I was traveling alone through the UK. To reach places that were off the public transportation map，I bought an old car, which cost most of my money. I couldn't afford to stay in the hotel, so I had to camp in my car for the rest of the trip.

    One morning I awoke in my old car on a country road in Ireland and saw a single house. The water in my thermos (保温瓶）had gone cold, so I knocked on the door of the house. A woman opened it. I asked her for some hot water. But she wouldn't let me get away with just that! I was invited indoors. She asked me to sit at the table and have breakfast with her family. They filled my thermos before I left.

I was greatly moved. And I decided to pass the kindness on. The other day I met a young man who had been driving around to look for a parking lot. He looked increasingly upset. I was glad that I was able to point one out to him. His thankful smile was the hugest reward (奖赏）for me.

    Gail Mirabella works as a dog trainer for a circus (马戏团). She used to train her dogs to do tricks when she was a kid. Finally, her hobby turned into her job. Several days ago, she talked to Time Magazine reporter, Cameron Young, about her love for dogs.

    Reporter: Did you always want to be a dog trainer in a circus?

    Mirabella: When I was a little kid, I did my first dog show, a kid's dog show. And I took first place (第一名). From then on, I knew I wanted to work with dogs, but who would know I'd be in a circus?

    Reporter: Did you have any dogs growing up?

    Mirabella: Of course. I had a white dog when I was a little baby. Three years later, it died. And then we got two family dogs. On my fourteenth birthday, my uncle bought me a dog. It was a big dog.

    Reporter: How long does it take you to train a dog, one month, half a year or one year?

    Mirabella: That depends on the dog. I have thirteen dogs and I let them all play together, but I do a lot of special work with each dog. They know I am their owner because I do all the feeding.

    Reporter: If you aren't a dog trainer, what will you be?

    Mirabella: A dog. Just joking. I will probably still work with animals.

    Look at the light and beautiful snowflakes (雪花) falling. Ever wanted to hold them in your hands? They are always lost when they meet your hands.

    Well, this isn't just a problem for you. It was a problem for Wilson Bentley, too. In the 1870s, Wilson Bentley was just a teenager. His family lived in a small town in northeast America. Winters there were long and hard. Bentley's mother was once a school teacher. She taught him at home. Bentley didn't go to school until he was 14. He was a quiet boy, and loved reading his mother's books. But he was interested in his mother's microscope (显微镜). When the other boys were playing with balls, little Bentley was studying things like drops of water, flowers and snowflakes.     

    Bentley loved watching snowflakes. For the next two years, young Bentley spent many winter days in a cold room watching these ice crystals (晶体) under his microscope. The boy thought they were beautiful enough for him to start to draw pictures of them. But there were so many snowflakes that he couldn't draw them all.

    How could he keep their beauty all the time? Bentley thought of buying a camera.

    The boy and his mother asked his father to buy one. But, his father didn't agree. He thought the whole thing was a bad idea. He thought the only thing a farmer should do was farming.

    But finally Bentley did get a camera. For more than a year he tried to take pictures of snowflakes. On January 15, 1885, during a snowstorm, Bentley took the first ever photo of an ice crystal with his camera. “It was the greatest moment of my life,” Bentley said later.

    For 13 years, Bentley worked quietly and took thousands of photos of ice crystals. Later he became famous as “Snowflake” Bentley.

    George works in a small hotel. One day, it was raining heavily, an old couple (老夫妇) came to the hotel and asked for a room. George said to the old man, "I am sorry, sir, now all the rooms in the hotel are full, but I have another room left." Then George went to do some cleaning in the room and showed it to the old couple.

    The next day, the old couple wanted to pay for the room. George said, "It is free because it is my own room. I think there may be no rooms in all the hotels in the city. But it was not good to let you out in a heavy rain." The old man said, "You are so kind, and you are the best worker of the hotel." The old couple thanked George and left.

    A few months later, George got a letter with an air ticket to New York and a job offer (工作聘书). When George got to New York, he saw the old man. The old man showed him a large and beautiful hotel and said to George, "This is my hotel. I hope you would take charge of it for me." Then George became the manager (经理) of the big hotel in New York.

    In fact, the old man was quite rich. He had the big hotel and believed George could do the job well.

    It started as a game. Wendy and Peter were in River Park. They watched the boats in the river and visited the zoo. They played on the slides and swings. They watched the merry-go-round, but they did not have money for a ride. They ate their sandwiches at a picnic table. Suddenly Wendy jumped up.

    "I know what to do." she said. "Look at all that junk under the tables. Let's pick it up."

    So they picked up paper and empty boxes and cans. They put them in the green cans marked "Litter". Peter's dog Stoopy picked up some paper and ran away with it. Peter called him back and took it from him. Then they taught Stoopy to carry trash for them. They put it in the cans. They worked until there was no trash left on the picnic grounds.

    The next day their friends Mario and Andy came to the park with them. They helped to tidy the picnic grounds again. Then they ran all over the park looking for litter. They tried to see who could find the most. After that, it was a game they played every time they came to the park.

    One day, a man came with a camera. He watched what they were doing. He asked to take a picture for them. Then he took them all for a free ride on the merry-go-round, even Stoopy. The next day their picture was in the newspaper. It said, "Five Litter Lifters at River Park". After that all their friends wanted to be litter lifters. It was the beginning of a club that was a model for others to follow.