake my hand. I 19 and we shared a very deep moment of mutual (相互的) 20 and gratitude. I walked away with great happiness, and I know he did, too.

    My husband and I both were working in a lonely village in northern Thailand. There were many 1, particularly around our housing.

    We 2 our house this past June. Shortly after, while we were working at the office, the 3 removed all the surrounding banana trees and the grass in order to raise the ground level — she had 4 on tearing down our house and building a new one after we left.

    She brought in tons of 5. This left our house in a kind of moat(壕沟), and when the heavy rain came, our house 6. This was upsetting, but it turned into something 7, because when the headmaster at my school became 8 of it, he got my eighth-grade class to come to help 9 up.

    The boys dug into the moat to drain the water, and built a path out to the street, 10 the girls mopped up the water inside and spread newspapers to 11 it. Before the problem was truly 12, however, we had another flood. This turned into a 13, with teachers and students again 14, and our host mother bringing lunch for everyone.

    Another time, my husband suddenly got very 15. It was going to take the 16 two hours to reach our house, 17 my co-teacher arranged for a truck from the government office to take us to meet it--this truly helped greatly by 18 two hours off the ride.

    There were many other 19 of care and kindness. This community is dear to our hearts, and there is no way we can ever 20 them. I plan to try my best to pay it forward by looking for people in need of help.