1. The Last Leaf by O. Henry
Johnsy is an inhabitant of an art colony in Greenwich Village, where pneumonia is taking its
toll. Eventually, Johnsy is stricken with the disease and gives up all desire to live. Outside
her window resides an old ivy vine on which only a few leaves remain. Convinced that she
will die when the last leaf falls, Johnsy watches the vine incessantly. This morbid fascination
distresses her big hearted neighbor Mr. Berhman, an old painter scraping by as an artist’s
model and still dreaming of painting his masterpiece. Time passes, Johnsy remains
fascinated by the withering vine. To her growing astonishment, a single last leaf remains
attached firmly to the vine. Taking this as an embodiment of hope, Johnsy’s condition
ameliorated. In the meantime, her neighbor contracts pneumonia and has been taken to
hospital, where he later dies. It is later discovered that he had contracted the disease after
staying up all night to paint the perfect image of a single leaf on the brick wall outside
Johnsy’s window. (168 字)
2. Charles Schulz
Charles Monroe Schulz is an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts is considered to
be one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium. Although Charles is
a shy, timid teenager, he is steadfast and persistent. It is his self-defeating stubbornness
and admirable perseverance in trying his best against all odds that made him a popular
figure. He can never win a ballgame but continues to play baseball; he can never fly a kite
successfully but continues to do so. Although his drawings were first rejected by his high
school yearbook and then refused by Disney, he persevered and created the world
renowned Charlie Brown and Snoopy, known as Peanut comic, which reflects his own life.
Peanuts ran for 50 years, and, at its peak, appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75
countries. (138 字)
3. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is considered to be one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding
1,093 US patents under his name. He is one of the first inventors to apply the principles of
mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often
credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. To find a long lasting
material for the light bulb, Edison and his team worked for many years and experienced more than 1,500 failures through the process. However, their research was not hampered by
setbacks and their hard work was finally paid off in 1879. Using a small carbonized bamboo
filament, Edison and his team were able to produce a light bulb that was able to last over 40
hours. After soughting further improvements, Edison finally filed for US patent 223898 in
November4, 1879. His invention of the light bulb not only revolutionized the nascent electric
industry, but also made electricity viable to mankind. (161 字)
4. Henry Ford
Henry Ford, the American founder of the Ford Motor Company, had been stimulated by
Thomas Edison in his youth and followed Thomas Edison’s career then. In 1896, while
attending a company-sponsored convention in Manhattan Beach, New York, Henry Ford was
introduced to the great inventor Thomas Edison. During their conversation, Edison asked the
young Henry Ford a series of questions and when the conversation was over, Edison
emphasized his satisfaction by banging his fist down on the table. "Young man," he said,
"that's the thing! You have it!” To Henry Ford, as he later indicated, that bang on the table
was worth worlds.
After receiving the complete approval from Thomas Edison, Henry Ford strived to accomplish
his invention of the cheap and convenient Model T. After further improvements, the price of
Model T decreased from $850 to $225, a price that is affordable to most social classes. The
design later revolutionized the transportation industry in America because prior to its
introduction, cars were a form of luxury that is only affordable to the upper echelons. And in
just 19 years after the first introduction, the sales of the Model T had reached an astounding
15,007,034, a record which stood for the next 45 years. (204 字)
5. Jack Welch
Jack Welch was the former CEO of General Electric. He joined the company in 1960 and
worked as a junior engineer. After a year at GE, he was displeased with the strict
bureaucracy regarding pay rise which led to a mere $1000 increase in his salary after his
first year. Welch, who then harbored thoughts of leaving the company, was convinced by
Reuben Gutoff to stay. He then started questioning the decisions made by the authorities
and moved up the ranks quickly. When he became the CEO of GE in 1981, he worked to
streamline the company by trimming inventories and dismantling the bureaucracy that
almost led him to leave the company. Each year, he would fire the bottom 10% of his
managers, while rewarding the top 20% with bonuses and stock options. By pushing his
managers to perform, the perennial problem with regards to perceived inefficiency was
effectively eradicated. When Welch left GE, the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and
largest company in the world. (186 字)