阅读理解

    Yesterday my son, daughter and I went to the grocery store. In front of us in line was a little girl with her mother. The little girl was asking her mother for a box of Smarties. The polite way she was asking almost broke the mother's heart, “I'm sorry, Honey, but we have no money to buy it.”

    My son was watching that dialogue. By the way, he had been raking(用耙子耙)leaves our garden to raise himself some money to buy a bike. As he watched the mother and daughter leave the store, he ran to the candy counter(柜台)and bought a box of Smarties with the money .

    He turned to look at me and I just nodded. He ran out after the little girl and her mother and he gave them the box. He came back and told me what he told them. “Every kid should have a pack of Smarties because they can make you smart.”

    I was so excited that I bought a pack of Smarties for my son. I told him that I was proud of him, and that was for his act of generosity because he gave his own Smarties to others. Quickly, he replied, “But you do nice things for people and you never get anything for it .”I explained, “when you do something nice for someone, you shouldn't expect to get anything. When you get something you should be very thankful.”

    Each morning a rich man found a poor man sitting on a bench(长凳) in the park. The poor man always sat there, looking at the big hotel in which the rich man lived. One day, the rich man got out of his car and said to the poor man, "Excuse me. I want to know why you sit here and look at my hotel every morning." "Sir," said the poor man, "I am a failure. I have no money, no family, no home. I sleep on this bench, and every night I dream that one day I'll sleep in that hotel." The rich man said, "Tonight your dream will come true. I'll pay for the best room in that hotel for you a whole month."

    A few days after, the rich man went into the poor man's room to ask him how he was enjoying himself. To his surprise, he found that the man had moved out of the hotel back to his bench. When the rich man asked why, he said, "You see, when I'm sleeping on my bench, I dreamed I am there, in the big hotel. It's a wonderful dream. But when I was there I dreamed I was back to this cold bench. It was a terrible dream, and I couldn't get any sleep at all."

D

    A cup of coffee is a good way for many people to start their day. It can also pass on kindness.

    Manyang Kher used to be a Sudanese child refugee (难民). When he was three years old, his village was burnt in the war. He was separated from his parents and never saw them again. He became one of the 20,000 young Sudanese who had to leave their home for Ethiopia's Gambella area. He lived there as a refugee for 13 years.

    When he was 16, Kher went to the United States. While he was in college, he started a program to help the refugees. Now, he owns a coffee company (公司) called 734, which is part of his program. The company has helped more than 200,000 refugees living in the Gambella area till now. Kher said, “I know the difficulties and pains they face every day. You see kids die from hunger. You see kids dying of illnesses. You see kids running away from the refugee camp to find a place to be home, but die on the way.”

    Eighty percent of the money made by the coffee company is used to send more of the children to school. And, as Kher explains, the money helps refugees to help themselves. For example, a cup of 734 coffee can also buy one fishing net (网) for a refugee. They can fish fir themselves.

    Kher sells the coffee online and to coffee stores. Megan Murphy owns a coffee store in Washington, D.C. She serves 734 coffee in her store and people love it. The coffee tastes delicious, so it's a win-win on both sides.

    Mr. King goes to a dinner party. He is wearing old clothes. He comes into the room. But people in the room don't look at him. They don't ask him to sit at the table.

    Mr. King goes home and puts on his good clothes. He goes back to the party. Everyone in the room stands up and smiles at him. They give him very good food to eat.

    Mr. King takes off his coat, and puts it in the food and says, "Eat, coat!"

    The other people ask, "What are you doing?"

    He answers, "I'm asking my coat to eat the food. When I wear my old clothes, you don't look at me or ask me to sit down. But now you give me very good food. Now I see, you give the food to my clothes, not to me!"

    Mrs. White asks Monica, "Do you like to have a treasure hunt(寻宝游戏)?" "Yes, Mom," Monica says. Mrs White gives(给) her a green notes(便条). It says, "You can find books in it." Monica comes to the bookcase and sees a yellow note in it. It says, "You can sit on it."

    Monica comes to her bed, but she can't find a note. She comes to her chair and sees a red note. "You can put(放) your tape in it," it says.

    Monica comes to her tape player and sees an orange note next to it. It says, "Call 786-0987." Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987. "Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987." Hello? This is Aunt Maria."

    "Oh, Aunt Maria, my treasure is you!" says Monica.