The Phone Call

        It was getting dark. Paul looked out of the window and signed (叹气). Dad said he would come home by 5:30, but it was almost 7:00. Even if Dad came back, it wouldn't be much fun playing 1 in the dark. Paul walked into his room and threw his baseball into the corner. He tried to do some homework, but couldn't.

      The phone rang at about 8:00. It was Dad: “Paul, I'm 2, but I couldn't play baseball with you tonight. I have to finish my work at

the office. Maybe we can play this weekend. Oh no. How about next weekend?....”

       Paul couldn't understand why Dad was so 3. He threw himself into the sofa and soon fell asleep. His book was still opened to the

 first page.

      The next day at school, Paul didn't hand in his homework and 4 a test. Mrs. Green, his teacher, asked him to stay after school. “Paul, you didn't do your homework. You didn't pass the test and only got a D. This isn't like you. What's wrong?”

      Paul just sat there5 . “Paul, if you don't want to talk, I will. I know that something's worrying with you, but you have to get it out. You need to tell someone.”

      As Paul walked home, he thought of what Mrs. Green said. Maybe he didn't do his homework because he wanted to get his dad's _6 . He knew Mrs. Green was right. He decided to take her advice.

      When Paul got home, he 7his dad. But there was no answer. Then it went to voicemail (语音信箱). Paul began talking: “Dad, I can't play with you next weekend. I've got lots of problems with my homework. Also, I really don't want to spend another day looking out of the window and waiting. Whenever you 8our plans, Dad, it hurts me. It's not too late to rebuild our relationship, but we have to start small. Maybe you can help me with my 9sometime. Dad, I love you.”

      As Paul ended the call, he felt much relaxed. He didn't know whether his dad would be different, but it didn't matter. He himself __10. He expressed his feelings to the right person. He had a clear head as he was doing his homework that evening.

                        The Power of -atlon（决心）

    The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old mal stove（火炉）．A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the1and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates got there

    One morning they 2to find the schoolhouse burning. They dragged（拖）the little boy out of the building more dead than alive. Then he was 3taken to a nearby county hospital.

    The doctor told the boy's mother that4 the lower part of his body was seriously burnt, he couldn't use his legs anymore. However, the5boy made up his mind that he would walk. Unluckily his thin legs6hung there, all but lifeless.

    Finally he returned home from the7 ． Every day his mother would press his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control,8 ． Yet his determination that he would walk was as 9as ever.

    When he wasn't in bed, he would sit in a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he 10himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass，dragging his11behind him.

    He worked his way to the white fence（栅栏）around the yard. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, he began dragging himself along the fence,12that he would walk. He started to do this every day. There was nothing he 13more than to develop life in those legs.

    In the end，through his determination he did14 ． He began to walk to school，then to run to school，to run15the joy of running. Later in college he made the running team.

      Still later in Madison Square Garden this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile!

    A little girl lived in a small and simple house on a mountain. She always played in the small garden1she was young. As she grew taller she was able to see across the valley（山谷）to a wonderful2high on the other mountain and this house had golden windows，so golden that the little girl would dream3exciting it would be to live in such a golden house instead of a simple house like hers.

    Then she hoped to leave and go to live in such a golden house4she loved her parents and her family so much.

    When she was old enough，she asked her mother5she could go for a bike ride outside the gate. Her mother finally6her to go，but she told the little girl to stay7to their house and not to go too far. The little girl8where she was going! Down the road and across the valley, she9her bike until she got to the gate of the golden house on the other mountain. She could look at the house so clearly now. However she was so10as she noticed all the windows were rather dirty instead of golden ones.

    She was so sad and heartbroken that she didn't go any11and turned. On her way back, when she12her head at some moment, she saw a sight that amazed her on the other side of the valley, it was her little house with its13windows in the sunshine!

    At that time she14all the love and care were at her home. 15she dreamed was right there in front of her nose.

    Christopher Wilson, a Texas-based DJ and producer, is better known by his stage name, Riot Ten. But what's unbelievable about him and his family's journey is that he has never let negative situations shake or shape his direction.

    From a young age, Wilson knew he wanted to go for1. When dropping out at seventeen and having little family support, he still started his career as an uphill battle.

    "Thinking positive, thinking big is huge for success," he said, "I've always imagined myself rich, successful and at the top of everything I did. I really believe in positivity... That positive energy shows itself in work and opportunities."

    Wilson took this energy and ran with it, slowly building a career and name for himself in the music industry, despite criticism from others, financial (money) challenges and the difficulty of 2 both his duties as a father, and his great love for making music.

    With the birth of Wilson's second child, Kai, however, both his positive attitude and career were3 dramatically.

    On September 3, 2017, Kai was born-weighing less than two pounds and with a large welt on the side of his head. Kai was said to have less than a 50% chance of living, and if he did live, there was a 50% chance he'd have cerebral palsy (脑性瘫痪). For Wilson, this was terrifying -the unknown, the fear of 4 his child. He also felt the powerlessness in watching Kai struggle to5 on his own. Wilson was then told Kai was missing a part of his brain, something that would affect all motor skills.

    He had no 6; he just had to wait. But even in the moments of fear, of helplessness, of pain, Wilson kept positive. He kept creating, kept believing and kept moving forward.

    In the course of a few months, he had answers. Kai didn't have cerebral palsy, and he would survive. After one month of a breathing tube, Kai was able to breathe on his own, and even began to show7 baby behavior.

    "I've always thought everything happens for a reason," Wilson says, "Kai probably shouldn't be alive, and he somehow made it. And everything we expected to happen- his coming out 8, not having cerebral palsy, being able to breathe on his own- it all worked out. There's a plan for everything."

    It's this attitude that has 9 Riot Ten to success. He released his second EP (唱片), "Hype or Die: The Dead EP" on February 16, 2017, and his song," Rail Breaker" has hit No.1 on all dubstep charts.

No matter what life throws at us, Wilson has continued to stay positive and share his passion for music with the world.

    Frank was a very talkative boy, He never saw a new thing without asking a lot of questions about it. His mother was very kind and1. When it was proper to answer his questions, she would do so.

    The first time Frank saw an hourglass, he was very much2, but he did not know what it was. His mother3, "An hourglass is made in the shape of the figure 8. The sand is put in one end, and runs

4 a small hole in the middle. The sand put into the glass will go through5 an hour."

    Frank watched the little stream of sand. He was impatient, because it would not run faster." Let me 6 it, Mother," he said. "It is lazy, and will never get through."

    "Oh yes, it will, my son," said his mother. "The sand moves 7 ， but it moves all the time. When you look at the clock, you will find the same. 8 you are playing, the sand is running, grain by grain, and the hands of the 9 are moving, second by second. At night, the sand in the hourglass has run through twelve times. The hour hand of the clock has moved all around 10 great face. This is because they keep working every 11 . They do not stop to think how much they have to do, and 12 it will take them to do it."

    Later, Frank's mother wanted him to learn a poem, but he said," Mom, I13"His mother said," Study all the time.14 care about the time it will take. You will be able to say it very soon.

    Frank followed his mother's 15. He studied line after line, and in one hour and a half he knew the poem perfectly.