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　　Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed a boy ahead of him had dropped all of the books he was carrying．Mark helped the boy pick them up．　　1　　 they were going the same way, he carried them for the boy．As they walked, Mark knew the boy’s name was Bill．Mark 　　2　　 discovered that he loved computer games, baseball and history and that he was having a lot of 　　3　　 with his other subjects．

　　They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in 　　4　　 Coke and to watch some television．The afternoon passed 　　5　　 with a few laughs and some shared small talk, and then Mark went home．They 　　6　　 to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice and then 　　7　　 ended up from the same high school．Just three weeks before they finished school, Bill asked Mark if they could have a talk．

　　Bill 　　8　　 him of the day years ago when they had first met．‘Do you 　　9　　 wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?’ asked Bill．‘You see, I 　　10　　 out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else．I had planned to 　　11　　 from home and I was going home to pack my things．But after we spent some time together 　　12　　 and laughing, I realized that 　　13　　 I had done that, I would have 　　14　　 a new friend and missed all the fun we would have together．So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more．You 　　15　　 my life．’

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　　Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own．My mom was one of those people．

　　My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen．While I was growing up, we lived a very 　　1　　 life．We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love．Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would 　　2　　 my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it．”

　　At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never 　　3　　 again．Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I didn’t want to be bad enough．She 　　4　　 that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her．A year later, I returned to school-walking on my own!

　　When the Great Depression(大萧条)　　5　　, my mom lost her job．Then I left school to support(支撑)both of us．At that moment, I decided never to be 　　6　　 again．

　　Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success．But the real 　　7　　 point happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1916．I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels for families and was angry that they charged(收费)an extra ＄2 for each child．That was too 　　8　　 for most American families．I told my wife that I was going to open a hotel for families that would never charge extra for 　　9　　．There were plenty of doubters at that time．

　　Not 　　10　　, mom was one of my strongest supporters．She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style．As in any business, we experienced a lot of hard time．But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my heart, I 　　11　　 doubted we would succeed．Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world－Holiday Inn．In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of ＄1 billion a year．

　　You may not have started out life in the best situations．But if you can find a 　　12　　 in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you．