We all know about Mozart (莫扎特), the famous musician from Austria. 【小题1】 But he was also very hard-working. The story of Mozart is useful when we think about a serious question. That is which is more important for success, talent or hard work?

Talent is something that you have naturally (天生的). 【小题2】 But being talented is not enough for most people to succeed. Do you know the story Shang Zhong Yong? Zhong Yong is a very talented boy. He wrote a poem (诗) when he was very young. 【小题3】 His father thought he didn’t need to study as hard as other people. After years, Zhong Yong learned nothing and couldn’t write great poems. Some people may show talent first, but if they don’t work hard, they still can’t get success.

Life is like a running race. 【小题4】 Marie Curie from France had a hard life when she was a kid, but she succeeded in finding radium and polonium (镭和钋). How did she make it? Although she met lots of difficulties that we can’t imagine, she never thought of giving up (放弃).

【小题5】

One day a teacher entered the classroom and gave the students a surprise test. He gave out the paper and asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot in the center of the page.

The teacher saw the expression on everyone’s face and said, “I want you to write what you see there.” The confused students got started on the hard task. At the end of the class, the teacher took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them. All of them described the black dot and tried to explain where it was on the paper.

After all had been read, the classroom was quiet. The teacher began to explain, “I am not going to grade you according to this. I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot. The same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a gift filled with love and care. We always have reasons to celebrate — friends that help us or jobs that support our lives.”

“However, we keep focusing only on the dark spots, the health problems, the lack of money or the bad relationship with a family member. The dark spots are really annoying, but they are very small. Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. Enjoy each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a positive life!”

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbour named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any other doctor I’d ever known. He never shouted to us for playing in his yard, and was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He had interesting opinions about planting trees. He hardly watered his new trees, which was quite different from others. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants overprotected them because it made them grow weaker. He said, “Without enough water, they will have to grow deeper roots in order to search for water themselves. Having deeper roots helps them be stronger and live longer.” Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant about 25 years ago. They were all tall and strong.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of caring for these trees meant they grew up weak. Hard environment seemed to benefit Doctor Gibbs’ trees in ways comfort never could.

When my son was a little baby, my wife and I often wished that his life would be easy. But now I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change our thought. I know he is going to meet with difficulties. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is expecting him to have deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, he won’t be beaten.