adversity and prosperity
people tend to complain, 'why am i not a president but a most ordinary clerk?' 'why am i not a millionaire who doesn't have to work desperately with such a poor salary?' or 'why can't i invent something to change people's life and carve a place or myself in history?' the answer is somewhat simple: their ives are going too smooth. in other words, they have never ndergone the true adversity which prosperity often has its roots in.
adversity often leads to prosperity. painful and difficult as it is, adversity requires courage to face, great courage that not all people have. thus, when confronted by adversity, some people sink and others overcome it with constant painstaking struggle. the latter will henceforth have intense passion to achieve their goals and tremendous determination to overwhelm any difficulties on their way to the destination, for they believe the worst has gone by. jiacheng lee, who is said to be the wealthiest person in china, had suffered a lot before he made his fortune. born in a small family, he had to earn a living to support his family without finishing his junior school study. he peddled near a plastic factory, selling plastic flowers he himself made. gradually his hard work enabled him to save up enough money to run a real business. from then on, he often defeated his opponents by investing riskily in some huge projects, which rewarded him with considerable profits. when asked about reasons for such tour age, jiacheng lee said laconically, 'if i had failed, i would have at least gone back to be a peddler again. i would lose nothing.'it is obvious that his success grows from the fertile soil of adversity of his early years.
on the contrary, those who haven't experienced the adversity are to some extent content with the present life, and they aren't determined to break up these pleasant days to venture into some unknown field. therefore, they mostly couldn't bring their potential into full play. but it doesn't mean that none of the people living in happiness can succeed. bill gates, another millionaire, has a much more fortunate experience though. but besides his ability and his sharp eye for chances, another factor also explains his success a sense of threatened. he knows clearly that he will be eliminated in the fierce competition if he slows down his pace of innovation. this threat makes him think as in adversity at least not in a pleasant resting place. his story also shows that prosperity and adversity, in a sense, are inter wined.
in adversity, while pessimists think there comes the end of the world and lose all hope, optimists remain cheerful. they will never be blinded by their pain, they know hope is there within,they keep struggling, and at last they will reach prosperity.

简 评
本文论述了困境与成功的关系，最大的特点在于举了名人成功经历为例，成功地阐明了以下观点：成功常常来自逆境。
李嘉诚是个典型的例子：自小家境贫寒，辍学做小贩维持家用，以此积蓄的原始资本开办自己的公司，用战略性、高风险的投资，获得了丰厚回报，终于成为最富有的华人。作者引用李嘉诚的话解释其商业眼光和勇气的来源：“即使失败，不过重做小贩，什么都未失去”，正是这种轻松的心态导致其成功。当然，作者也认为生活中没有经历逆境者也可能成功，并举了比尔．盖茨的例子：盖茨时刻提醒自己，如停止创新就会在残酷的竞争中落败，即成功者即使未亲历逆境，却也会时刻有一种危机意识。作者通过这种引申，更深入地表明了其观点：成功和逆境总是相伴而行的。最后一段照应全文：在困境中，悲观者认为世界末日来临，而乐观者不会被痛苦吓倒，他们看到希望，努力争取，并最终成功，精辟地总结了自己的论点。
(点评教师：何静)