What’s the most important thing for you to have in your life? Somebody thinks it’s hard work, others think it’s knowledge(知识), love and luck...

If you arrange(排列) the 26 English letters in order and use numbers to represent (代表)each of them, for example, 1 for a, 2 for b, 3 for c ……26 for z, you can change an English word into a number. So hard work becomes 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=98, meaning 98 is its mark(分数); Z-X-X-K]knowledge: 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5=96; love: 12+15+22+5=54, and luck: 12+21+3+11=47, a small mark. None of these words can give one a full mark. What about money? It can’t, either.

Then what else? Don’t be worried. You can always find an answer to a problem in your life, when you change your way of looking at things or doing things, or your attitude（态度）. Yes, attitude is the word. See for yourself; attitude: 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5=100, a full mark.

    Different attitudes lead to different kinds of life. Most time people hope for a better life. They will have a better life if they change their attitudes. When you become friendly towards others, you will meet more smiling faces. In the same way, if you take a positive(积极的) attitude towards failure, you’ll find it’s also helpful though it has made you lose lots of things.

Santa Can Come before Christmas

It was last June. I went into a supermarket to buy some vegetables, when a young man asked me, “Can you tell me where the   (1)   counter（柜台）is? ”

“Well, the milk is in the lower right corner,” I replied.

Picking up my things, I came to the milk counter where I met the same man. He was   (2)  about 10 bottles of milk in his hand. I asked, “Do you need a   (3)  ?” “Sure, thank you.” he answered.

I was   (4)   he was still picking more bottles and after a few minutes his trolley(手推车) had 24 bottles of milk. I laughed and asked, “Why so many bottles?”

       He smiled and said, “These are   (5)   my street dogs. Today I want to be a Santa for them.”

       I said, “Well, it’s too   (6)   for you to be a Santa. It is still June and Christmas comes in   (7)  .” He   (8)   at me, but he left the counter without   (9)   anything.

         (10)  , we met again at the bread counter.

       “So these bread and cakes are also for the street dogs, Mr. Santa.”

       He smiled and said, “Yes. These are also for the dogs and I love to be Mr. Santa in the month of June. Santa is a representation(象征) of surprises and   (11)    . We always hope Santa comes before   (11)  . But in real life there is a Santa in each one of us. He is always ready to help us  at any time, and in any month. Maybe when you gave a trolley to me, there was a Santa in you. When we   (12)  food to a poor man or a(n)   (13)  to someone who is wet in the rain, we are being Santa there. So when you give help to others or get help from others, just think that Santa comes all the way for you.”

       He left and I was   (14)  because of meeting him. It was right to think Santa can come before Christmas. We just need to know he is around us and makes us happy and gives love to others.

Years ago, I lived in a building in a town. There was another building across from mine, and it was only a few metres away. There lived a woman whom I had never met. I could see her sit by the window each afternoon, drinking or reading.

Several months later, I noticed her window was very dirty. Everything was not clear through the window. I wondered why the woman didnˈt wash her window.

One sunny morning, I decided to clean up my apartment, including washing my windows. Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down for a rest by the window. What a surprise! The woman sitting by her window was clearly seen! Her window was clean! Suddenly, I realized I had made a mistake. I was watching her through my dirty window all the time!

That was quite an important lesson for me. Since then, whenever I wanted to judge（判断）someone, I asked myself first, "Am I looking at him through the dirty window of my heart? ”Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world clearly.

When I was a middle school student in 1980, God gave me a gift—it was happiness．

One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside．On my way home, a car ran over me and cut off my   (1)   because it was too fast．Several days later when I woke up at the hospital, I realized I had to spend the rest of my life—without arms．How sad and scared I was at that time! But slowly I knew I had to face the fact and   (2)   it．I couldn’t get my arms back even though I cried every day．

However, it’s   (3)   said than done．It took me about half a year to get out of the sadness   (4)  ．I got so much from my past story．From then on, I could treat my life with a normal mind．But in our daily life, I often see my classmates get   (5)   about little things．For example, they get bad grades in the test; their bus comes late; they don’t have a mobile phone but   (6)   do．But I only enjoy life．I was lucky to realize from an accident; it is a waste of our life to focus on（关注）what you have   (7)   ．We should always think of what we have．So why are so many people unhappy? Someone may say, “My whole life would improve   (8)    I have a new car．” But when you get the car and what happens? For a whole week you are so   (9)  ．Then you go right back to being unhappy．

Happiness   (10)   what we have! It’s in our heart．It’s a state of mind．Someone owns many, but may still feel unhappy．Happiness comes from mastering the art of appreciating（感激）and taking pleasure in what you really have．

A teacher takes a very big bottle and puts a few big stones(石头) into it. He asks the students, “Is the bottle full?”

   They all answer, “Yes!”

   The teacher then puts some small stones into the bottle. The small stones are between the big stones. He then asks, “Is it full now?”

   Some students give no answers, but most answer, “Yes!”

   The teacher then starts to put some sand (沙子）into the bottle. For the third time, the teacher asks, “Is it full?”

   Now most students give no answers, but some still answer, “Yes!”

   Then the teacher pours a cup of water into the bottle. “What does it tell us?” asks the teacher.

   One clever student answers, “No matter(无论) how busy you are, you can always find time to do some more   things.”

   “No,” says the teacher. “If you don’t put the big stones into the bottle first, you can never get them in. The big stones are the important things in your life. If you fill your life with small things like the small stones, sand and water, you’ll never have the time for the important things.”

“The Chinese Dream”is a hot topic of this year．Many Chinese young people are inspired by the Chinese Dream．Everyone has their own dreams．They give us courage and confidence to keep us going through difficulties．Here are some advice on how to realize our beautiful dreams．

Never giving up is the key to make our dreams come true．We may fail from time to time，but we can learn from failure，correct our mistakes and try again until we achieve our goals．Our life is like a long journey which is not all roses．  It   sometimes has wind and rain．We believe rainbows will appear after storms．

Cooperation is also necessary．Everyone likes a person who is good at cooperating with others．Besides，in our society most problems can’t be solved by one person alone．Cooperation is becoming one of the most important ways for people living in the developing society．

At the same time，we should learn to examine our abilities because it helps us know our advantages and disadvantages as well as get a full control of ourselves．Then we may be confident enough to face challenges．

Follow the suggestions above，and our dreams are sure to come true．

A grandmother and her young granddaughter went out to do Christmas shopping for family and friends. While they were walking down a busy city street, they   (1)   a homeless man. He was sitting against the cold wall of a tall building. He   (2)   old and thin. The man wasn't begging （乞讨） for money. He was making paper roses. He did it slowly and kept on blowing on his hands   (3)   it was so cold. There were several   (4)   in front of him. They were   (5)   different sizes and colors.

The grandmother stopped and asked   (6)   she could buy a big red rose. The homeless man smiled and said, "For you kind lady, it's   (7)   .” But the grandmother opened her handbag and gave the homeless man $5.

As they  (8)  , the young girl asked her grandmother, "He said he didn't want money. Why did you   (9)   give him $5? He will probably just buy cigarettes （香烟）."

The grandmother replied, "Dear child, it may be his nature （本性） to buy cigarettes with the money, but it is my nature to   (10)   a man in need."

Give because it is your nature, not because you want or expect something in return.