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.

B

    Recently，there was a report about a special app called "notOK"．A 13-year-old girl Hannah Lucas and her brother Charlie put their heads together to create this app last year．

    Hannah has been suffering from an illness that causes her to pass out since she was little．This is very dangerous if there is no one around．She was also being bullied(欺凌)by some students at school．So she searched for an app that would allow her to press a button so that a friend or a family member would know immediately that she needed help．After realizing there was no such thing，Hannah and her brother decided to do something about it．After some research，Hannah made some early drawings of what the app might look like．Then，after taking a programming class，Charlie began to think about the best way for the app to work．

    They wanted something that would send a text message to up to five contacts that reads："Hey，I'm not OK．Please call me，text me，or come and find me"，along with a link to the user's current GPS location．

    They started looking for someone to help them make the app．And when Hannah shared her dream with people in a summer business class which she attended two years ago，they were really excited about the app．They thought of many different marketing ideas．By mid—December last year, "notOK" app was finished as a birthday present for Hannah from Charlie．"It was exactly what we wanted，"Charlie said．

    In today's age，most people will agree that apps like these are great．Whether you're suffering from illness，or anything emergent(紧急的)，writing a text message or making a phone call to get the help you need can be difficult．

    Hannah is happy to know that her app will help more people．"It's like I went through my dark times so I could help people through theirs，"she said．

    The Milu deer is a kind of animal with large horns (角). They used to be common in China a long time ago. They lived together and ate grass and the soft parts of trees. In the past, people did not protect the Milu deer but killed them for food or sport, so they disappeared from China.

    Fortunately, before all of them disappeared, the Duke of Bedford (贝德福特公爵) took some to Britain. The Milu deer liked the cool, wet weather in England and their number increased year by year. When in 1985 the government of China wanted to bring back the Milu deer, the Duke of Bedford could help. The first deer came back to China to the Nanhaizi Milu Park near Beijing and to Dafeng, Jiangsu Province.

    Since they returned to China, their number has grown quickly. There are now so many of them that a new park has been opened for them in Hubei Province. Now the Milu deer live in the wildlife parks and have good protection. We hope that one day they can live in the wild again.

    In about 1503, during Christopher Columbus's fourth and final trip to America, his ship was seriously damaged in a storm. Columbus and his men had to live on a small island for several months while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain.

    At first, the local people on the island were very kind to the European visitors, giving them all the food and clothes they needed to survive. However, as the months passed, the local people became more and more unhappy with their guests, who were tricking and stealing from them. Finally the locals decided to stop helping. Without food or any way to leave the island, Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble.

    Luckily for Columbus, he had a book about the stars and planets on his ship. It described the movements of all the objects in the night sky. The book, written by a well-known German scientist, said there would be a total lunar eclipse(月食)and how long it would last.

    Columbus worked out the difference in time between Germany and North America. He then had a meeting with the local leaders just before the eclipse would take place. In this meeting, Columbus told them his god was angry because the local people were no longer giving food. So his god would take away the Moon to punish them. At the moment Columbus finished talking, just as he had planned, the Moon began disappearing.

    The local leaders grew frightened and quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted. But first, Columbus's god had to return the Moon. Columbus told them he would have to discuss the idea with his god on his ship. Knowing the Moon would stay completely hidden for about 48 minutes, Columbus returned just before the Moon began to reappear. From that day on, until they finally left, Columbus and his men no longer had any trouble getting the food they needed.