B

    A man bought a donkey (驴子) at the market one day and took him home. Now the man has owned several donkeys already and he knew them very well. One of the donkeys was very strong and brave, another was moody(喜怒无常的). One donkey was very lazy, he hated going to work in the morning and he did as little as he could all day long. When the other animals were being loaded(装载) up, he always tried to be the last so that he would get the lightest load.

    The man took the new donkey into the yard. For a moment he stood there, looking at his new friends. Then, without thinking, he walked up to the lazy donkey and began eating comfortably at his side.

    Though it was late in the day, the man immediately took the new donkey out of the yard, straight back to the market. "You cannot do like this," said the merchant (商人), "It is only ten minutes since you bought him."

    "I don't need him any more," replied the man, "I know just what he is like from the friend he chose for himself. Take him away and give my money back. I don't need donkeys like him."

    Have you ever heard that "Success is a journey, not a destination"? As a man aged 30, I believe it's true. It is, in fact, my law of life. In my eyes, what matters is not necessarily where you are in the end, but what you achieve while you are trying along the way. It means that no matter what, as long as you try, you can never fail. It means you can learn from your mistakes and continue on the next journey a little wiser.

    I think St Louis Rams, a professional American football team in Missouri, as a whole shared my law of life. They played every game with their full potential (潜能) instead of letting a few winning games go to their heads. They had the goal of playing in every Super Bowl, a football game played in the US each year on the first Sunday, in February. Even though they lost some games, they didn't give up.

    It doesn't matter if you don't have the ability to be on top in the end or to win the game; what matters is that you work hard the whole time. You should understand that success is a non-ending journey. Everyone should realize that someone will win and someone will lose, but what's important is that both sides need to try their best. After all, it's not who wins or loses, but how well you play the game and you should remember this in your own life.

    Miya, nine years old, and her six-year-old sister Tiffany were in the swimming pool in the back garden of their house. Their father David was with them. It was a lovely day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

    Suddenly David shouted. He was in trouble. It was his leg His legs weren't right. He was in pain. Then he was under the water. The girls weren't scared but they were worried. Was it just a joke or was he really in trouble? Twenty seconds later, he was still under the water. Now Miya was scared.

    There was no time to wait. In seconds, Miya was under the water with her father. He was heavy but with the help of the water, she was able to pull him to one side of the pool. Now his head was out of the water. He was alive but he wasn't conscious(苏醒).

    There was a mobile phone in the house. Tiffany called 911 as quickly as she could. Ten minutes later, doctors came. Soon their father was conscious again. The girls were relieved.

    David still doesn't know what was wrong with his legs on that day. But he knows that his daughters were heroes and thanks them every day for saving his life He is a very proud father.

    It is believed in some ways that the daughter is father's lover. But my experience has taught me in a different way. For a long time my father has been a very vague figure(模糊形象)to me. He was a man of few words, tall but slim and nothing else.

    When I was in primary school, my father was never there to pick me up, and he never came to any of my parent-teacher meetings. He was always busy doing projects. I remember when I was in middle school and my head was badly hurt in a PE class. During my operation my father was nowhere to be found. This hurt me most. At that moment, I considered my father as a cold-blooded man who did not care about me at all.

    But things seemed different at my high school graduation ceremony where I was chosen to represent my class and give a speech. My father, once again, told me he had a business trip in a place outside the city and would be unable to show up(露面), "Don't come. I will be very nervous if I see you. "I told him.

    I remember my speech went smoothly. After the ceremony was over and I was about to leave, I suddenly noticed a familiar looking man sitting in a corner of the hall. It was my father！I was so surprised that I rushed to him with tears running down my face. "Well done," he said. His eyes were also filled with tears.

    Later, I found out that my father had managed to finish his work by staying up late, and he drove for eight hours to get back. He had been sitting in the corner because he didn't want me to see him. My father remembered every word in my speech.

    For much of my life I described my father was a cold-blooded man who only cared about his work. But when I thought deeply about this, it was obviously not true. At my graduation ceremony, I could feel my father's deep love. The fact is that seeing is not believing, and seeing may not be the fact if we don't perceive(感知)the world with our hearts and minds. There's no doubt that life doesn't lack(缺少)love, but sometimes our eyes have trouble seeing it.

    One day, I picked up my daughter Eloise from school and went to the supermarket for a few things. I was hoping to be in and out quickly.

    I found a short line with just one person in front of me. It was an elderly woman, and she was paying for her things with only change. After a long day at work. I was not happy with this woman.

    But then I watched the young clerk. He helped her count her change, even so gently taking it from her shaking hands. I listened to him repeatedly say to her: "Yes, ma'am." When she asked if she had enough to buy a bag, he told her she did. Then he went two lines over to get one for her. Never one did this clerk get angry or roll his eyes. He was patient and kind.

    As I was watching him, I saw Eloise was too. I realized my daughter was learning an important lesson from a complete stranger.

    When the woman was finished, the clerk began ringing up my things and thanked me for my patience. I paid 33 dollars and thanked him too. I found the manager and told him about the clerk's kindness and patience.

    Then we left the supermarket with a full cart, but also with a heart full of thankfulness for such an important lesson.