Another person's enthusiasm was what set me moving towards the success I have achieved. That
person was my stepmother.
     I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father __1__ me to her with
these words, "I would like you to meet the fellow who is distinguished for being the worst boy in this
county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no later than tomorrow morning."
     My stepmother walked over to me, __2__ my head slightly upward, and looked me right in the eye.
Then she looked at my father and replied, "You are __3__.This is not the worst boy at all, but the
smartest one who hasn't yet found an outlet for his enthusiasm."
     That statement began a(n) __4__ between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and
neighbors had built me up in my __5__ as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.
     She changed many things. She __6__ my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated
with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father's career could be more __7__
and my brother and I could be better __8__.
     When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand __9__ and told me that she believed that I
could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm; I __10__. It had already improved our lives. I accepted
her belief and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of __11__ that great day
I went to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life's work later. I wasn't
the only beneficiary(受益者). My father became the __12__ man in town. My brother and stepbrothers
became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
     What power __13__ has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one's purpose
and is __14__ strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible(不可抗拒的)force which poverty and
temporary defeat can never __15__.
     You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you
can do with your enthusiasm.