One day a young man put an ad (广告) in most of the newspapers in England. He said that his parents   1 him millions of pounds (英镑). He graduated from Oxford University. Everyone knows this university is one of  2   universities in the world. So he had got a great education there. He'd like a girl to be his3  . The girl must be like the one in the books written by Somerset Maugham,  4  Maugham was his favourite.

This ad was read and known   5 by parents and young girls all over the country. Parents went to shops to   6  the books. They bought those books for their daughters  7 presents. Girls tried to get those books   8 . They wanted to know what kind of person the writer liked so that they could marry the young man.

All the books written by Maugham 9  in a short time and the writer became famous.

Can you guess who the young man was? It was Somerset Maugham   10  ! What a clever man he was!

    I got out of the train station with my father. A woman came to him and said that her money had been stolen(偷). She asked if he could1her some money to go back home. My father gave her what she asked for and told her not to worry about paying it back. I was2. How could my father be so silly? Anyone could see that she was telling a lie(谎言), staying at the station all day long3for money.

    "She was lying!" I said."4did you give her the money?"

    My father looked at me. He was a bit angry. "And what would you like me to do?" he said.

    "Should I tell her that I am a college professor and I can see through her scam(骗局）？" I did not5his meaning at all, and then he told me something that I have6forgotten. "First, she would not do this7she didn't need the money. Second, I made her day, because now she thinks that she's8than me. It is more important to9than the money. but I don't mind this."

    A week later, we were at the same station, and the same woman came to my father with the same story. "Not this time," my father told her. "In your business, you should learn to recognize(认出) people. Try another10on me next week."

    When I was in primary school, I had a big argument with a boy in my class. I can't remember what it was about, but I have never forgotten the 1 I learned that day.

    I was sure that I was right and he was wrong. 2, he strongly believed that I was wrong and he was right. The teacher decided to teach us a lesson. She 3 with a good idea. She brought both of us to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her grey desk and me on the other. In the middle of the desk was a large, round object. It was 4 for me to see that it was black.  She asked the boy what color the object was. "5," he answered in a loud voice.

    I couldn't 6 that the object was white, considering that it was certainly black! One more argument started between the boy and me, this time 7 the color of the object.

    The teacher told us to change our 8, and then she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was then that I knew what was wrong. It was an object with two 9 colored sides, and from his side it was white. Only from my side was it black.

    My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must 10 in other person's position（位置） and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their ideas.

    Once there was a king. He was wise but everyone was afraid of him. His face showed the sadness deep in his heart. So there were deep1lines(皱纹) on his face.

    In his country lived a beautiful girl. Everyone seemed to love her, so did the king. He wanted to2her, and finally he decided to speak to her of his love. After he dressed in his best clothes, he looked in the3,but he saw a hard face,4when he tried to smile.

    How about wearing a mask(面具)?” he thought. Then he ordered his magician to paint a mask that looked kind and happy and handsome. The magician5and said, " But you must keep your own face in the same lines that I paint and be kind to all people from your heart. If not, the mask will break. The mask looked so6that no one knew it was not the true face of the king. Months passed, the beautiful lady7the king, and the king treated everyone8to keep the mask from breaking.

    At last, the king didn't want to cheat his beautiful wife any more.9he asked the magician to take the mask off. Surprisingly, he found his face was just like the mask he had worn10so long!

    This story tells us that a man is what he is in his heart.

    My dad had a keen imagination, and would play a little good-night game every day. He would 1 my room to talk to me and listen to the joys and sorrows of my day. As he was leaving, Dad would blow out my light like the birthday candles one, 2.

    As he did his little routine, Dad would say, "The light will be dark. As far as you're concerned, it will be dark all over the world because your world is the one you control totally by yourself. The world is yours to see that way. So, keep your light 3.

    When I was very young, I used to -4 there in bed after Dad left and try to understand what he meant, It was 5 as I was so young. What Dad was trying to tell me was that when I went to 6 at night, the world came to a stop, When I woke up in the morning I could 7 to see a fresh new world through my own eyes. In other words, if I woke up happy, the world was happy. If I woke up not feeling well, the world felt 8.

My father's guidance about self-aware and about the power of the eye of others was invaluable: "Everything depends on how you9 what happens in life. And what matters greatly is how you take it."

That good-night game with my father taught me that people's 10 of me aren't important. It's the way I handle them that makes the difference.

    "I have lots of dreams," said Laurie. He lay down and looked up at the sky.

    "Tell us about your favorite one, Laurie," Meg said.

    "Only if you tell me about 1," the boy replied.

    The girls agreed, so Laurie began.

    "I want to travel around the world and 2 lots of places. Then I'd like to become a famous musician. 3 wants me to be a businessman like him. But I don't 4 money or business. I just want to enjoy myself."

    "5 don't you get on a ship and sail away?" said Jo.

    "No, Jo," said Meg quickly.

    "That isn't right. Laurie, you must do what your grandfather wants. He loves you."

     "Perhaps you are right, Meg," Laurie said. "My grandfather is old and he doesn't have 6 else. He only has me. Tell us about your favorite dream, Meg!"

    "I'd like a lovely house, 7 of all kinds of nice things — good food, pretty clothes and 8 furniture," Meg said." And lots of money, of course. I'd also like to help people."

    "And what about a 9 and some beautiful children in your lovely house?" said Jo, laughing. Meg looked at Laurie and her face 10 red.

    "I suppose you want horses and books in your house, Jo!" she replied.

    "You're right! Lots of Arabian 11 and rooms full of books," said Jo. "I want to 12 books and be a rich and famous writer. That's my favorite 13. And yours, Beth?"

    "I dream about staying at home with Father and Mother and looking after the family. I don't want anything else." said Beth 14.

    "My favorite dream is to be a(n) 15. I want to paint wonderful pictures." said Amy.

    "Let's meet again in ten years and see how many of us have got our wishes," said Jo.

—taken from Little Women