There are many kinds of friends. Some are always1you, but don't understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only2friends leave footprints.

    I shall always recall the autumn and the girl with the3. She will always bring back the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.

    It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves4in the cool wind. In such a5, I liked walking alone in the leaves,6to the sound of them.

    Autumn is a harvest season and7is uninteresting. The free days always get me8. But one day, the sound of a violin9into my ears like a stream flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was10in playing her violin.

    I had11seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn't know that I had been12there for so long but my existence did not seem to disturb her.

    Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building13I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became14.Though we didn't know each other, I thought we were already good15. I believe she also liked me.

    Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly16.To my surprise, the girl came over to me.

    “You must like violin.” she said.

    “Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

Suddenly, a17expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.

    “I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that18me.” she said.

    “In fact, it was your playing19gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let's be friends.”

    The girl smiled, and so did I.

    I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure(身影) of the girl. She is like a20so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off much light that makes the autumn beautiful.

    My first full time job after high school was selling vacation packages via telephone for a well-known company. One day, the dialer 1me to a man who answered the phone and2a bit out of breath. I started with my normal pitch（推销), and3to hear the normal, "I don't want any," and be hung up on.

    Instead he spoke in a low, weak voice and told me how he wished he could take a4like the one I was offering, but couldn't5he was dying of emphysema (肺气肿). He 6how he was on oxygen, and it took almost all his7just to get to the phone to answer the call. I8 and my heart fell into my stomach. He asked me if I smoked, which I did, and then begged me to stop. He told me smoking is 9was killing him, and how horrible it was. He told me to 10every day with my loved ones, and tell them all the time how much I love them. At this 11, I was in tears, and couldn't control myself, and he could tell.

    After a few moments, I decided to write down his name and 12, and just send him a card telling him that I13his advice and that I would pray for him and his family. Shortly after, I received a nice letter back from Frank, along with a picture of him and his wife. We continued to write back and forth over the next few months or so, and became very 14of each other. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and in many ways, I felt 15he were.

    It was about a year later I received a letter from his wife, and when I started to read it, my eyes were filled with tears. She told me how Frank's 16with the disease had finally come to an end, and he 17shortly before Christmas .She wanted to thank me for the letters I had written to Frank, and then explained how Frank touched many lives over the years. At his 18  to show just that, they read the 1st letter I had written to Frank to show how he 19a 19-year- old person he had20even met.

    I will never forget how much that meant to me.

    These days my work is mostly on the Internet. However, there is one 1 that I use nearly every day. And I learned it from my dad almost 40 years ago in a very different 2.

My father ran a plumbing(水管) shop. I had to 3 him with his work. One day, I was asked to work 4 a concrete floor. It wasn't the kind of work I5 The work was physical work which involved6 a chisel(凿子) and swinging a five- pound hammer at it really 7 Often, my aim was bad 8 the hammer missed the chisel and 9 my wrist. After ten minutes, my dad came, expecting to find the job completed. Actually, it wasn't. He asked, "Son, have you been doing it all the time?""Well dad," I told him 10"I figure out a good way to do this more11 I just tap the chisel and move it. I'm generating a circle of shock wave down into the concrete. That way, it'll break along the lines and I won't hurt my wrist again." Dad gave me a12 look. He said, "Son, just hit the thing." Then Dad13 me his hand. I saw many scars on it .He told me, "If you stick to the work, you'll 14 it sooner. " Well, I did hit it then. And the job only took five more minutes to finish15 enough, even though I hammered my 16 two or three times, I was proud that I'd just done it.

Today, nearly 40 years later, when I 17 any difficulty in work I still hear my father's voice, "Son just hit the thing."I feel18 because I know he's still urging me to take action, go ahead, get the job done, and never 19the scars. And that's not a bad 20 to carry through life.

    Carl Kenton is a wealthy businessman. Five years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he 1 his small company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his 2 expensive “school” fee. He always owes his success to it.

    At that time, Glen, who already got a PhD degree, decided to return to the homeland, starting a company. Before 3 , he bought a Rolex watch with the 4 made through years of work after school and the scholarships. At the airport he had to accept the routine customs check. The watch on his wrist was also demanded to be 5 down for inspection. Glen knew that carrying the 6 goods out had to pay the tax and he worried about paying 7 for his watch. So when he was checked, he told a lie that his watch was a 8 fake (假货). When he was 9 of his “smarts”, immediately, 10 the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch, which 11 nearly 100,000, into pieces at hearing Glen's words. Glen was 12. Before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined 13. For many times of entry-exit 14, he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully in the box and 15 him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if 16 reusing and carrying fake and shoddy goods, he would be charged according to law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after 17 the plane for long.

    After returning to the homeland, he often told the story to his family and his employees, too. He said that this made a deep 18 on him because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of 19, which he would 20 as the secret of his success forever.

    In October, I told the eight-year-olds in my class about my plan. “I'd like all of you to do 1  jobs around the house to earn some money, ”I said.“ Then we'll 2  food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner  3  .”

    Early in Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in the  4 , clutching their hard-earned money. I watched them running up and down, busily doing their 5  .At last we headed toward the checkout, pushing a  6  filled with turkey and all the trimmings(配料).Then someone spotted a “necessity” that sent them racing.

    “Flowers!' Kristine cried. The group 7 toward the holiday plants.

Stuck in the middle was a pot of purple mums. “She'11 like this one.” the children  8 , and put the purple plant into the cart.

    We finally 9 in front of a small bungalow in the woods. A slightly-built woman with a weary face came to the door to 10  us.

    My little group hurried to get the 11. As each box was carried in, the old woman oohed and aahed(欢天喜地)—much to her visitors' 12 .When Amy put the mums on the counter, the woman seemed surprised. She's 13 it was a bag of flour, I thought.

    We returned to the car. We could see the kitchen 14 .The woman inside waved15, then turned and walked 16the room, past the turkey, past the trimmings, straight to the 17. She put her face in their petals(花瓣).When she raised her head, there was a 18on her lips.

    The children were quiet. In that one brief moment, they had seen for themselves the 19 they possessed to make another's 20 better.

    When I was young, I read only comic books. My mother, who was a keen reader, tried to get me to read regular books, but they seemed 1 to me. Why would anyone want to read a book without pictures, I wondered? It would be 2 watching a movie with your eyes closed. And novels seemed to be too 3! In my mind, a comic book was a roller coaster ride 4 a novel was five hours in rush hour traffic.

    Whenever she saw me with a comic book, my mother would complain, which totally 5 my comic book reading experience. One summer, she even 6 me. "If you don't read at least one book this summer, we're not going to go on our camping trip," she said. What could I do? I had been looking forward to that 7 for months!

    "Fine," I 8, "I'll read one book. "9, my mother took me down to her evil dungeon (地牢), the local 10, where the librarian 11 The lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I unwillingly 12 the book while my mother and the librarian exchanged a(n) 13 glance.

    When we got home, I cracked the book open and started reading. I 14 I'd read the first few pages then skip to the end because I knew my mother would 15 me about it. Imagine my 16 when my mother called me to dinner and I was halfway through the book! 17 a comic book was a roller coaster ride, the novel was all the rides at Disney world rolled into one!

    I 18 reading the entire The Chronicles of Narnia series that summer, which I consider the 19 of my great friendship with books. Now I read an average of one book a week, and sometimes my wife 20 that I read too much!