I do not know why I came to the decision to become a loser, but I know I made the choice at a young age. Sometime in the middle of fourth grade, I stopped 1. By the time I was in seventh grade, I was your2degenerate (颓废): lazy, rebellious, and disrespectful. I had lost all social 3 I terminally (不可救药的) followed, what was fashionable.

    Not long after that, I dropped out of school and 4 my downward spiral. Hard physical labor was the5for the choices I made as an adolescent. At the age of twenty-one, I was6 lost and using drugs as a way to deal with the fact that I was uneducated and7 in a dead-end job carrying roof materials up a ladder all day.

    But now I believe in do-overs, in the8 to do it all again. And I believe that do-overs can be made at any point in your life, if you have the right 9 Mine came from a10source.

    It was September 21, 2002, when my son Blake was born. It's funny that after a life of 11responsibility, now I was in charge of something so 12Over the years, as I grew into the title of Dad, I began to learn something about myself13 Blake and I were both learning to walk, talk, work, and play for the first time. I began my do-over.

    It took me almost three years to learn 14to read. I started with my son's books. Over and over, I practiced reading books to him15 I remembered all the words in every one of them. I began to wonder if it was possible for me to go back to school. I knew I wanted to be a good role model,16 after a year-and-a-half and a lot of hard work, I passed my GED test on my son's fourth birthday. This may not sound like 17and I am not trying to get praise for doing something that should have been done in the first place, but all things considered it was one of the18days in my life. Today, I am a full-time college student, studying to become a sociologist.

    Growing up, I19 heard these great turn-around stories of triumph over shortcomings. But I never thought they applied to me. Now I believe it is a (an)20anyone can make: To do it all over again.

    Many years ago at Christmas time I parked my car in the town centre on my way to the post office to post my Christmas cards. It was the last posting day for Christmas cards if they were to be 1 before Christmas.2 I came out of the car park I saw a boy who was 3 and holding his fight hand side. I 4 some bigger boys had perhaps bullied him and he was in 5 .I had to go to his aid and see if I could 6.

    He told me that his sister who was a 7 had bought him a Christmas present. It was a mobile phone. He only had it days when he 8 it and cracked the screen! That's 9 he was holding his right hand side of his body—his mobile phone was in the upper right hand pocket of his coat. The little guy was extremely 10 , tears rolling down his face as he told all this to me. My heart 11 for him. It was clear he 12 his present and knew that this was a lot of money for his 13 to spend on him, for nurses didn't make much money. He'd been to a phone shop and they'd told him it would be￡80 to get a new 14 .

    I had to help, though I was 15 to make ends meet myself. I searched my purse and gave the boy the only￡20 I could find and made some 16 as to why I could only give him so little. I didn't want him to know it was all I had until pay day. I could not 17 pay for his phone to be repaired but I hope the 18 he received from a stranger was 19 that stayed with him when he became a man.

    The Christmas cards not getting posted somehow didn't seem 20 ; greater issues had been addressed with a kindness stamp.

    In 1957, Jane Goodall first met the famous anthropologist (人类学者) Dr Louis Leakey, who later played an important role in her life. With the 1 of gaining insight into humans' evolutionary (进化的) past, Dr Leakey 2 a pioneering long-term field study on 3 chimps. Even though Jane had no formal 4, her patience and determination to understand animals 5 him to choose her for the study. 6 it was unusual for a woman to work in the forest of Africa, going there 7 the fulfillment (实现) of her childhood dream. In the summer of 1960 she 8 in Tanzania(坦桑尼亚) on Lake Tanganyika's eastern shore. This marked the 9 of the longest continuous field study of animals in their 10 habitat (栖息地). Five years 11, she earned a doctor's degree at Cambridge University and then 12 to Tanzania to found the Gombe Stream Research Center. And in 1977, to provide on—going 13 for chimp research, Dr Goodall 14 The Jane Goodall Institute.

    Today, she 15 most of her time traveling around the world, giving lectures on her 16 at Gombe and speaking to school groups about Roots && Shoots, her environmental education and humanitarian program for the 17.

    "Chimps have given me so 18. The long hours spent with them in the 19 have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my 20 of human behavior, of our place in nature."

    I was facing a decision. While delivering laundry (洗好的衣服) into the 1 bedrooms, I came across my thirteen-year-old sister's diary, suffused (弥漫) with 2. What was I to do?

    I had always been 3 of my little sister. Her charming smile, endearing personality and many talents 4 my place as leading lady. I competed with her secretly and grew to hate her natural abilities. 5, we seldom spoke. I sought opportunities to 6 her. Her diary lay at my feet, and I didn't think of the 7 of opening it, considering not her privacy, nor the morality of my action.

    I took the book from the floor and opened it 8, looking through the pages, searching for my name, convinced that I would discover 9. As I read, the blood ran from my face. I felt 10 and sat on the floor. There was neither charge nor hate. There was a brief description of herself, her goals and her dreams followed by a short description of the person who has 11 her most.

    I started to cry. I was her 12. She admired me for my personality, my achievements and, ironically (嘲讽地), my 13. She wanted to be like me. She had been watching me for years, quietly admiring my choices and actions. I stopped reading, 14 with the crime I had committed.

    I had wasted years hating her and now I had violated her 15. It was I who had lost something beautiful, and it was I who would never 16 myself to do such a thing again. Reading the earnest words my sister had written seemed to 17 an icy barrier around my heart, and I longed to know her again. On that fateful afternoon, as I 18 the laundry and rose to my feet, I 19 to go to her—this time to experience instead of to judge, to 20 instead of to fight. After all, she was my sister.

    As s businesswoman, I care deeply about my customers. But like anyone for whom you feel affection, 1 can also drive you mad. They'll come rushing in, 2their handbag's been stolen. They'll 3 that they left it in the changing room, create havoe (混乱) and then 4 it had been in their car all the time. They'll have out half the 5 in the shop, and want the only style you don't have left in a 6 colour. I do know how upset the shop staff can get, but I try to persuade them to keep 7.

    I remember the first really 8 customer we had at Covent Garden. She was. 9 absolutely everything, nothing was right and I was rather 10 that she became a "regular". After a while, she 11 for the way she behaved at the beginning. She had split up with her husband the week before, was living in a flat 12, and since she'd found it too much to cope with (应对), she'd taken it out on 13 people.

    That taught me a valuable 14 and I pass it on to the people who 15 in the market. Don't take it 16. If a customer is rude or difficult, just think "Maybe she's had a row with her husband. Maybe her child's not 17." Always water it down and don't let your ego (自我) get 18. If you do, you won' be able to 19 it and the whole thing develops into an unpleasant scene and that 20 everyone's day.

On her 71st birthday in July, Sajean Geer went to spread her husband's ashes near Obstruction Point, inside Olympic National Park.

When she finished, she realised she had got 1 . Geer became worried. Though an experienced hiker, she wasn't prepared to be in the park for such a(n) 2 period of time. She only had her 3 

with her. She had a cellphone, but there is no signal. And worst of all, she hadn't told anyone where she was going because she hadn't 4 to be gone for long. 

She spent that first day trying to 5 her way out of the park but was unsuccessful. Geer remembered the knowledge she'd picked up from several outdoor survival books. One key tip 6 her:it's important to have a positive mental 7 and a fighting spirit that you're going to live through this. 

So she 8 what she needed. She started by constructing a shelter. She walked to a stream three times a day to get fresh 9 and lived on pine needles and even bugs(小虫). 

Ticking off the days, she 10 the six nights she and her dog had spent in the wilderness. All the while, she remained 11 , remembering that motto about a positive attitude. 

Meantime, a friend in Hawaii grew worried when she couldn't 

12 Geer for several days. She contacted Geer's brother, who asked the police to check on her. 13 , a park worker noticed her car and they began to look for her from the sky. Then they found her. When Geer was rescued, she had only a few bug bites, but 14 that, she was in good shape and spirit. 

Now, she views the experience as a good one, allowing her to learn about herself and 15 on what's important in life.