A

    A young man once went to buy a pair of pants. When he got home, he went upstairs(上楼) to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were two inches(英寸) long.

    Then he came out of his room to see his mother and his two sisters. They were washing something in the kitchen. “These new pants are too long, they need to be shortened(缩短) about two inches. Would one of you like to do this for me, please?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything. The mother went upstairs after she had finished washing and shortened the pants two inches. But she didn't tell her daughters about it.

    Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's pants. So she went upstairs without saying to anyone, and shortened the pants two inches.

    The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came back, she also remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs, and took two inches off the legs of the new pants.

    Mr. Brown is an old man. Every morning he goes for a walk in the park. And he comes home at twelve thirty for his lunch in the middle of the day.

But today a car stopped at his house at twelve 0'clock. Two policemen helped him get out. One of them said to Mr. Brown's daughter, "He can't find his way home in the park and ask us to take him home in the car."

    The daughter thanked the policemen and they leave. Then she asked her father, "Dad, you go to the park every day. But today you can't find the way. What's wrong?" The old man smiled like a child and said, "I can find my way home. But I don't want to walk home."

    If you were to walk up Arthur Bonner and say, "Hey, Butterfly Man." his face would break into a smile. The title suits him and he loves it.

Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blues butterfly, once thought to have died out. Today the butterfly is coming back—thanks to him. However, years ago if you'd told him this was what he'd he doing someday, he would have laughed, "You're crazy." As a boy, he used to be "a little tough buy on the streets". At the age of thirteen, he was caught by police for stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man.

    "I knew it had hurt my mom," Bonner said after he got out of prison. "So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again."

    One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat for an endangered butterfly called EI Segundo blue. He saw the sign "Butterfly Habitat" and asked, "How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?" Dr. Mattoni laughed and landed him a magnifying glass, "Look at the leaves. I could see all these caterpillars on the plant." Dr. Mattoni explained, " Without the plant, there are no butterflies."

    Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly that needed help. That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he's been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back. He grows astragalus, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and bring them into a lab to lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.

    The butterfly's population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.

    For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he's bringing back the Palos Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.

    Mr. Brown is a teacher. He is from New York, America. He would like to work in China because he likes our country. He thinks Chinese people are very friendly and he likes to live in China. He is happy to work in our school. He likes the school life here. He teaches English. There are 50 students in his class. Mr. Brown is kind. He and his students are good friends, too.

    Now some of Mr. Brown's students are playing sports on the playground(操场). Bill and Mike aye playing tennis. Tom and John are playing ping-pong. The other students are playing basketball. Mr. Brown is happy to play basketball with them. They really have a good time.

    Sir Steven—Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals.

    "in 1997 I was found have developed diabetes (糖尿病）Believing the profession trained for the whole of my life ended, I felt very sorry. Then one of my friends said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it—the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn't difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way. "

    Karen Pickering—Swimming World Champion(冠军)

    "I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that amount of work by putting it on top diary. This is the key to success—"you can't follow a profession in any field without being organized Make a list of what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your for the day, however small they are, and you'll be a step closer to achieving them.

    Kristen Stewart—Actress

    "When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can't achieve anything. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to give most of your attention to one thing. When I feel nervous, it helps a lot to repeat words such as focus, calm, peace, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit and is a powerful psychological(心理学的)tool."

    As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss her tiny face.

    Frustrated and1, my husband gave up his try to flag down a taxi. I knew the feeling. Just after her first birthday, we2that our daughter Katie had a rare(罕见的) brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept disappearing. We knew Katie was running out of3. It had taken months before we finally 4 a name for the illness, but only a few doctors in the world knew 5 to treat it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to save our girl, we were in a strange6in the cold rain.

    Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, "Pardon me? May I offer you a ride?"

    7we could say anything, she continued, "It's really no trouble for8. Just get in."

    It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent(口音), which9 me up like hot soup. We 10said, "Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital, please, "as we got in her car for the ride.

    "Are you going11the baby?" she asked us.

    I nodded my head, holding back my tears.

    At the hospital, we12 her a dozen times for the ride, as the woman hugged me. I noticed her face was wet with tears. She promised to pray for（为……祈祷）us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more13operations，Katie is cured. But the14of the Irish Angel still rang as a reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our15days. We would pray for her just as she did for us.