I was 15 when I walked into McCarley's bookstore in Ashland. As I was looking at all the books on the   1   , the shop owner asked if I'd like a job. I needed to start   2  money for college, so I said yes. I worked after school and during the summer for the lowest pay, and the job helped pay for my first year of college. I would do many other jobs and I   3   made maps for the US Forest Service. But selling books was one of the most satisfying.

    One day a woman asked me for books on cancer. She seemed   4  . I showed her almost everything we had at that time in the  5and found other books we could order. She left the store less  6 . I've always remembered the  7 I felt in having helped her.

    Years later, as a TV reporter in Los Angeles, I   8   a child who was born with his fingers connected(jointed together). His family could not   9   a corrective operation, and the boy lived in shame, hiding his hand in his pocket.

Luckily, I  10   persuading(说服) my boss to let me do the story. After my story was broadcast, a doctor and a nurse called,    11  to perform the operation for free.

    I visited the boy in the recovery room soon after the operation. The first thing he did was to hold up his repaired 12and say, “thank you.” I felt a sense of   13  .

    In the past, while I was at McCarley's bookstore, I always felt that I was working for the   14 , not the store. Today it's the same. NBC News pays me,   15  I feel as if I work for the TV viewers, helping them make sense of the world, not the TV station.

    Ray Charles，a black singer and pianist of the USA．He had won 12 Grammy Awards （格莱美奖） and performed at 10，000 concerts around the world．Many musicians called him simply"the Genius"（天才）．

    Ray Charles was born into a poor family，without a father．When he was 5 years old，his younger brother died. And around the same time，Charles started to lose his sight．By the age of 7 he was completely blind．He had already been learning the piano for a year. And when he went blind，his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future．All his life，Charles remembered her saying："Do it right，or don't do it at all．"

    Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children．There the teachers also encouraged him to study music．Sadly，while he was still at school，his mother died．He left school and in the early 1950s Charles organized a group of players．He sang，played the piano and wrote music．

    He made many classical CDs with famous artists such as Elton John and the Beatles．

    In 2003 a film of his life Ray was made．The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx．The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles．After they had been playing together for two hours，Charles，then aged 73，jumped up and said："He's the one…he can do it．"A year later Charles died aged 74．The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles' music will live on．

    Yesterday wasn't a good day. The weather wasn't very nice. It was cold and rainy. The bus wasn't on time. It was late. My boss（老板）wasn't very happy because I was late（迟）for work. He was a-little angry.

    At 1 o'clock I went to a cafe for lunch, but the food wasn't hot and the coffee was cold. I wasn't very happy. Then I went back to work, but my papers（文件）weren't on my desk. They were missing. I looked for them everywhere, but I couldn't find them. Later someone gave them back to me. I went home from work at 5 o'clock and it started to rain again. I got very wet.

    Roger is new in town, and it has been hard to make friends. The kids at school are nice, but Roger is shy. His birthday is coming up soon. He is planning a big party. It will be a lot of fun. There will be cake, and ice cream, and a treasure hunt(寻宝游戏). But what if none of the other kids want to come?

    One week before his party, Roger and his dad go to their favorite restaurant. Benny's Pizza Parlor makes the best pizza in town. Roger orders a large pizza, with four kinds of cheese and extra pepperoni (意大利香肠). He loves every bite. When he is finished, Roger and his dad go to the kitchen to talk to Benny.

"How was the pizza?" Benny asks.

    "It was great!" says Roger.

    "Thank you!" says Benny.

    Suddenly, Roger gets a great idea. "Benny," he says. "Will you cook pizza for my birthday party?"

    "Hold on, Roger," says Roger's dad. "Benny is very busy. He might not have time to make pizza for your party." "But everyone loves his pizza!" says Roger. "If we have it, I'll be the most popular boy in school."

    "I know what to do," says Benny. "I won't cook pizza for your party. Instead, I'll show you how to make it yourself!" That week, Roger goes to Benny's Pizza Parlor every day after school. Benny shows him how to make pizza and he tries his best.

    Roger tells the kids at school that his party will have pizza from Benny's. Everyone is excited. Everyone loves Benny's pizza. But when they come to his house, Benny isn't there. Instead, they see Roger, wearing an apron(围裙) and a chef's hat. The kids don't believe that Roger knows how to make pizza. However, he's ready to prove them wrong. Roger makes them his favorite pizza, with four kinds of cheese, and extra pepperoni. Everyone says the pizza tastes just like Benny's. It might even be just a little bit better.