【推荐1】The trouble started at 9:30 p.m. last New Year’s Eve, in Newmark. When the fire engines arrived at the fire, a very old woman was sitting in a third floor window. The firefighters placed a ladder (梯子) against the wooden house, and 26-year-old Marcus Reddick climbed 35 feet to the third floor.

The woman, 60 years old and very fat, was sitting with both feet out of the window. When Marcus reached the top of the ladder, the woman, afraid and nervous, put her two legs around him. Suddenly Marcus fell backwards off the ladder, with the large woman sitting on him. Marcus landed first — hitting a wall beside the front stairs — and broke the woman’s fall. She fell no more, but he fell another ten feet down the stairs. When the fire officer reached him, Marcus was unconscious.

Within an hour, a doctor told the men that Marcus was nearly brain dead, and would only get worse. Doctors talked of turning off the life-saving machine and asked if the family would like to give away his heart. The answer was “yes”.

On January 6, firefighters lifted Marcus’ coffin — covered with an American flag — onto a yellow fire engine. Hundreds of firefighters from all over the state joined the procession (行列) through Newmark streets. Children watched silently from school windows. The day Marcus died, his heart was given away to a young girl. His family said that it was the second life Marcus had saved.

【推荐2】Hi! My name is Adam and I’m a freshman at senior high school. Going from junior high school to senior high school is a really big challenge. The first week was a little confusing.

First, I had to think very carefully about which courses I wanted to take. The school adviser helped me choose the suitable ones: maths, English, chemistry, world history, and Chinese. I know that Chinese is a very difficult language, but I hope to be fluent when I graduate. My adviser recommended that I should sign up for advanced literature because I like English and I’m good at it.

I had to choose extra-curricular activities, too. I tried to join the school football team, but the coach told me that I didn’t play well enough. Obviously, I was unhappy, but I won’t quit. I’ll find a way to improve on my own so that I can make the team next year. I joined a volunteer club instead. Every Wednesday, we work at a soup kitchen and hand out food to homeless people in the community.

I know I’ll have to study harder as a senior high school student and get used to being responsible for a lot more. I’m a bit worried about keeping up with the other students in my advanced course, and it’ll be quite difficult to get used to all the homework. Still, I’m happy to be here. Studying hard isn’t always fun, but I’ll be well prepared for university or whatever else comes in the future.

【推荐3】No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.

I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no couch, and they didn't even practice to prepare for the Game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my sadness we were beaten. I couldn't believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and confidence.

I stared doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important,I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations. We met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field. we won our first game and our second, and continue to improve .Finally, we faced the number one team in the state.I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest thrills of my life !

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see themselves differently, and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.

【推荐2】My brother and I were driving home together and having a heated conversation. Because of this distraction, brother took a wrong turn. Unfortunately, the wrong turn took us towards a bridge and we had no way to turn back. Unwillingly, my brother paid the bridge fee and drove on. He clearly felt down about the mistake and the needless waste of $4.

We eventually reached an exit. As we took it, my brother noticed a young guy standing nearby trying to phone someone. I was busy trying to figure out which way we went next but my brother pulled over and asked the guy if he needed any help. And he did. He had a flat tire and needed a wrench to get it off.

My brother gave him a wrench, and then helped him change the tire. We started getting to know the young man. He said that this has been a bad week for him; earlier he had gotten into a car accident and now this tire on his way home from work. But he called us. “A breath of fresh air”, and kept thanking us because he really would have been stuck if we hadn’t come along.

After we had finished the job he thanked us again and pulled out $20 and tried to give it to us. “No”, I said. “We were never supposed to even get on that bridge, we took a wrong turn. But now we know why we did. It was to help you. Thank you for turning our mistake into a chance to serve.”

【推荐2】They were a happy family:four daughters were all in the same school in different grades. The youngest, Janice, who was in my class, seemed to be glued(粘) to her mother’s skirts. The three older girls took the bus to school every morning, but Janice was always driven to school by her mother.

One Friday, Janice’s mother asked for a talk with me. She said in a soft voice, “My husband is going to Europe on business for two weeks, and he insists that I go with him. I have tried to explain over and over that Janice needs me here. But he thinks that she will be fine without me so I have no choice; I have to go. I have told the babysitter to drive her every morning. Will you please give Janice special attention and help her? I want to be sure everything goes well for her.”

I told her that we would make every effort to support Janice. I even volunteered to meet Janice at her car so she would see a familiar face. As a mother myself, I’d like to help. Janice’s mother thanked me for my understanding.

On Monday morning, expecting a tearful, anxious child, I planned a special program of fun and games. I waited outside to greet Janice, but just then the bus arrived and not three, but four girls got off. Janice skipped along joyfully, saying “goodbye” to her sisters as she ran with two friends into the classroom. I walked slowly into the classroom and called Janice over to ask how the bus ride went. Impatiently she said, “Oh, I always want to take the bus with the other kids, but Mother needs to be with me. You see there won’t be any more babies, so I have to be a baby a little longer. While she is away, I’ll just ride the bus every day. I am five, you know.”

【推荐3】A ten-year-old boy from Howell Michigan is being praised as a hero thanks to his persistence(坚持) that led to saving the life of an elderly neighbor. The event happened late in an evening when Danny DiPietro was being driven home from football practice by his mom.

That’s when the young boy noticed an open garage(车库) and a figure(身影) that he believed was a dog outside an apartment building near his house. Given the freezing cold weather, the young boy got a feeling that something was not right. But instead of dismissing it like most kids his age would have, he insisted that his mother, Dawn, find out what was going on. Dawn tried to make Danny believe that no one would leave a dog out in such cold weather, but he refused to take no for an answer.

Dawn finally gave in and decided to drive to the area with the family dog and see if there was any truth to Danny’s hunch(直觉). Sure enough, as she got closer to the apartment building, she noticed a garage that was wide open and someone waving madly for help. Upon getting there, she realized that it was not a dog the young boy had seen, but Kathleen St. Onge. The 80-year-old had fallen down on some ice in her garage and had been lying there for two hours, unable to get up.

Dawn rushed home to get her husband to help and called 911. The two then returned with some blankets to cover Ms. St. Onge, while they waited for the ambulance(救护车) to arrive. Though still in hospital, the elderly woman is recovering well and forever grateful to Danny, for following up on his hunch!