My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling 1 , but I always knew he was special. He never criticized us, but used 2 to bring out our best. He"d say, "If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don"t give them water, they die." I 3 as a child I said something 4 about somebody, and father said, " 5 time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it"s a reflection of you." He explained that if I looked for the best in people, I would get the best 6 . From then on I"ve always tried to 7 the principle in my life and later in running my company.Dad"s also always been very understanding. At 15 years, I started a magazine. It was 8 a great deal of time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a 9 : stay in school or leave to work on my magazine. I decided to leave, but dad tried to sway me from my decision, 10 any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, "Richard, when I was 23, my dad 11 me to go into law. And I"ve always regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist, but I didn"t pursue my 12 . You know what you want. Go fulfill it."As 13 turned out, my little publication went on to becomeStudent, a national 14 for young people in the U.K. My wife and I have two children, and I"d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way dad 15 me.
A. controlled
B. comforted
C. reminded
D. raised