Possible version 1
In his speech Li Hua spoke of an overseas Chinese student who couldn't find a job because of his
dishonesty. The story shows us that honesty really is the best policy.
After reading this speech, I felt really sorry for the student who had thrown away his years of hard
work, great academic achievements and a promising future just for some short-term benefits. Now, he
knows better than anyone that dishonesty costs dearly.
My classmate Wang Tao once made a similar mistake. During a math quiz, he was having trouble
working out a problem. When the teacher looked away, he peeked and copied the answer from his
classmate. He was glad that he had a high mark in the quiz. But when he came across a similar question
in the final exam, he didn't know how to solve it and eventually failed the test.
While dishonesty helped him in the short term during the quiz, it hurt him in the long term because he
didn't revise that type of problem for the final exam. I shall always remember this lesson and be an honest
person.
Possible version 2
Today I read an instructive speech, in which the speaker argues honesty is the best policy by telling the
story of an overseas Chinese student who couldn't find a job because of his dishonesty.
After reading this speech, I felt really sorry for the student who had ruined his own promising future
just for some short-term benefits. On the other hand, I also thought it was correct to punish someone who
had been dishonest.
I once read another story about dishonesty. In that story the author found himself alone in his headmaster's
office, where he accidentally found the writing contest paper. He was going to take part in the competition
and so couldn't resist the temptation to read it. As he prepared well beforehand, he won the first prize in the
contest. But instead of feeling happy and proud, he felt guilty. This feeling started the moment he decided to
read the paper and it followed him all his life.
From these stories, I really learned the lesson that honesty is the best policy. In life we are often tempted
to be dishonest, but for a happy and guilt-free life we know what the best choice is.
