【推荐1】There is an old saying----“The only good snake is a dead snake“   I disagree .I know some people like their smooth pets，but I hate them. I shake from head to foot even whenＩ see them on TV

One day I stepped over one in my front yard,, and I probably set a record for the fastest runner and the loudest screamer in my town. And I almost had a heart attack when I walked through my house that night after I saw the snake. For that my husband received a serious warning about leaving his belt on the floor. So you can imagine my response when I saw the news about the lost 8-foot long cobra of a zoo in the Orlando area where I had lived a few weeks ago and it still frightened me . After days of search, they gave up. Then a few days ago, I read about its return. A young lady went out to the car in her garage. There she heard hissing coming from under the car. She immediately called the officers at Animal Control. You guessed it. An 8--foot king cobra was hanging out under the car. It was frightening.

We might not have a king cobra hanging out around us, but maybe a snake is hiding around to see how it can damage us. We need to keep our guard up. I think if the young lady had kept her garage door shut, the king cobra might not have made it to the garage.

【推荐2】Maybe you’ve heard about the saying, “A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high.” I’m sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost every day in school.

By high school, T. J. was the most famous troublemaker in his town. He got into lots of fights. He failed almost every exam but was passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn’t want to have him again the following year.

When I showed up to lead the first training for a leadership retreat, a program designed to have students become more involved in their communities, the community leaders told me about T. J. Ware, the boy with the longest arrest record in the history of town. Somehow, I knew that I wasn’t the first to hear about T. J.’ s darker side as the first words of introduction.

At the start of the retreat, T. J. didn’t readily join the discussion groups and didn’t seem to have much to say. But when his group started a discussion about positive and negative things that had happened at school that year, he joined in and had clear thoughts on those situations, and the other students in his group welcomed his comments. Suddenly, T. J. felt like a part of the group, and soon he was treated like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense, and everyone was listening. By the end of the retreat, he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty, hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed with his ideas and love for the homeless. They elected T. J. vice-chairman of the team.

Two weeks later, the Homeless Project team organized a communitywide service project — a giant food drive. Seventy students led by T. J. collected a school record: 2,854 cans of food in just two hours, enough to take care of poor families in the area for 75 days. The local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. T. J.’ s picture was up there for doing something great.

T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has healed, it can fly higher than the rest.

【推荐3】When I tell people I wrote a book with my dad, they usually say, “Wonderful.”

This was a beautiful idea, but it. was not the way. I, or my dad, ever thought about the cooperation (合作). Though we created something we are proud of, “Wonderful” is not the word either of us uses to describe the process. At first, my father disapproved (反对) of the cooperation and he thought it was more confrontation (对抗) than cooperation, I agreed. When we landed a book deal, we began a wring journey that was more difficult than either of us had expected, but also far more rewarding.

For almost three years, we met once or twice a week at my parents’ house and talked daily about the plan and the outline of each chapter. After the meeting, one of us would write a rough draft that the other would build on. I wanted the book to focus on positive vices (不良习惯): such as moderate (适度的) chocolate. However; my dad felt the book should include chapters dealing with things like walking and spending time with family. Finally, I saw it his way. He said the book was about more than just good advice. It was about encouraging people to enjoy life in healthy ways.

Writing this book was a reminder that our family members share not only our faults but also our strengths. My dad is smart, funny, critical and caring. He has a strong passion for the truth. I hope I share these great qualities. For this book, he researched each topic with an enthusiasm I had never seen from him, and he insisted that we constantly question and critically analyze every piece of information—even our own conclusions. He was determined to cooperate with me on a book, not because he could not write one on his own, but because he believed that we could create something better together than we could alone.

I am not sure. if our cooperation led. to better writing, but it led to a better writing experience.