The greatest saleswoman in the world today doesn't mind if you call her a girl. This is because Markita Andrews made more than $ 80,000 by selling cookies when she was 13 years old. Andrews and her mother shared a dream of travelling around the world. Once, while reading magazines, Andrews found that the person who sold the most cookies would win a free trip for two around the world. She decided to have a try.

    To make her dream come true, Andrews went door to door every day after school and repeated, "Hi, I have a dream. I'm earning a trip around the world for my mum and me by selling cookies. "Then she asked, "Would you like to buy one or two dozen boxes of cookies?"

    Andrews kept asking for a whole year, no matter how heavily it was raining or snowing outside. Her hard work paid off. She sold 42,000 boxes of cookies that year and she won her trip around the world.

    Andrews is no smarter than thousands of other people. The key to her success is that she has found the secret of selling: Ask. Ask. Ask! Many people fail before they even begin because they fail to ask for what they want.

    It takes courage to ask for what you want. And, as Andrews has discovered, the more you ask, the easier it gets.

Face—to—face with the New Me

    Jessica's mother noticed Jessica hadn't returned to the dentist waiting room just before her surgery was supposed to start. She walked to the bathroom and found Jessica in here, crying. She took her daughter into her arms. "We're going to say goodbye to the old Jessica," she said. "And hi to the new Jessica."

    Jessica, from St Louis. US, had been wishing for this day since high school, when the bullying about her started. Now that it was finally happening, she was nervous.

    It was a social—media post two months ago that got her here. Someone posted a photo of Jessica with a comment about her overbite. The post was shared many times, with many people making mean remarks about her appearance.

    The bullies didn't know the road Jessica had traveled. She underwent nine operations on her ears from age 2 to 12 years old. She was almost deaf in her right ear. Her adult teeth didn't start coining in until she was 11 or 12, and doctors couldn't figure out why they were pushed outward. It got worse as she got older. Jessica had been trying for years to get her teeth fixed, but it was always too costly.

    When her story got out, Maryann Udy, a dentist, got in contact with Jessica and offered her a new smile—free of charge. The surgery was long and complicated It took several months before Jessica's new smile was ready.

    Later that year, she looked at her old photos online and smiled. "I loved her," she said. She's grateful to be in less pain, to be on the path to a new smile. Sometimes, though, it feels like something is missing from who she was.

    Still, she loves taking selfies and admiring her new appearance. "I looked good before," she said. "I look even better now."

One Thursday afternoon, when I was in Grade 7, a new boy came into my classroom. He was short and thin. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me, and then looked away. I didn't think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn't the type I would like to become friends with.

During that year, I didn't talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me.

But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. We made fun of him though I thought it was wrong. 

"Haven't you got any friends? " a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, head down.  "No, he hasn't got any friends. He's too stupid and shy. " I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

That night, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get Christian's face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, he never met my eyes in class and never smiled at me. It was really hard for me to decide to write him a note asking him to forgive（原谅）me. But I thought I should. 

The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears in his eyes. "You will never realize (意识到) what your apology（道歉）has meant to me, Jimmy, "he said to me. "I hope we can become friends. "

We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends.

When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized, I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was.

Apologies can really change your life, so never miss the chance to tell somebody you are sorry.

Christopher's mother now is sitting proudly and watching TV as Christopher is given the "Child of Courage" prize by his favorite TV star. This makes her remember the accident happened to them. 

Christopher was sitting in the car with his mother, father, sister Rosie, 10, and brother Mac, 7, when his father drove onto a metal barrier(障碍物). Unluckily, the car fell down from a hill into a deep river. Christopher, then 12, swam through a broken window and got out for the fresh air. Then he realized his brother and sister were still in the car. 

Christopher took a deep breath and swam back into the car. He saved Mac first, then he swam back to look for Rosie, who was under the cold, dark water, in the car. Christopher had to feel for her seatbelt because he couldn't see anything in the water. He took the seatbelt off her, and went up for air. Finally he went back to pull her out of the car. 

Christopher's mother and father were thrown out before the car rolled down the hill. When his mother came back to her life, she looked for her children hurriedly. She could see Mac on the bank, but she couldn't find the other ones. She was so worried. Then she saw Christopher come up out of the water like a dolphin with Rosie on his shoulder. She shouted excitedly to Christopher down to the river, "I'm so proud of you. "

The family called for an ambulance (救护车). It took Christopher's father who was badly hurt to a nearby hospital immediately.