Susie Sunbeam was not her real name. It was Susan Brown. But everyone called 1 Sunbeam, because she had such a sweet, smiling face. She 2 took brightness with her wherever she went. Her grandfather first gave her this 3, and it seemed to fit the little girl so 4 that soon it took the place of her own.

    Even when Susie was a baby, she laughed and smiled from morning till night. No one ever heard her cry unless she was 5 or hurt. When she had learnt to 6, she loved to go around the house and get things for her mother. 7, she helped her as much as she could.

She loved 8. She would sit by her mother's side for an hour at a time, and ask her many questions. At other times, she would take a new book and read quietly. Susie was always pleasant in her play with other children. She never used a(n) 9 word , but tried to do whatever would make her playmates happy.

    One day, a(n) 10 little girl with an old torn dress passed by. Susie heard some children teasing and laughing at her. She at once ran out to the gate, and asked the little girl to come 11.

    “What are you crying for?” Susie asked. “Because they all 12 at me.” she said.

    Then Susie took the little girl into the house. She 13 the little girl with kind words, and she gave her one of her own best dresses and a good pair of shoes. This brought real 14 to the poor child, and she thought that Sunbeam was the 15 name for Susan Brown.

    I joined a club called "Passing Help" last month. Now let me tell you 1 I joined it.

    One2 this February, my old car broke down on my way home. It was far away from my home. I wanted to get a ride in somebody else's car, but it was dark and there was no car. It was also 3 to take a taxi. I decided to take a bus home. I went to a bus stop nearby.

    After a while, a bus came, but it did not go to my town. The bus driver was a young woman. She was 4 and she told me which bus I should take. I waited there for about half an hour, but no bus came. 5 a car came to me and a woman came out of the car. She was just the bus driver.

    "When I reached the bus station, I 6 to know that there was no bus to your town at this late hour, so I returned here. I just can't 7 you here," she said. "Get in my car and I will take you back to your home."

    "It is a long way, "I said.

    "8^, sir, "she said. "Let's go."

    On the way she told me a story. A few days ago, her car ran out of gas(汽油). An old man drove her up to a gas station and then back to her9^.

    When we got to my home, I wanted to give her some money to thank her, but she didn't 10 it. "I only want to help others and do something nice for somebody. Pass it along," she said.

    One day, there was an earthquake in a small mountain village. Nothing was destroyed and 1 was hurt. But a big rock fell from a nearby mountain and stopped in the middle of the road.

    When the earthquake2many people came to the road and saw the rock. Some of the strongest men tried to lift the rock off the road. But they couldn't move it. They tried to push it but3.They tried to pull it with ropes but nothing worked.

    “Well,” they all agreed, “There's nothing we can do about it. We'll have to change the road.” At this time a boy of 12 years old said, “I think I can help you to move the rock.”

    “You?” they shouted, “What are you talking about?” The men all4 at the boy.

    The next morning some people came into the street.One of them shouted, “The rock 5!” More people ran out to see. It was right. The rock wasn't in the road any more. It wasn't even near the road.

    “This is6,” they said, “Where did it go?”

    The boy stood in the street,7, “I told you I could move it last night. and I buried(埋) it.”

    The boy said.

    The people looked 8.“You see,” he said, “I dug a deep hole next to the rock and I dug a small incline(斜坡) up to the rock and the rock9down into the hole by itself. I covered it with earth.”

    The people shouted,“What a10 boy!” And some of them said, “Why haven't we thought of this good way?”

    Jack was a hard-working student when he was young, but he had some big problems. He used to be shy before his classmates. So he had 1 friends at school. Bob was a new student in his class. All the students were soon familiar with him and got on well with him 2 Jack.

    One day, some boys put some money into Jack's bag and another boy pretended to have 3 his money. Of course, they found the money in 4 bag at last.

    Jack felt shameful (可耻的) 5 he could not say anything about it. Soon his classmates called him a thief and 6 him in the school. His teachers also 7 that and called his parents to the school, too. Just then, Bob stood out and helped Jack make everything 8.

    From that day, Jack and Bob 9 good friends. Bob often took Jack to take part in many activities and Jack became outgoing. Bob was weak in English and Jack often helped him 10 it. Now Jack became the monitor in his class, and he had more friends. He enjoyed the nice friendship and the school life.

    I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was1and when I was 14, he said, "You are2going to be anything but a failure."

    After five years of3jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle— class girl. It was the best4that could have happened to me. I decided to do something positive with my life because I wanted to prove to her what people said about me was5, especially her mother, who had said to me, "You have failed at everything you have ever done.” So I tried hard with my6and went to college. My first novel7while I was at college.

    After college I taught during the8in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a9in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of giving up that job to write full time when I was offered a part— time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself—it was a working— class boy who had left school early, now teaching at the university.

    My writing career(生涯)10when I realized my own style. Now I am rich and famous, have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. But what does it mean? I just wish all the people that have put me down had said, "I believe in you. You will succeed.

    I just returned from a trip to New Jersey. On the way back, I was stopped by a traffic accident. This accident involved a truck carrying a lot of dangerous materials that were leaking out(外漏). This meant that we weren't going anywhere for several hours.

    After being told by the policeman that we would be sitting there until the cleanup was completed, I got out of the truck to have a rest. Other truck drivers did the same: At one point there were five of us standing by my truck, 1Another truck with two elderly people inside stopped near us. The man, Joe, let the2down and asked why no one was moving.

    Soon we were all talking with this couple. I said that if I had known about this. I would have bought something to drink, for I was becoming3. The lady, Anna said that they had plenty of water in the cooler in their truck and offered everyone something to drink. While she was back there, she said that she also had plenty of food and she could make sandwiches for us. While Anna was making the sandwiches, she was singing like a songbird. Being close to 70, I guessed, she had a remarkable voice.

    When she finished making the sandwiches, I saw a Mississippi license(执照) plate on the truck. I asked what part of Mississippi they were from. Joe said Biloxi. Knowing that Biloxi had been4by Hurricane Katrina(卡特里娜飓风). I asked him about the disaster. Joe said that they had lost almost everything. Everything they had was in the truck.

    All of us drivers tried unsuccessfully to pay them for their drinks and sandwiches.

    Joe said that their son was living around Harrisonburg, Virginia and they were going there. There was a home for sale and they were going to start all over there. Starting over5, we know, would not be easy.

    These people lost everything except the pictures and some clothes. These wonderful people lost practically everything they owned and still would not accept any money for their food and drinks. Joe said that it was better to give than to6.