1 . From now on, never spend your precious time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner: You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem. Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for letting out expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

In short, in all areas of your life, whether they be financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it, you are on the road to success.

2 . On Saturday 24 August 1918, it was raining cats and dogs and thundering over a city called Sunderland on the northeast coast of England. The storm lasted for only about ten minutes. People were surprised to see that it was not just rainwater falling from the sky. There were fish falling down, too! People came out to find out what was happening. They could not believe their own eyes. There were thousands of fish—sand eels (沙鳗)—lying on the ground. They were about seven centimeters long, and all were frozen solid (冻成硬块).

Sand eels swim together in large groups, often in sandy water, and are often found in large numbers in the North Sea, which reaches out to the east of Sunderland. How was it possible for these sand eels to fall from the sky and land on Sunderland?

Scientists believed the heavy thunderstorm that afternoon may have caused a waterspout (水龙卷). Waterspouts can be formed when strong winds move quickly in a circle over water. They are so powerful that anything less than one meter in length can be taken into them and forced into the clouds. The clouds carry whatever has been taken into them for long distances —sometimes over 150 kilometers. It’s very cold up there and everything soon freezes solid.

For hundreds of years there have been reports of small animals being taken into the sky through waterspouts. In 2009, dead tadpoles rained down on the city of Nanao in Japan. In 2012, fifty kilos of prawns fell from the sky over Sri Lanka. In 2017, fish fell on the coastal city of Tampico in Mexico.

It must be a very strange experience to see fish raining down on you. It would probably hurt if one fell on your head! With climate (气候) change and many reports of terrible storms, will the time ever come when it may really begin to rain cats and dogs?

3 . Have you still remembered what happened when you went to school on the first day? I still remember my interesting first day of school. On that day, I hurried to my science class in the morning and found a seat in the back. I waited there for 15 minutes before the bell rang. The science teacher told us about some class rules. No one talked to me; nor did I talk to anyone else. I was one of those very shy girls. After the science class, I had an English class. I thought it would be boring but it turned out to be very funny. When the classes of the morning ended,   I went to lunch. I sat outside the dining room with no one to talk to and no food because I was too nervous to join the lunch line. I kept looking around hoping to see someone I knew but I never saw anyone.

Lunch ended and I went to have my art class. I was the first one there and not even my teacher was there yet. So I sat at my desk and started drawing some pictures. I didn’t notice the rest of the class walking in or the girl that was standing behind me till I was surprised by the voice, “So what are you drawing?” It was a girl who had really long hair. She ended up being my best friend and one of the kindest and liveliest girls I know.

In the next class meeting, the teacher asked us to talk about the past holiday. I was glad to make some new friends in the class. The first day of high school was hard for me but I got through it.

5 . I was driving from Harrisburg last night, a distance of about eighty miles. It was late. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I was clinching(紧握) my fists with impatience.

At one point along an open highway, I came to a crossing with a traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I approached the light, it turned red and I braked to stop. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of headlights, but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.

I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being arrested, because there were clearly no police around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.

Much later that night, the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it's part of an agreement we have with each other.It's not only the law, but it's an agreement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don't go through red lights.

It's amazing that we ever trust each other to do the right thing, isn't it? And we do. Trust is our first tendency. We have to make a deliberate decision to mistrust someone or to be suspicious or skeptical. Those attitudes don't come naturally to us.

It's a very good thing too，because the whole structure of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. This whole thing around us would fall apart if we didn't trust each other most of the time. We do what we say we'll do; we show up when we say we'll show up；we deliver when we say we'll deliver; and we pay when we say we'll pay. We trust each other in these matters, and when we don't do what we've promised, it's far from the normal. It happens often that we don't act in good faith and in a trustworthy manner, but we still consider it unusual, and we're angry or disappointed with those badly-behaved people. Anyway I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.

6 . Before James Blunt became a musician, he served in the army. He spent four and a half years there, with six months in Kosovo as part of the peace­keeping force. Before leaving the army, Blunt had decided to achieve his dream of becoming a musician. In 2003, he was discovered by a music producer Linda Perry who signed him to her Custard label. However, the road to success never runs smoothly. It seemed that he would become another struggling singer trying to live from hand to mouth (现挣现吃地) when his first two singles failed to make an impact on the British charts. But everything changed when his third single You’re Beautiful made it all the way to No.1 on the UK singles charts, and remained there for five weeks. The album (专辑) Back to Bedlam soon followed and quickly became one of the biggest selling records of the year, remaining ten continual weeks at No. 1. Since then, he has sold more than three million records, making him the first British artist to top the American singles charts in nearly a decade.

Blunt, 34, a throwback (返祖者)to the 1970s soft rock golden age, has been quoted by Western media as saying that he will never get used to people screaming at him in the street.

His success proves a lasting theory: You spend years chasing the right song. Then, if you’re lucky, and if the song really takes off, you spend the rest of your life trying to escape it, or learning to live with it. A few years removed from You’re Beautiful, he can still fill stages worldwide with fans who stay until the end.

8 . Different colors usually stand for different feelings. Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like _______. Red is used for signs of _______ such as STOP signs and fire engines. Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a _______ color. They associate orange with happiness. Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful color. They associate yellow with happiness too. Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing color.

In general, people _______ two groups of colors : warm colors and cool colors. The warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Where there is warm color and a lot of light, people usually want to be _______. Those who like to be with _______ like red. The cool colors are black and blue. _______ are these colors, people are usually worried. Some scientists say that time seems to _______ more slowly in a room with warm colors. They suggest that a warm color is a good way for a living room or a _________. People who are having a rest or are eating do not want time to pass quickly. ________ colors are better for some offices if the people working there want time to pass quickly.

10 . Just as we take care of our friends and families, our homes and Mother Earth take care of us. Our homes give us a place of shelter that ________ between us and the rest of the world. The earth is a(n) _________ giver of life and the keeper of our physical and spiritual needs. Her rich ________ bring us up, give us air, and offer us cooling shade. Her waters ________ our thirst. Yet it is easy to take both of these wonderful _________ for granted. ________ the thanks you feel toward your home and Mother Earth for the gifts each   ________   you. It can help you stay   ________ of where many of the gifts in your life come from. Each time you give thanks, you’ll be ________ of the importance of caring for your home and for Mother Earth. There is a simple and beautiful _________ you can find to show your thanks. Begin by finding a ________ place where you can be alone. Sit comfortably and breathe deeply ________ you feel relaxed and then read the following out loud:

“Thank you, home, for allowing me to live ________ your walls. Thank you for allowing me to stay strong and ________ me. Thank you, Mother Earth, for the land I ________ on and farm. Thank you, plants, minerals (矿物质), and animals on the land for allowing me to ________ your beauty and your amazement of life, and for the ________ of living with all of you on this earth. Thank you for the wisdom and       ________ you bring to us.”

You can do so as often as you like and anytime you feel particularly thankful for the many gifts that you have ________. Each time you do this, you’ll strengthen your connection with all that _________ and supports you.