1.

Take Care of Yourself

Valerie studies at a big university. At the same time, she maintains a full-time job so that she can pay for
her tuition and her living expenses. So Valerie spends most of the day at the office, then goes to class
three days a week. She also stays up late at night to study for her classes.

Valerie does not do any physical exercise. Between work and university, she is so busy that she thinks
she does not have time for any physical activity.

Sadly, she rarely eats home-made meals. She usually just grabs a bag of chips or a hamburger as she
leaves her office to take the bus to university. Since she is convinced that she does not have time to
make a healthy dinner when she gets home, she eats lots of pizzas that she orders over the phone. 

After dinner, she starts studying and preparing her assignments. Valerie does not sleep very much
because of it. She feels grumpy when she wakes up early in the morning, and she is irritable at work.
After her long day, she feels tired in class, and it is hard for her to concentrate.

To make matters even worse, Valerie keeps getting sick. This makes her miss work and class. She is
miserable! She just wants to feel good. Her grades start to go down because of her illnesses. As she
thinks about her whole life situation, she gets so frustrated that she does not even want to study anymore.

During her mid-year break, Valerie decides to make some big changes. First, she learns how to make
some easy, healthy recipes. She actually finds that she saves a lot of money by preparing her food
herself, and the food tastes much better too! After an early dinner and some quiet reading, Valerie goes to
bed early every night. Now she really feels refreshed in the morning.

Then she decides to give something else a try. Her office is not really so far from her university, so one
day after work she tries walking there. As she walks down the street, looking at all the people, the shops,
and the movement in the city, she remembers how much she hates being stuck on the bus in traffic. In
fact, she finds that she can get to class almost as fast by walking. And she is so much happier when she
arrives!

When the semester begins, Valerie maintains her healthy habits. She sets time aside on the weekends to
study and do her assignments. Because she is sleeping and eating better now, she can finally
concentrate and needs to spend much less time studying. 

It is a huge improvement. Valerie saves money on food and transportation, she has much more energy,
she feels less stressed, and her grades are better. She is glad she finally started to take care of herself.
Now she finally enjoys all of her different activities and feels happy about her life.

Comprehension Questions
1. Why does Valerie always feel frustrated and irritable?

2. What healthy changes does Valerie make in her life?

3. In your opinion, why is it important to take care of yourself?

 2. Try Not to Do Things to Others That You Would Not Like Them to Do to You

Two friends, Eric and Wendy, are sitting in a café enjoying a coffee. They talk and look at the other
people in the café. There is a rich-looking man in a business suit sitting at a table near them. As he
stands up to leave, his cell phone rings. He answers it and walks away.

Eric and Wendy realize that he has left his briefcase. He was distracted by the phone call. They both look
at the briefcase for a moment and wonder if it is full of money. 

But they only hesitate for a moment. They know that the briefcase belongs to the man, and he will be very
upset if he loses it. They both jump up from their chairs. Wendy runs after the man, shouting, "Hey, sir!
Sir, you forgot your briefcase!"

Eric stands next to the briefcase and waits. He wants to be sure that nothing happens to it while Wendy
goes to find the man.

When he hears Wendy, the man stops and looks at her. "I'm sorry, I have to go," he says into his cell
phone, ending the call. "My briefcase! I cannot believe I forgot it! Thank you so much!"

He follows Wendy back to his table in the café. He smiles at Eric, who is standing next to his briefcase
without touching it. 

"Thank you so much," the man says. "This briefcase is full of important research papers and some
pictures of my family. These things are very important to me, but they are not useful to anyone else. I am
so glad I did not lose them!"

Wendy and Eric smile. They are happy that the man did not lose his documents. 

"Let me pay for your coffee," the man offers. "You have really saved me today!"

Wendy and Eric accept and say thank you to the man. They are glad no one took his briefcase. They
know you should not do things to others that you would not like them to do to you. And no one wants to
lose important work or special photos. They enjoy their coffee even more after helping the man. 

Comprehension Questions
1. Why does the man forget his briefcase?

2. What do Eric and Wendy think might be inside?

3. In your opinion, why is it important not to do things to others that you would not want them to do to
you?
 3. Flourish and Prosper

Brian is a very silly, funny student. What he loves most is to make people laugh. All his friends love his
jokes, and even the teachers think he is very funny. Brian knows that comedy is what he likes best.

When he hears about the school's talent show, he decides to sign up so that he can share his comedy
from the stage. He has never done real stand-up comedy before, and he is very excited. But when some
of the students find out he will participate, they laugh at him. Brian thinks it does not feel very good when
someone laughs at you in a mean way!

"You are not funny," the students tell him. "You will do a terrible job. No one will like what you do!"

Brian cannot understand why they are being so unkind to him. For a moment, he thinks about telling the
talent show organizers he will not participate. But then he remembers how much his friends and teachers
like his jokes. He does not know why these other students are being so negative, but he decides to go
ahead and prepare his comedy routine for the talent show.

Brian decides to do a great job at the talent show to prove to the mean students that they are wrong.
Everyone loves his routine, and he wins first prize! Even so, the same students tell Brian he is dumb and
that he will never be a successful comedian. Brian just shakes his head and wonders what their problem
is. He does not understand, but he realizes that it has nothing to do with him. He happily continues to
work towards his goal.

As the years go on, Brian meets more people like that. Luckily, they are the minority, and as he works
hard to become a comedian, most of the people he meets encourage him and help him to become even
funnier. He gets more and more opportunities to perform, and he is even invited to appear on television
and act in movies.

His fans thank him for making them laugh, and they tell him that his comedy makes them feel better when
they are sad. He likes to tell funny stories in his acts about how hard he had to work and overcome the
silly, nasty things people said to him along the way. He never listened to them, and now he is a big
comedy star! 

He followed his heart to flourish and prosper doing what he loves the most. And he really thinks he chose
the best career in the world. He never feels stressed like those negative people, and he laughs all day
long!

Comprehension Questions

1. What is Brian's favorite thing to do?

2. How did Brian decide to deal with the negative comments?

3. In your opinion, why is it important to flourish and prosper?

 4. Fulfill Your Obligations

Samantha sometimes does not go to work because she is sleepy or she just does not feel like going. At
first, her boss tries to be understanding, thinking that maybe Samantha is getting sick. Of course she is
earning less money because of all the time she misses, and soon her boss loses patience. He fires
Samantha and looks for someone else to do her job.

Samantha is upset, and she is also a little worried about paying her bills. But she decides that she really
does not like to work very much. Still, Samantha is lucky because she has lots of friends and family
members who love her. So rather than look for a new job, she starts to ask them for money. 

At first most of them are willing to lend her a little bit. But, when she does not pay it back, they become
upset. Why is she being so irresponsible? They all stop loaning her money.

Just like Samantha always has excuses for her friends and family, she also has excuses for her landlord.
She usually does not have the money for her rent, but she always says she will have it soon. Of course,
Samantha's landlord eventually loses patience and tells her that she must leave her apartment
immediately.

Samantha does not know what to do. She does not know where to begin to look for a new apartment, and
anyway, she does not have any money to pay for rent. She feels desperate and realizes that she has
made some very big mistakes. She begins to call her friends to see if they will let her stay at their
apartments, but they are all still upset about the money she owes them. They say no.

Finally, Samantha is left feeling very desperate and worried. She dials her brother's phone number and
hopes that he is in a good mood. When he answers, she explains her situation and admits that she thinks
she has made some big mistakes.

Her brother, Edwin, agrees with her. Her behavior has been very inappropriate, and he refuses to lend
her any money. He tells her that she can stay with him, but only under very specific conditions. First, she
must begin to look for a new job. And while she is living with Edwin, she must walk his dog every day,
clean the house, and do cooking. If she does not fulfill all of these responsibilities, she must leave. 

Edwin sounds very serious, and Samantha knows that her brother is not joking. She knows he is giving
her an important opportunity to make a change in her life. She realizes that she must live up to her
responsibilities and fulfill her obligations. 

Samantha thanks her brother and agrees to his offer. She will do her best to find a good job soon. She
wants to pay everyone back as soon as possible and get her life back in order. She knows it is going to
be a challenge, but she also knows it will be well worth it! 

Comprehension Questions
1. Why do Samantha's friends and family become upset with her?

2. What does Samantha plan to do at the end of the story?

3. In your opinion, why is it important to fulfill your obligations?

 5. Be Worthy of Trust

Helen sits in the living room of her small apartment. She looks for a job as a graphic designer in job ads
online and in newspapers. She does this every day for months! 

One morning, as she sits in her living room as usual and looks for a job, her phone rings. It is her mother. 

"Did you find a job?" her mother asks.

"No," Helen replies. "I am still looking for one." 

"But you finished university six months ago," her mother says. "You studied for four years to get your
design degree…" 

Helen interrupts her. "That is true, and I also took all the software courses I could. But I have no
experience as a graphic designer and no recommendations, so employers do not want me. They do not
know if they can trust me." 

Helen looks at the stack of bills she has to pay. If she does not find a job soon, she will be in trouble!
Suddenly, one ad catches her eye.

"A graphic designer is needed for a very well-known fashion magazine called TOP. No experience
required," the ad reads.

Helen quickly says goodbye to her mother and calls the phone number listed in the ad. Helen is excited!
She knows TOP magazine, and it looks like a very good opportunity.

The phone conversation is very brief. A woman's voice tells Helen, "Come at five."

Helen quickly gets ready and leaves her apartment. Still excited, she takes the train to a tall building with
a big sign that says "TOP Magazine." Helen takes the elevator to 10th floor for her interview.

She is interviewed by a nice woman named Jenny. Jenny is the editor. While Jenny looks at Helen's
portfolio, she asks, "Who is Momo Manal?"

"He is a French fashion designer," Helen quickly answers. "He is one of the world's best designers and a
leader in fashion."

Jenny goes over Helen's portfolio. She smiles and tells Helen she is hired. She introduces Helen to the
other workers and shows her where she will work.

The editor soon announces the next issue of the magazine. It will have a 60s theme! Helen begins to
work very hard around the clock. She knows the magazine must be ready for approval in just a few days.

Helen stays up late into the night. She really wants to do a good job and prove that she is trustworthy.
She finally finishes the design on time and calls the magazine editor. Everyone looks at the magazine and
loves Helen's work! She is very happy.

Suddenly the manager comes in very excited. She says that she has been invited to a Momo Manal
fashion show! Everyone is very excited. They know it is nearly impossible to get an invitation.

The next day, the photographer sneaks into to the manager's office and steals the invitation. He asks
Helen to make a copy of the invitation for him. She is frightened and tells him it is illegal. He must return
the stolen invitation right away. 
The photographer begs her to help him. He says that he really must go to that fashion show. "No one will
find out," he assures her. Helen finally agrees and makes him a very similar copy. As she works, Helen
does not notice the editor looking into her office.

That night at home, Helen sees on television that unemployment is high. She is really glad that she has a
good job! As she goes to bed, she feels worried. At work, she is a trusted member of the team. But she
copied that invitation and betrayed their trust. Nobody knows about that, but still she feels bad about
doing it.

When Helen comes to work the next day, she sees a few of her co-workers at the printer. They are
making copies of the invitation she made for the photographer. Everyone in the office has one! Helen
panics. She betrayed the trust they put in her. And now she could lose her job and get the entire company
in trouble!

She begins to shout at everyone to stop, but no one hears her over the noise of the printer and everyone
shouting excitedly. Helen unplugs the machine and shouts, "Stop!"

Everyone is silent as Helen shouts that they must destroy the copies. More softly, she says, "I made a big
mistake. I should not have copied the invitation." She looks at the floor, ashamed. Now she is sure she
will lose her job and that everyone in the office will feel they made a mistake by trusting her. She cannot
believe it. What will her family say?

Everyone looks at Helen in silence. Then they all simply say, "Okay." They go back to work as if nothing
has happened. Helen is confused. How could it be so easy?

The editor walks up to her and says, "This was only a little prank. We will let you keep your job this time,
but I hope that you will never do something like this again. I want to trust you."

Helen cannot believe it! Breathing a sigh of relief, she says, "No! You can be sure that I will never do
anything like that again! I will work hard to earn your trust."

Essay Questions
1. Helen graduated six months ago, but she is still looking for a job. She says she cannot find one
because she does not have experience. What can she do to overcome this barrier?

2. Think of the best job you have had. What was it? What were your responsibilities?

3. Helen agrees to copy the invitation even though she does not think it is a good idea. Why do you think
she agrees to do it?

4. Helen's boss decides not to fire Helen. She decides to play a prank to teach Helen a lesson. Why do
you think she decides to do this?

5. It is hard for Helen to get to sleep at night after she forges the invitation. Why do you think this happens
to her?

6. In your opinion, how can being trusted by others benefit you?