2 . The scent of hot bread drifting from the shops along the Street of Flour was sweeter than any perfume Arya had ever smelled. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to the pigeon. It was a plump one, speckled brown, busily pecking at a crust that had fallen between two cobblestones, but when Arya’s shadow touched it, it took to the air.

Her stick sword whistled out and caught it two feet off the ground, and it went down in a flurry of brown feathers. She was on it in the blink of an eye, grabbing a wing as the pigeon flapped and fluttered. It pecked at her hand. She grabbed its neck and twisted until she felt the bone snap.

Compared with catching cats, pigeons were easy.

She tied the pigeon to her belt and started down the street. A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. “Could I have one?” she heard herself say. “A lemon, or…or any kind.”

The pushcart man looked her up and down. Plainly he did not like what he saw. “Three coppers.”

Arya tapped her wooden sword against the side of her boot. “I’ll trade you a fat pigeon,” she said.

“The Others take your pigeon,” the pushcart man said.

The tarts were still warm from the oven. The smells were making her mouth water, but she did not have three coppers... or one. She gave the pushcart man a look, remembering what Syrio had told her about seeing. He was short, with a little round belly, and when he moved he seemed favor his left leg a little. She was just thinking that if she snatched a tart and ran he would never be able to catch her when he said, “You be keeping your filthy hands off. The gold cloaks know how to deal with thieving little gutter rats, that they do.”

Arya glanced warily behind her. Two of the City Watch were standing at the mouth of an alley. Their cloaks hung almost to the ground, the heavy wool dyed a rich gold; their mail and boots and gloves were black. One wore a long sword at his hip, the other an iron cudgel. With a last wistful glance at the tarts, Arya edged back from the cart and hurried off. The gold cloaks had not been paying her any special attention, but the sight of them tied her stomach in knots. Arya had been staying as far from the castle as she could get, yet even from a distance she could see the heads rotting atop the high red walls. Flocks of crows squabbled noisily over each head, thick as flies. The talk in Flea Bottom was that the gold cloaks had associated themselves with the Lannisters, their commander raised to a lord, with lands on the Trident and a seat on the king’s council.

5 . Six-year-old Harper Gage is already a race car driver and she races in a small car called a go-kart getting started.

In December, Harper took part in the World Karting Association’s national tournament and raced against other kids of her age.

She was sixth out of 17 racers near the end of the race. However, her first season as a racer did not end the way she planned. The motor stopped with only two laps left. “She’s pretty bummed,” Harper’s mother said after the race. “But we are so proud of her.”

Harper started racing go-karts around one year ago. At first, Gage wasn’t sure if her daughter should race. To help, Harper wears hearing aids. But her hearing aids don’t fit under her race helmet, so she races without them. Without the hearing aids, sound is muffled or muted.

Harper doesn’t think hearing loss puts her at a disadvantage. She said having perfect hearing would help, but it was not needed if she used her eyes. “She’s always looking back,” her father said.

Born With Hearing Loss

Harper was 4 months old when she was diagnosed with hearing loss. Ears have three bones that send sound vibrations to the brain. Harper is missing one of those bones in each ear. Her parents were worried at first as they weren’t sure what it would mean for their only child.

Today, Harper wears a hearing device, tiny metal transmitters sit behind her ears. They take the place of the missing bones and send vibrations to the brain.

“I Want To Drive Fast”

Harper would like to be a pro race car driver one day, but for now, she has other plans. When asked about her goals, Harper shyly giggled and said, “I want to drive fast.”

6 . How do you create a restaurant business and become an overnight success at the age of 52?As Ray Kroc said, “I was an overnight success alright, but 30 years is a long, long night.” As the builder of the McDonald’s hamburger empire, he helped change America’s eating habits, as well as its nature of business by standardizing operations in the fiercely competitive fast-food industry.

But not many know how this entrepreneurial (创业的) success story came to be. Kroc was not a chef or a restaurateur. He never even went to college. For over three decades, he held a variety of jobs, from piano player to salesman of paper cups and multiple milkshake machines. “The two most important requirements for major success are, first, being in the right place at the right time and, second, doing something about it.” So said Kroc.

And in 1954, he was in the right place at the right time, and he did something about it. The salesman was surprised by a huge order for eight multi-mixers (多用搅拌机) from a hamburger stand in California. There he found a small but successful restaurant run by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald,   and was amazed by the effectiveness of their operation. They produced a limited menu, concentrating on just a few items-burgers, fries and beverages-which allowed them to focus on quality at every step of production.

The brothers were looking for a new franchisee (特许经营者) and Kroc saw an opportunity. He pitched (推销) his vision of creating McDonald’s restaurants all over the US to them. In 1955 he founded the McDonald’s Corporation, and six years later bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name and operating system. By 1958, McDonald’s had sold its 100 millionth hamburger.

Kroc wanted to build a restaurant system that would be famous for providing food of consistently high quality and uniform methods of preparation. He wanted to serve burgers, fries and beverages that tasted just the same in Alaska as they did in Alabama.

To achieve this, Kroc chose a unique path: persuading both franchisees and suppliers to buy into his vision, working not for McDonald’s, but for themselves, together with McDonald’s. He promoted the slogan, “In business for yourself, but not by yourself.” His philosophy was based on the simple principle of a three- legged stool: one leg was McDonald’s franchisees; the second, McDonald’s suppliers; and the third, McDonald’s employees.

Kroc believed in the entrepreneurial spirit, and rewarded his franchisees for their individual creativity. Many of McDonald’s most famous menu items — like the Filet-O-Fish, Big Mac, and Egg McMuffin — were created by franchisees.

8 . The most valuable thing I ever lost was a pair of diamond earrings I won many years ago at a charity auction (拍卖会). I wrote about the lost earrings in my new children’s book, The Christmas Pig. When they reach the Land of the Lost, where the hero must go to rescue his most beloved toy, my earrings are angry that they aren’t treated with the respect they think they deserve. They soon find out that being made of diamonds counts for(有用) very little in the strange world where human-made objects go when lost, because a thing’s importance there depends on how much it’s truly loved.

The Christmas Pig explores a deep attachment to an old object. It’s about the journey of a boy, Jack, who is a little lost himself, but who discovers his bravery and ability to love in a strange new world. Of all the books I’ve written, this is the one that made me cry the most, because I was dealing with emotions that run deep in all of us. Loss and change are hard for children, but acceptance of these unavoidable parts of life isn’t much easier for adults. The Christmas Pig shows how human beings — even small, lost ones — are capable of wonderful, heroic acts.

A very strange thing happened on the day I finished editing The Christmas Pig. After emailing the final version to my editor, I set about clearing out a cupboard. One of the last objects I picked up was a small box. I opened it. There were my long-lost diamond earrings. I’ve decided to sell them and give the money to a charity. I think it was a nice ending for my earrings’ story to have them do some good for children in the Land of the Living.

How many times have I been asked whether I believe in magic? On the day I finished The Christmas Pig, for a few shining moments I really did.

9 . Born in a rural village in Changzhi, Shanxi, Zhang Juncheng has had the spirit of research since he was a child. He has been the best learner among the brothers and sisters and after all the hard work, he finally got to junior high school. He also achieved good results in the high school entrance exam. However, because his family was poor, Zhang could only choose to give up his study and start to work. In order to improve his career development, several years later when a security company in Beijing came to recruit (招聘) people, Zhang signed up and got on the bus to Beijing.

“Before starting the job, you need to train at the security training base for a period of nearly one month, and the distribution (分配) will be determined by the results,“ he said. With a strong belief in mind, Zhang Juncheng devoted himself to training. He won first place in many assessments for his high professional ability. He ranked first among more than 500 people and was eventually assigned (分配) to Peking University.

He valued this hard-won opportunity of working at Peking University and worked hard. His business evaluation was perfect every time. At the same time, he made use of his spare time to learn, often for a few hours a day. What is worth mentioning is that he met the most important person on his learning path, Professor Cao Yan from the English Department, who helped him a lot in English and provided him with precious learning opportunities.

The hard work paid off. After half a year of hard study, he successfully passed the adult college entrance exam and was admitted to the Law Department of Peking University. Three years later, he succeed in obtaining his degree certificate (证书).

Now, he has been teaching in his hometown for more than 20 years, and he has founded a private secondary vocational (职业的) school mainly for rural children. For Zhang Juncheng, who has gone through ups and downs, he understands more about the meaning and importance of continuous learning.

10 . She went on talking about her husband and how and why they’d moved here. I was starting to think I’d made a mistake by coming. But then she started talking about something else that really stirred my blood. She knew all about me and Tom Sawyer and the money we’d gotten! Only she said it was $10,000 instead of $6,000.

“Yes,” she said.” And that poor boy. His pappy was a hard old man. He took that boy away, and next thing you know, the boy is murdered. He never had a chance.”

“Who done it?” I asked. I wanted to see what other folks knew about me and Pap.

“Some thought old man Fin did it himself, but that same night a slave ran away. They think it was the slave that killed him. Folks are out hunting for him right now, and there’s a $300 reward for whoever finds him.”

All that talk gave me the jitters. I needed to look busy, so I took up a needle off the table and tried to thread it. My hands shook, and I wasn’t doing a very good job. The woman smiled at me so I put the needle back down.

She kept looking at me pretty curious. Then she said, “What did you say your name was, honey?”

“M—Mary Williams.”

“I thought you said your name was Sarah.”

“Yes, ma’am. Mary is my middle name.”

“Come on,” she egged. “What’s your real name? Is it Bill or Tom or Bob? What is it?”

I was shaking like a leaf. I didn’t know what to say. “How’d you know I was a boy?”

“Cause when you thread a needle, you’re supposed to hold it still and put the thread through. You did just the opposite. Now tell me your real name.”

“George Peters,” I lied.

“Well, trot along now Sarah Mary Williams George Peters. And if you get into any trouble, just send word to me, Mrs. Judith Loftus.”

I rushed out and hopped into the canoe. I had to get back to Jim. I knew now that there were folks out there looking for him just to get that $300 reward.