1 . “I feel lonely and hopeless, ” said Lisa, a bright teenager from a loving home. “It seems that nobody wants to become my friend. What’s wrong with me?”

Like Lisa, many of us experience loneliness. The truth is that all people, no matter what their age or character-even the most outgoing, wealthy and popular-experience loneliness at least sometimes. It’s healthy and natural to want to be around people who care. After all, we’ve all heard “No man is an island.” That’s true. We all need others in our lives.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, explains that if we want friends, we must be friendly and reach out to others. But it has risk. Because we are often afraid of rejection, many of us are unwilling to reach out to others. We take a safer way and wait for others to make friends with us. But if we want friends, we’ve got to get beyond this.

If making friends is your goal as well, you need to consider taking some measures.

Be willing to take the initiative (主动). If you see someone whom you would like to know, don’t wait for her to make the first move. Get close to her and begin a conversation. Let her know in a non-aggressive (无攻击性的) way that you are interested in being friends with her.

Reach out to those who are lonely. When you see someone at school sitting alone, go over and talk to her. And don’t let popularity decide whom you reach out to. You’ll often be surprised at the beautiful qualities behind a shy appearance. Ask questions. Start your first conversation by asking this possible friend what she likes to do or asking about her family. Be sure to ask questions that cannot be replied with “yes” or “no”. For example, don’t ask “Do you have a dog?” Instead, say “So, tell me about your pets. ” Avoiding asking “yes” or “no” questions makes your possible friend not end your communication with a one-word answer.

2 . “Be proud of what you do,” my father always told me, “whether you are a boss or a cleaner. ” When I was 15, I got a summer job in a hospital. I was told that my duties would include sweeping floors. I smiled and remembered Dad's words. Even though my job was the lowest, it made me feel excited. I saw it as a challenge because it was my first job. I learned to be on time and tried to do everything well. In return, I was treated with respect by doctors, nurses and patients. Each morning I imagined that the dirty dishes would make patients more sick if I were not there to wash them clean. After breakfast was done, I started sweeping the floors of all patient rooms and cleaning the toilets. Though I was tired, I wanted the job to be done well. Hearing people say “That young boy really does a good job”, I was filled with pride.

Working in the hospital taught me that being proud of one's job is important. It does not matter whether the job is sweeping floors or managing a large business. Through every job I have ever had, my father's words have always stayed with me. I was a good cleaner, and now I'm a good manager. I think Dad would be proud of me all the time.

3 . John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.

Luckily, he had a strong-willed, caring mother. John remembers that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe. She told him not to be dependent on   others, including his mother. “You have to earn success,” said she. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”

These words came from a woman less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago.

Chicago in1933 was not the promised land (乐土、希望之地) that black southerners were looking for, John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But there John could go to school, and there he learned the power of words — as editor of the newspaper and yearbook of Du Stable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.

While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn (典当) her furniture to get the $500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.

It is natural the difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind. “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary.”

Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America — worth $150 million.

I can still remember clearly the day after I had my first exam. I didn’t pass them. I was so scaring that I even don’t want to go to school any more. My parents looked at my test paper and said. “My children, we’re very glad you has finished half of it. You can do better next time. We never expect you to do the best at a very beginning. We hope you can make progress gradual.” What they said made me to feel I could do things well. From then, I concentrated more on my studies. Now I’m always filled with confident in my studies because I know my parents are always behind me.

7 . About five years ago my family moved to Iowa and I started going to a new school. I was a little _______, but I worried I would never be _______ than the other eleventh graders. Lucy, a girl in my class was not_______for the change. I thought she didn’t_______me from the start. In fact, I was sure that she hated me. When I asked her a _______, she answered me impatiently as if I was a total fool. My teacher made us_______next to each other in the last semester. Lucy didn’t like that _______. I didn’t wear make-up (化妆), and I didn’t wear those awesome (可怕的) jeans everyone else was wearing. I didn’t exactly_______ the coolest girl. However, I kept smiling at her, _______ she rolled her eyes at me (翻白眼). I kept telling her she looked ________, even if she was angry. ________, Lucy let me talk to her, even in front of her "cool" friends. She started ________ me how beautiful I looked. I still remember the first time when she________ at me saying that, and I smiled right back, telling her a joke. Lucy ________ me to her house for parties, and talked to me all the time. Lucy, the girl who had ________ me, called me her best friend. I will never forget a sentence written by Abraham Lincoln: "Am I not destroying (消灭) my enemies when I make friends of them?"