Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford, I've watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives (高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms,established law firms, and major corporations, many are now 1on their wayto impressive careers. By society's2, they seem to have it made.

   On the surface, these people seem to bevery lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a3drink attheir cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with longtime roommates, and4out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations atrestaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine5a college year's monthlyrent. They replaced their beloved old cars with expensive new sports cars.

    The thing is, a number of them have6 thatdespite their success, they aren't happy. Some 7of unfriendly coworkers andfeel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they 8. Some do notrespect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and 9. However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselvesworking to support the10 to which they have so quickly become11.

     People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and 12 in the end the idea of leaving their jobs to workfor something they   13 or finding a position that would give themmore time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion: it's14 . They have loans, bills, a mortgage（抵押贷款）to 15, retirement to save for.They recognize there's something 16in their lives, but it's 17to stepoff the track.

    In a society that tends to18 everything in terms of dollars andcents, we learn from a young age to consider the costs of our19infinancial terms. But what about the personal and social costs  20 in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of costsmany of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.

    I was unbelievably proud of my nine-year-old daughter, Emily. 1 to buy a mountain bike, she'd been saving her pocket money all year, as well as doing small jobs to earn extra money. By Thanksgiving, she had collected only $49. I said, “You2 have your pick from my bicycle3.”

    “Thanks, Daddy. But your bikes are so old.” She was right. All my girls' bikes were 1950s models, not the kind a kid today would4choose.

    As Christmas5 near, Emily and I went bike shopping. As we left one store, she 6 a Salvation Army（基督教慈善组织） volunteer standing next to a big pot. “Can we give something, Daddy?” she asked. “Sorry, em, I'm out of change.” I said.

    Throughout December, Emily continued to 7 hard. Then one day, she made a 8 announcement. “You know all the money I've been saving?” she said hesitantly. “I'm going to give it to the poor people.” So one cold morning before Christmas, Emily handed her total savings of $58 to a volunteer who was really very9.

    10 by Emily's selflessness, I decided to contribute11 of my old bicycles to a car dealer who was collecting used bikes for poor children. 12 I selected a shiny model from my collection, however, it seemed as if a second bike took on a glow（发光）.Should I contribute two? No, one would be enough. But I couldn't 13 the feeling that I should give a second bike. When I later 14 the bikes, the car dealer said, “You're making two kids very 15, sir. Here are your tickets. For each bicycle contributed, we're16 away one chance to win a girls' mountain bike.”

    Why wasn't I surprised when that second ticket proved to be the 17? I like to think it was God's way of 18 a little girl for a sacrifice 19 her years—while giving her dad a lesson in the20.

The Fitting-in of Suzy Khan

    The first time I saw Suzy Khan, I knew I had to help her. She was really small for her age of 12. The boy in my class often 1 about her and laughed their heads off. She would open a book, pretending to read, with tears dropping on the open page.

    All I knew was that she was an orphan (孤儿) from Africa. She had just been adopted by a family in town who 2 that the best way for her to learn American ways of life was to be with American kids. I looked down at this 3 girl and promised myself that somehow I would help her.

    But how could I help her 4 in with us? There had to be a 5 .

    One day, when I went into the classroom, I saw that Suzy had 6 her geography book to a picture of a train, and in her notebook, she had made a(n) 7copy.

    I was surprised and thought that she could do something in the coming 8 show. So, I took her to see the art teacher, Miss Parker, and showed her what Suzy had 9. “Why, it's wonderful,” said Miss Parker, who then showed us a poster she had painted 10 the talent show. “I need more of these, but I just don't have enough  11. Could you help me, Suzy?”

On the day of the talent show, Suzy's 12 were everywhere —- all over the hall and all over the school, each one different.

     “And finally,” said Mr Brown, the schoolmaster, at the end of the show, “we have a (n) award. I'm sure you've all noticed the wonderful posters.” Everyone nodded. “One of our own students 13 them.”

    I could hear everyone whispering. “Who in our school could draw 14 well?”

    Mr. Brown waited a while before saying, “ 15 this student worked so hard on the posters, she deserves a 16 ,too. Our mystery(神秘) artist is our new student 17 Suzy Khan!”

    Mr. Brown thanked her for all the wonderful posters and gave her a professional artist's set. “Thank you,” she cried.

    I 18 , at that time when I was looking at her excited face, she'd probably never 19 anything in her whole life.

    Everyone started to 20 their hands. Suzy Khan gave them a shy smile and the applause was defining. I knew then Suzy was going to be all right.

    No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own 1.

    I learned this lesson from a(n)  2 many years ago. I took the head 3job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

    It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the 4 team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to 5the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn't 6 I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to 7 that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were 8me. I had to change my 9about their ability and potential.

    I started doing anything I could to help them build a little  10 .Most important, I began to treat them like 11 .That summer, When the other teams enjoyed their 12 ,we met every day and 13passing and kicking the football.

    Six months after suffering our 14on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to15.Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a 16for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest17my life！

    From the experience I learnt a lot about how the attitude of the leader can 18 the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and19them. I helped them to see themselves 20 ,and they built themselves into winners.

    Winners are made, but born.

    To millions of readers, Jeff Zaslow was a bestselling author. But to me, Jeff was a(a) 1 mentor（导师）who gave countless hours of his time and energy to 2 authors.

    When I was in middle school, Jeff and his family 3 near our house. At a neighborhood party, I was a 4 kid playing basketball alone. Jeff walked over, introduced himself to me. He took a true interest in getting to 5 me, asking about my hobbies. Although we had just met, I had the 6 that this new neighbor truly cared about me.

    Looking back, Jeff was the first adult who 7 me like a peer（同龄人）, and it helped me find my confidence. At the time, I had no 8 that Jeff would become a mentor to me or that I would enter the writing 9.

    Twenty years later, I decided to 10 my first book. In search of 11 on developing a plan, I 12 to Jeff. Less than three hours later, his 13 landed in my mailbox. He invited me to call him any time, day or night. He asked me 14 questions and listened to my responses.

    When I started writing, I 15 Jeff's work as a model and his personal example as a reminder of what it meant to put other people first.

    In 2012, before I finished writing my book, Jeff lost his 16 in a car accident. I missed the 17 to tell him what an influence he had on me—not only as a writer, but as a role model for how to live a good life.

    Jeff Zaslow never got the chance to give his last 18. I don't know what he would have 19, but I know how he would have made you 20 during the talk. He would have amused you with humor and encouraged you to seek for the most meaningful moments in life.

My elder brother，Steve，in the1 of my father who died when I was six，gave me important lessons in 2 that helped me grow into an adult.For example，Steve taught me to face the3 of my behaviour.Once when I returned in 4 from a Saturday baseball game，it was Steve who 5 the time to ask me what happened.When I6 that my baseball had flown through Mrs Holt's basement window，7 the glass with a crash，Steve encouraged me to apologise to her.After all，I should not have played in the path between buildings.8 my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs Holt，I 9 to pay for the window if she would return my ball.

I also learned from Steve that 10 property is a sacred thing.After I found a silver pen in my fifth﹣grade classroom，I wanted to keep it，but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value.He reminded me of 11 I'd hate to lose the small dog my father gave me to someone else.I returned the pen to my teacher，Mrs David.

Yet of all the 12 Steve gave me，his respect for life was the most vivid in my mind.When I was twelve，I killed an old brown sparrow in the park with a BB gun. 13 with my accuracy，I screamed to Steve to come from the house to have a look.I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird."Did it 14 you first，Mark？" he asked.I didn't know what to answer.I really felt terrible then，but that moment 15 out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.