One day, a boy found an eagle's (鹰) egg and put it in the nest (窝) of a prairie (草原) chicken. The eagle hatched (孵化) and thought he was a chicken. He grew up doing what prairie chickens do. It was a boring life.

   Day after day, the eagle grew older. One day, he and his prairie chicken friend saw a beautiful bird soaring (翱翔) in the sky, high above the mountains. "Oh, I wish I could fly like that!" said the eagle. The chicken replied, "Don't give it another thought. That's the strong eagle, and it's the king of all birds. You could never be like him because you are a chicken!" And the eagle never thought about that. He went on living like a chicken. Even when he died, he thought he was a prairie chicken.

   My friend, you too are a small eagle. So try your best to fly upon (在...之上) the sky, and don't listen to the prairie chickens!

One of the secrets(秘诀)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 good points(优点).You should always look for the good points in people and learn from them.

Second, you should try to learn good new things every day. Reading a few pages of a book or newspaper every day also helps you.

Third, tell yourself you are good. When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror(镜子)and tell yourself you can do things well.

I think the last one is the most important. No matter what good habits you want to have, you should try to keep them，work hard everyday. Then you can live a successful and happy life.

  Mr. Brown is a driver. He has two cute dogs. The black dog is big and the white dog is small. He likes them a lot. Mr. Brown has a good friend, Mr. Jones. He is a driver, too. They work in the same hospital. One Sunday morning, they would like to go fishing on a farm. Mr. Jones comes to Mr. Brown's home. He finds there are two holes（洞）in the door（门），a big hole and a small one. He says to Mr. Brown, "My friend, why are there two holes in your door?" "I want the two dogs to come in and go out. " Mr. Brown says. " But why are there two holes?"asks Mr. Jones. " How can the big dog gothroughthe small hole?" Mr. Brown says.

Iˈve loved my motherˈs desk since I was just tall enough to sit above the top of it. Mother sat writing letters. Standing by her chair , looking at the ink bottle , pens , and white paper, I decided that the action of writing must be a most wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. " But the desk . " she said again. "is for Elizabeth. "

  I never saw her angry , and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me ; she just did it. But as a young girl. I wanted to have heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf   opened between us. I was " too emotional（易感动的) " . But she lived " on the surface（表面) ".

As years passed, I had my own family. l loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive（愿谅）me.

My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldnˈt be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

   But the present of her desk told me. as sheˈd never been able to. that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside— a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times. It was my letter.

 "In any way you chose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words. "

One day the son came to his father.”Dad, I can’t do this anymore. Those lessons only make me tired, and the result doesn’t change. It must be not suitable for me to play football and my dream will never come true.” said the son.

The father looked at his son with loving eyes.Here is what the father said.”You know son, every person in life has a dream, a goal of his life.They are the ones that make us do what we are doing because they are what we should do. We have to fight for what we believe in. The easiest way is to quit everything and not to go until the end because the path is difficult. We want everything to be easy.But the wishes are just wishes! This is how our dream dies, and the goal becomes unreachable.

But you only need to remember one thing: never give up, and fight for it.It doesn’t matter that you have lost one battle(战役)and even dozens of battles.Life goes on! Your biggest enemies are hiding in you---laziness,fear, doubt. Be warrior(勇士)of your dream, your goal and your wishes!

When I was a child, my parents often took me to an old house in a thick forest. No other children ever stayed there. I didn’t even have the choice of playing with a brother or sister.

I could never understand what the attraction of the house was, even for my parents, who enjoyed nothing better than to sit in silence with a good book. The woman in the house, my father’s distant cousin, was a terrible cook and her food was inedible.

One day, when I was wandering around the garden behind the house, I noticed a wooden house which had clearly been abandoned(被遗弃的). As I walked towards it, I heard a noise, like an animal moving hurriedly away. Then I saw a man with a long beard standing at the door. I was greatly surprised.

“Please don’t tell them you saw me,”he said.“They never use this place, and I have nowhere else to live.” “Don’t worry,”I said.“I won’t tell anyone. But are you all right out here? I mean—do you have enough to eat?”The old man shook his head.

The same evening, I took a small plastic bag into the dining room and, while no one was looking, emptied some of the food into it. Later, I got out of the back door secretly and gave the food to the old man, whose name I had discovered was Alan.

I had never seen anything else as lovely as the smile of satisfaction on Alan’s face when he ate the food. From then on, my visits to the old house had a purpose, and I enjoyed every minute of the rest of my stay.

   It's not easy to find a. person with the qualities of being a hero. I didn't really understand the meaning of the word "hero" until my third year in the college.

   If you saw her, you wouldn't think she really looks the part (看起来样子像那种人). but she is stronger than Superman. Her name is Sandra Keierleber. I first. met her at volleyball tryouts (选拔赛), but didn't notice anything special at first. As the week passed, however, she showed she had more heart than anyone. She stood out because she never gave up, no matter what.

   Sandra isn't the tallest or the fastest -- in fact, this was her first time playing volleyball and it showed -- but that didn't stop her. She was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. By the end of tryouts she had found a place in everyone's heart. When the name list for new members was put up, we all waited nervously as she checked. When she stood at the door and smiled happily, all we could do was cheer.

   After Sandra made the team, she worked even harder to improve her game. When she asked for help, we gladly taught her. She also became our fan, attending almost every school game and even joining us in the city games. We all like her, because she never thinks about doing things the easy way, or loses that smile. Because of her great exertion, she makes herself a true hero -- and my hero, too.

 When Andrew was a student in a high school, his teacher asked him to write a passage about what he wanted to do when he grew up. That night he thought hard and worte a seven－page passage about his dream of having a horse ranch(牧场). And he even drew a picture of a 200－acre(亩) ranch. The next day he gave it to his teacher.

   Two days later he got his passage back. On the first page was a large F with some words, "Please see me after class."

   Andrew went to see his teacher after class and asked, "Why did I get an F?"

   The teacher said, "You have no money. Your parents have no money. Having a horse ranch needs a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to buy the horses. There's no way you could ever do it. If you write a passage again, I will change your grade."

   Andrew went back home and thought about it for a long time. The next day he gave the same passage, making no changes at all. He said to his teacher, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."

   Now, Andrew has a 200－acre horse ranch.

 Mr. Black was a farmer. He lived alone by the forest. He had no daughters or sons. He planted rice and vegetables. Also, he sometimes caught small animals for food. So he kept two dogs to help him. One dog was big and the other was small. He liked them very much.

   One day, his friend Mr. Smith, another farmer, came to visit him. Mr. Black was very happy. They haven’t seen each other for about three years. When the friend saw two holes(洞) in the door, a big hole and a small hole, he was surprised and said, "My dear friend, why are there two holes in your door?" "Let my dogs come in and go out, of course. I finished cutting them just ten minutes ago. It took me three hours to finish the work." Mr. Smith asked again, "But why are there two holes? One is enough!" "But how can the big dog go through the small hole?" Mr. Black answered.

   Sometimes a clever man may make such mistakes.