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.”

    My wife and I moved to the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee in November, from New York to a very rural area. While moving we had the1of our adult daughter.

    During the 2days of moving into our new home, we3in the local community a lot. One evening we decided to have a meal at a buffet style restaurant. It had been a long day of 4boxes and furniture, and the next day would see us on the long drive back to our former home for another 5, a thousand mile long trip. We were all 6. But the buffet was great, and we7our meal feeling rested and relaxed.

    When I went to pay our bill,8in hand, the waitress cashier told me that they didn't 9credit cards. Being from the big city, it was10to use a credit card. Oops!

    I had no11in my pocket, but about 10 miles back down the road I'd seen a bank with an ATM. I told the lady that I would 12my family there and return in a few minutes to pay for our meals. “ Oh, you 13do that,” she told me. “ You just come back 14time and pay us then.” WHAT? I looked at her in 15. These people had16seen me before, did not know if I would ever return, yet they 17me to return to pay for three adult meals? This is not something that I had ever experienced in the big 18, that's for sure.

    We have lived there for almost six years, and every single week I see other acts of trust like this happening. It may be a “country” thing, or just19Southern hospitality. Whatever it is, I certainly like it, and I pass on this 20every chance I get.

    Over the years, thanks to my life's obstacles, I understood the meaning of faith and the strong will to survive. It was Hurricane Ike that made me fully1the beauty of our strength and a human's motivation to2.

Mom had a two-week3in summer. While we enjoyed our holiday in Southeast Texas, we didn't realize the fact that Ike4cause months and likely years of "labor". By September 7th, the "eyes of Texas" were watching Hurricane Ike more5, making the typical mad rush for last-minute hurricane 6. Two days later, both oil and ice were in7 demand.

    In the early hours of September 11th, some neighbors were planning to 8the storm in their homes,9others were making final preparations to get away. At first, we decided to stay. But that afternoon, the Houston-Galveston area would be on the more10side of the storm. Mom and I packed some of our most11belongings in the car and12the East Texas town of Lufkin.

    As Ike pushed farther inland, we13power in Lufkin. On Sunday, our next-door neighbor told us via cell phone that our14had remained well. Our hopes could not have been15. But a few hours later, the neighbors reported that our brick chimney had16, and it was sitting on our living room,17a hole in the roof between two skylights (天窗).

We wouldn't be allowed to return home18September 17th. I climbed upstairs, and looked toward the hole in the roof which showed a beautiful blue sky. Without hesitation, I shouted, "Wow! A third skylight!" My neighbors could not believe I was making jokes19crying, but20 is always good medicine. It was with that joke that I knew, given time, everything would be okay.

    Michael Wang was a senior at James Logan High School, US, back in 2012. According to The New Yorker, he was confident that he could get into an Ivy League university, such as Harvard or Yale. He had a high GPA, 1 at debating and co-founded a math club. He was also a talented pianist. 2, his dream universities turned him down. His less talented classmates, who were Hispanic or African-American, were admitted into these schools. It made him wonder if he was 3 because he was Asian.

    On Oct 15, a lawsuit against Harvard brought on behalf of Asian-American students like Wang Began students for Fair Admissions(SFFA),a US non-profit organization. 4 Harvard for using racial balancing in their admissions process. Harvard has denied the 5considers many factors when 6 whether a student should be admitted, including academic performance and extracurricular activities. Harvard added that the number of Asian-Americans admitted to the school had greatly increased since 2010.”Race alone is never the reason a student's7 admission, ”William Lee, a lawyer for Harvard, told the guardian. ”And race is never the reason a student is denied.”

    Harvard is not the only university to have been accused of 8against Asian-Americans. In September, the US Justice Department begin to9whether Yale University discriminates against Asian-Americans, The case has 10 a longstanding debate over affirmative action policies(平均法案政策) that allow universities to use race as a factor when considering applications. The policies11 benefit African-American and latino students in an effort to make up for centuries of racial discrimination, according to THE NEW YORK Times, the SFFA wants the use of race in the admissions process to be ended, 12 that it causes inequality.” People should be judged on character and 13,”However, in a student, Havard said that 14 the race criterion would “reduce students' opportunities to live and learn in a diverse campus environment”.

    Although the case has just begun, the15judgement” could influence admissions to US universities for years to come,” according to AI Jaxeera, a Qatar based TV station

    When we're young, especially in our twenties or even thirties, we may feel uncertain about our future. For years I have had no idea what I have been doing with my life, I was a thirty-year-old lawyer in New York. 1 being a lawyer was never my dream or goal in life. I honestly wanted to be a writer. I have a great 2 and would write amazing stories in my head. But I always knew that being a writer was 3 possible for me because it was a better 4 decision to stay a lawyer.

    Lately, I couldn't fall asleep 5 my usual time of 10 p. m. and when I did fall asleep I had the same dream 6. The dream starts with me in the ocean 7 to go for a swim and I'm searching for something, but I start to 8 and have no control over my 9. Then a light shines through the waters and when I look up, all I can 10 is myself in a bright white mom writing a 11. Then I hear a voice say 12, “Now is the time to try something new: now is the time to try something new.

    Something indescribable always stayed in my mind. It wasn't just a dream; it was my 13 to make something good out of my life. That afternoon, I 14 my job at the law firm and I couldn't have been any 15. My life started at 30, and every day 16 that point I haven't stopped enjoying life. I started to 17 and have been on the best-sellers list for the last two months. Things have definitely 18 well.

    19 is a good thing; it gives us an opportunity to take a chance. So my two favorite words I live by and so 20 you are "change and chance".

    Cruz Gent, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn't agree. Were the 1 out on the ice ducks or geese? There was only one way to find out. So on a 2 January evening last year, the two friends 3 onto the frozen pond near their homes to get a better 4.

    First they threw a rock onto the ice to test it. Then they stepped on it. Convinced the ice would 5 their weight, Anthony took a few steps, then... FOOMP. He crashed through the 6 frozen surface. Instantly Cruz rushed to help his 7 friend. FOOMP — the pond swallowed him too.

    Cruz 8 to lift himself out of the icy water and onto a more solid section. He then 9 worked his way toward Anthony. But the ice didn't hold, and he fell in again. This time, he couldn't get out.

    The boys were up to their necks in the cold water and quickly 10 feeling in their arms and legs. Any chance of their freeing themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure he was going to 11.

    Anthony's older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and 12 screaming for help. John Lavin, a 13 driving nearby on his way to the grocery store, heard her. He quickly 14. Seeing the boys, he grabbed a nearby buoy (浮标), 15 his shoes, and ran into the icy water, making his way through the ice with his free fist. Finally, Lavin got close to Cruz and Anthony and pulled them back to   16. They were taken to the hospital, where 17 discovered that their five-minute stay in the water had18 their body temperature nearly ten degrees.19, the boys have fully recovered, but they are still impressed by their 20 neighbor." Just think," says Cruz, "if he hadn't been there, I could have died."