II.

Tina was not like many of her classmates. She didn’t listen to popular music or watch many movies, and she wasn’t interested in nice clothes. When she got together with her friends, they wanted to listen to rock and pop music. When Tina asked  if  they would  like  to  try classical  (古典的) music, they all looked at her strangely.“Classical music  is  for old people, ” one of  her friends said. Tina was worried that something was wrong with her. She decided to talk to her father. As she entered his study (书房), her father could feel something was wrong.

“Dad, am I strange?” she asked her father.“Of course not, ” he answered. “Why do you ask that?” “Because I don’t like the same things as my classmates do. They want to listen to Mariah Carey’s music. I like Yo Yo Ma’s.” “I can understand, Tina,  it’s all  right  to be your own person. You don’t have to copy (模仿) what other people do. Everybody has different tastes. Some of them are popular, and others aren’t. ”After talking with her father, Tina felt better. She realized (意识到)  that being different made her special.  It was an important lesson for her to learn.

One of the secrets of successful people is that they have good habits. The good habits help them to be successful.

What are good habits? How can you get into good habits? Here is some advice for you.

First, everyone has his merits (优点). You should always look for the good in people and learn from them.

Second, you should try to learn new things and skills every day. Reading a few pages of a book or a newspaper every day may help you.

Third, start the day the right way. When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself today you must keep your good habits.

I think the last one is the most important. No matter what good habits you decide to develop, you should try to keep them. Then you can have a life with success and happiness.

When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father's friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.

    Every summer, when the first watermelon arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie's place. We'd sit on the edge of the dock (码头), feet dangling (摇晃), and got ready for a big meal.

    Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we'd bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.

    Bernie was my father's ideal of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie's wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eatonly the heart of the watermelon.

    What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don't take the time to dangle(悬荡) your feet over the dock and enjoy life's small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

    For many years, I forgot that lesson I'd learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

    Well, I've relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That's the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

My class and I visited Chris Care Center in Phoenix, Arizona to comfort（安慰） the old people and they needed a little cheering up（高兴） during the holiday season.

The first two  (1)   were for persons needing help in taking care of themselves. We sang beautifully for them. They loved our sweet songs and the flowers that we left with them.

As we were singing on the third floor for old people with Alzheimer (老年痴呆症)，most of them looked off at the walls or floor. However, one lady   (2)   my eyes. She was sitting by the door, in a wheelchair, singing songs to herself. They weren’t the songs that we were singing, at least they didn’t   (3)   like that. As we got   (4)  with each song, she did as well. The louder we got, the louder she got.  (5)   she was singing, she was also reaching out to us with her hands and body. I knew that I should have gone over to her, but I thought that my responsibilities (责任) were to my students. People who worked at the care center could take care of her, I thought. Just when I stopped feeling   (6)   about not giving her the care she needed, my students, Justin, showed me what the holiday season is really about.

Justin also   (7)   the same lady. The difference between us is that he acted on her needs, but I didn’t. During the last song, Silent Night, Justin walked over to her and held her hand. He looked at this aged lady in her eyes and with his action said, “You are important, and I will take my  (8)  to let you know that.”

This tired, elderly lady stopped singing and held his hand. Then she touched his cheek with the other hand. Tears（眼泪） began to fall down her face. No words can completely describe that touching moment……

It took a boy to teach me, a man, about kindness and love. Justin’s example of a complete, selfless（无私的） attitude (态度) towards another was a   (9)  that I will never forget. He was the teacher that day, and I think myself   (10)   to have a witnessed (见证) his lesson.

This year is the Year of the Dog. So dogs are the most popular animals of this year. They are our ______  (1)  __________ friends. There  ________  (2)  ________ many different dogs in the world. Dogs can live for about 15 years. How  _______  (3)  _________ is your dog? Two years? That is about 14 years old in human years. Dogs have very great ears and noses. ________  (4)  ________ they can't  ________  (5)  ________ as well as men. They're colorblind (色盲的). They're also great and can do  _______  (6)  _________ of jobs. They can be police dogs, sniffer dogs, rescue dogs, shepherd dogs and guide dogs.

    Norman is a superstar dog  _______  (7)  _________ America. This year he is 10 years old. He can ride a bike (骑自行车) very  ____  (8)  ____________. Norman's owner, Karen Coob, is a dog trainer (训练师). She ________  (9)  ________ Norman how to ride a bike. She really loves the good dog. Norman is her ________  (10)  ________, just like her son.

Mr. and Mrs. Green lived in a big city, and one summer they went to the country（乡下）for their holiday. They enjoyed it very much, because it was a quiet, clean place.

    One day they went for a walk early in the morning and met an old man. He lived on a farm, and he was sitting in the warm sunshine in front of his house. Mr. Green asked him, “Do you like to live in this quiet place?”

    The old man said, “Yes, I do.” Mr. Green said, “What are the good things about it?”

    The old man answered, “Well, the people here know each other. They often come and visit me, and I often go and visit them. And there are also lots of children here.”

    Mr. Green said, “That’s interesting. And what are the bad things?”

    The old man thought（想）and thought and then said, “Well, the same things, really?”

Nowadays, advertisements can be seen everywhere. Some hate them, but some consider them very helpful. And I agree, with the latter.

    Advertising can form a connection between companies and customers. It wonˈt be wrong to call advertising a way of communication between companies and their customers. Good advertising increases the needs of the public. In a successful business, advertising plays an important role. Advertising can be used to help people know about a product and to draw possible buyers. Advertising helps companies make more money by increasing sales.

    There are different kinds of advertising. Here are some common types.

    Non-electronic advertising advertises products through newspapers, magazines, books, posters and so on. By the means of advertising, companies can let people, who are connected directly and indirectly with non-electronic media, know about their products. Advertising on printed things is cheaper than advertising on television.

    Electronic advertising is the most popular means of advertising. One can cover different kinds of people by using this kind of advertising. Television viewers are in every home. If one is advertising on TV, his products would be introduced in almost every, house.

    Advertising on the Internet is getting more and more popular over time. You can get your advertising to reach every corner of the world.

    Many companies have their own department of advertising. The departmentˈs aim is to advertise the companyˈs products and services. On the other hand, many companies depend on advertising agencies(广告公司) for promoting(推销) their products and services. Companies should pay money to these agencies. Advertising agencies are always there to give advice, helping promote your products and services.

My class was trying to come up with a way to raise money for homeless children, but we couldn’t agree on anything.

“Let’s  (1)   after lunch,” our teacher, Mr. Moony said. We all  (2)  but Anthony said he couldn’t have lunch with us because he had to go to the dentist. When he put things into his bag, I  (3)  a picture of a dragon and the words “art show” he wrote on the back of his notebook.

So when Mr. Moony asked what ideas we had after lunch, I shouted, “Art show!”

To my surprise,   (4)  was against it. I felt so good. I didn’t say who really had the  (5)  at first.

Several days later, our big art show came. My classmates  (6)  many cool paintings. But everyone agreed that the most wonderful one was Anthony’s — a beautiful   (7)  . That painting reminded me of Anthony’s notebook. I’d never told anyone where the idea of the art show came from. I was feeling so bad about it that I could   (8)   enjoy the event.

Finally I told my classmates the art show wasn’t my idea! Anthony was the one who   (9)  it!

I ran to Anthony and said sorry to him.

“It’s OK,” Anthony smiled. “I was a little  (10)  at first. But then I thought as long as the idea was helpful, it didn’t matter whose idea it was.”

Welcome to the world of Kikoriki (开心球). It is a  (1)   land. It has snow-covered mountains and a blue  (2)  .

Jumpy the rabbit and his friends live   (3)  . They are honest, brave and hardworking. They are happy to help   (4)  . Jumpy is a happy and cute rabbit. He is  (5)   of energy.

Jumpy and his friends live together   (6)  . They help each other. They love each other.   (7)  they get in trouble with each other often. They always  (8)  a way to solve the problem.

How do they live in Kikoriki land? What  (9)   there? Let’s see the cartoon Kikoriki on CCTV-kids.

    Kikoriki is  (10)  among the children in Russia. Russian President Medvedev gives it high praise (赞美).

New York is 3 hours ahead of California, but it does not make California slow, or that New York is fast. Both are working based on their own “ Time Zone”（时区）.

Someone graduated at the age of 22, yet waited 5 years before finding a good job! And there is another who graduated at 27 and got hired immediately!

Someone became a CEO at 25, and died at 50.While another became a CEO at 50, and lived to 90 years.

Someone is still single, while someone else got married and waited 10 years having a child. There is another who had a baby within a year of marriage.

Obama retires(退休) at 55, but Trump starts at 70.

Absolutely everyone in this world works based on their Time Zone. People can have things worked out only according to their pace. (步调)

People around you might seem to go ahead of you; some might seem to be behind you. But everyone is running their own race, in their own time.

Don’t envy them or laugh at them. They are in their TIME ZONE, and you are in yours!

Life is about waiting for the right moment to act. Hold on, be strong, and stay true to yourself .Fight in your time zone.

So, RELAX. You’re not LATE. You’re not EARLY. You are very much ON TIME , and in your time zone destiny set up for you.