I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch(牧马场). The last time I was there he told me his story. When he was young, his family was too poor to have a house to live in.As a  result , when he was in high school, all the students were asked to write a paper about what they wanted to be and do when they grew up. That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning  a horse ranch. He also drew a picture to show a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a beautiful farm. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F. Roberts asked, “Why did I receive an F?” He teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money.” Then the teacher added, “If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

The boy went home and thought about it for a long and hard time. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “ Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.”Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He told his teacher “you could keep the F and I still keep my dream”.He tells me this story because I am sitting in his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of the 200-acre horse ranch. “I still have that school paper now.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two years ago that teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’dreams. Luckily, you had enough gumptionnot to give up on yours. ”

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.

The teacher stood before his class of 30 students and hand out the final exam papers. “I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test.” he said, “And because I know you are all able to understand this material, I am ready to offer a “B” to anyone who would prefer not to take the test.”

   A number of students jumped up to thank the teacher and left the classroom. The teacher looked at the remaining students and said, “Does anyone else want to get a “B”? This is your last chance.” Two more students decided to go.

   Seven students stayed. The teacher then handed out the papers. There were only three sentences which were written on the paper：Congratulations! You have received an “A”. Keep believing in yourself.

   I never had a teacher who gave a test like that, but I think that it is a test that any teacher could and should give. Students who do not have confidence in what they have learned are “B” students at most.

   The same is true for students in real life. The “A” students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have learned from both success and failures. They have learned life’s lessons, whether from formal education or from events in their lives, and have become better people. Scientists say that by the age of eight, 80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed. You are a big kid now, and you realize that you have some limits. However, there is nothing you can’t do. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma said, “We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves.”

When I was in Grade I in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Carl. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on Friday? He must be a fool." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend tomorrow afternoon), so I shook my head and went on. Suddenly, a crowd of kids ran toward him, knocking all his books out of his arms and making him fall down on the mess. His glasses went flying, and I saw them fall on the grass about ten feet from him. He felt low and terrible. As he touched around looking for his glasses, I ran over to him. I handed him his glasses and said, "Those guys are awful. They really should be educated to be better."

   He smiled at me and said, "Hey, thanks!" I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. Then I knew he lived near me and he had studied in a private school before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. I found him a pretty cool kid actually. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. The more I got to know Carl, the better I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him.

   Over the next two years, Carl and I have been best friends. One day, he told me he had to prepare a speech for graduation (毕业). I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I hugged him and said, "Hey, big boy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with a real grateful look and said thanks.

   As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began, "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you get through those hard times. Your parents, your teachers, your sisters and brothers, maybe a coach, but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give him or her. I am going to tell you a story."

   I just looked at my friend surprisingly as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend at that time. He mentioned how he had cleaned out the lock in his heart. He looked at me again and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the silly." He continued. I heard my own breath go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Morn and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize the meaning of their smiles.

   Never underestimate the power of your behaviors. With one small action, you can change a person's life. For better or for worse.

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.

Life is like a train ride. We get on. We ride. We get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays（延误）. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will change into great moments of joy, some will have bad results.

When we are born and we first get on the train, we meet people whom we think will be with us for the whole journey. Those people are our parents! Sadly, this is far from the truth. Our parents are with us as long as we completely need them. They, too, have journeys they must complete. We live on with the memories of their love, emotion, friendship, and so on.

There are others who get on the train and who become very important to us after a long time, in turn. These people are our brothers, sisters, friends and someone we know, whom we will learn to love, and take care of.

Some people consider their journey like a pleasant and happy tour. They will just go merrily along. Others will encounter many upsets, tears and losses(失落) on their journey. Others still, will stay on to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.

Some people on the train will leave a deep impression when they get off. Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, they will hardly leave a sign.

We will sometimes be upset that some passengers, whom we love, will choose to sit in another compartment（车厢）and leave us to travel on our own. Then again, there’s nothing that says we can’t seek them out anyway. But when we found them, we may not even be able to sit next to them because that seat will already be taken.

That’s okay …everyone’s journey will be filled with hopes, dreams, challenges, difficulties and goodbyes.

Parents can be very important teachers in our lives. However, they are not always the best teachers. Parents may be too close to their children emotionally (感情上). Sometimes they can only see their children through the eyes of a protector. For example, a teacher might see a trip to a big city as a valuable experience. However, it might seem too dangerous to a parent.

Another problem is that parents may expect their children’s interests to be similar to their own. If they love science, they may try to force (强迫) their child to love science too. But what if (要是……又怎样) their children’s true love is art, or writing, or car repair?

Parents usually want to pass on their values to their children. But should children always believe what their parents do? When children are young, they believe that their parents are always right. But when they get older, they will have different ways of thinking.

The most important thing to realize is that we all have many teachers in our lives. Our parents teach us, our teachers teach us, and our friends teach us. Books and newspapers and televisions also teach us. All of them are valuable.

A group of graduates（毕业生） got together to visit their old university professor(教授).

The conversation soon turned into the stress(压力) in work and life. To offer his guests coffee, the professor went to the kichen and returned a large pot of coffee and all kinds of cups---porcelain(瓷器)，plastic, glass，some normal-looking, some expensive and some very nice---telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said,“As you have seen, all the nice-looking or expensive cups have been used, leaving behind the normal and cheap ones. Though it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the reason of your problems and stress.”

“What you really want is the coffee, not the cups, but you went for the best cups. And then you begin to compare each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and positions are the cups. Sometimes , we only pay attention to the cups and fail to enjoy the coffee. Taste the coffee, not the cups! Don’t let the cups control you. Enjoy the coffee instead.”

Think of life as a game in which you are playing with five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit and you keep all of them in the air. You will soon understand thatwork is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will jump back.

But the other four balls, family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be broken. They will never be the same. You must understand that and try to have the balance in your life. But how?

Don’t look down on your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different and each of us is special.

Don’t let other people set goals for you. Only you know what is best for yourself.

Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid of difficulties. We learn how to be brave by taking chances.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible. The quickest way to receive love is to give it; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is a treasure, you can always carry easily.

Don’t use time or words carelessly. You can’t get them back. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why we call it “the present”. Life is not a competition, but a trip, step by step.