In 1989, an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the middle of complete damage and disorder, a father rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, 1 that the building was 2.

    After the unforgettably initial shock, he 3 the promise he had made to his son: "No matter 4, I'll always be there for you!" And tears began to 5 his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his 6 to his son. He rushed there and started 7 the ruins.

    As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived, 8: "It's too late! They're all dead! 9, face reality, there's nothing you can do!" To each parent he responded with 10: "Are you going to help me now?" No one helped. And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.

    Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know 11: "Is my boy 12 or is he dead? "He dug for eight hours...12 hours...24 hours...36 hours...then, in 13 hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son's 14. He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" He heard back, "Dad! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you 15 me and 16 you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, 'No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you! 'You did it, Dad!"

    "What's going on in there?" the father asked.

    "There are 14 of us 17 18 33, Dad. We're scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When the building collapsed, it made 19, and it saved us".

    "Come out, boy!"

    "No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, 20 I know you'll get me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me!"

    When an earthquake hit a small town, many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

    One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than themselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan, "We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing. We'll share what we have with them."

    I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. "Oh, dear," I said. "You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan said, "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make another little girl happy, too."

    I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It's easy to give something that we don't want any more, but hard to give what we cherish (珍爱), isn't it?

    If you are in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I point, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go. In the 1986 movie, "Nothing in Common", Jackie Gleason's character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max's despair about being out of work. I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings.

    Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell "The Great One" about acting? Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene. "So Max is sad, right?" I said.

    Gleason nodded.

    "And he's probably still carrying his pens with his name on them—the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?"

    Gleason nodded.

    "So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?"

    He was silent for a moment. "Why don't I throw them overboard?"

    I stood up and turned towards the crew. "Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let's shoot it."

    After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile. "Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?"

    You and your team can discover the answers to problems together. When there are no prizes or gold stars for those who get the solution first, you'll all benefit when everything turns out right.

词数100左右。

Dear Editor,

Yours,

Li Hua