When Marcus, a homeless man, walked into a small cafe, begging for spare change, he didn't get 1. Instead, Cesia, the owner, kindly asked why he didn't have a job. 2 his head to avoid eye contact, he replied, "I used to be in prison and no one wants to 3 me." Although Cesia had hit some hard times of her own at the cafe, she was short of hands that day and 4 Marcus a position, washing dishes for two hours.

With a big smile, Marcus 5 accepted it. While Marcus was busy with the dishes, Cesia made him a sandwich. Marcus immediately walked out to the street and 6 it with a homeless woman. "Do you know the lady over there?" she asked out of 7. "No, but I know she is hungry." That really 8 Cesia.

Since business was not good, Cesia couldn't 9 to employ him. So at the end of that day, they said their goodbyes. 10, much to her surprise, Marcus continued to 11 on time for work every day. When he got 12, he bought food from the cafe, refusing to take it for free. When asked why, he said, "It makes me feel 13." Marcus was showing that he was really a nice person. For Cesia who was going through a dark period, Marcus became a 14 in her life.

"People need someone who 15 them and even lends a helping hand." Cesia wrote on Facebook, "Just like Marcus, I had my 16 when in trouble. I had many people to help make it to where I am today. Do something 17 for someone else and don't 18 them just because they're out there asking for money, for we don't know their real 19. Some deserve another 20."

    “Wanted: Violin. Can't pay much. Call …”

    Why did I notice that? I wondered, since I rarely looked at the classified ads. I laid the paper on my lap and closed my eyes, remembering what had happened during the Great Depression, when my family 1to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin, but we didn't have the 2.

    When my older twin sisters began showing an interest in music. Harriet Anne learned to play Grandma's upright piano, 3 Suzanne turned to Daddy's violin, simple tunes soon became 4 melodies as the twins played more and more. 5 in the rhythm of the music, my baby brother danced around while Daddy hummed（哼唱）and Mother whistled. I just 6.

    When my arms grew7 enough, I tried to play Suzanne's violin. I loved the beautiful sound of the firm bow drawn across the strings. Oh, how I wanted one! But I knew it was 8 the question.

    One evening as the twins played in the school orchestra, I closed my eyes tight to capture the picture firmly in my 9. “Someday, I'll sit up there.” I vowed（发誓）10.

    Unfortunately, it was not a 11 year. At harvest the crops did not bring as much as we had hoped. I, however, couldn't 12 any longer to ask, “Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?”

    “Can't you use Suzanne's?”

    “I'd like to be in the orchestra, too, and we can't13 use the same violin at the same time.”

    Daddy's face looked 14. That night, and many following nights, I heard him 15 God in our family prayers, “… and Lord, Mary Lou wants her 16 violin.”

    One evening we all sat around the table. The twins and I studied. Mother sewed and Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, George Finkle, in Columbus. Mr. Frinkle, Daddy said, was a fine 17.

    As he wrote, Daddy read parts of his letter out loud to Mother. Weeks later I 18 he'd written one line he didn't read aloud: “Would you watch for a19 for my third daughter? I can't 20 much, but she enjoys music. And we'd like her to have her own instrument.”

I still remember my kindergarten teacher Mrs White, although I don't remember much about what we learned in her class. My mother once told me that we used to1a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she could see there were so many2. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes3a "Good"，which would make my heart soar (高涨）with4, But it worried my mother, so one day when she met Mrs White, she asked her why she never5the wrong spellings of words.

Mrs White replied, "The children are just beginning to get6about using words, about forming sentences. I don't want to7that enthusiasm with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait. The wonder of words won't…"Maybe she didn't say it8like that. It was long ago. But I did grow up learning to use words with loving9like that.

I10now and think Mrs Whites was a rather11teacher. She encouraged the joy,12and excitement of expression-however faultily-like that. I used to13"beautiful" a lot. Never could I quite remember that the "e"went 14the "a".15my teacher in high school very much.16eventually the e's and a's settled into their17places. I am glad I didn't 18on them though. "Pretty" is 19to spell but it doesn't hold as much as you mean sometimes. And thanks to Mrs White, I had no20about writing what I meant even if I couldn't quite spell it out. Because life isn't Pretty. It's Beautiful.

    Sudha Chandran, a classical dancer from India, had to have her right leg cut after a car accident. She was also 1 on her career road.

    Though the accident brought her bright career to a 2, she didn't give up. In the 3 months that followed, Sudha met a doctor who developed an artificial 4 made from rubber filled with sponge (海绵). So 5 she wanted to go back to 6 after she had been fitted with an artificial leg. Sudha knew that she believed in 7 and could realize her dream, and 8 she began her courageous journey back to the world of dancing — 9 to balance, bend, stretch, walk, turn, twist and twirl.

    After every public recital (个人表演), she 10 ask her dad about her performance. "You 11 have a long way to go" was the answer she used to get 12. In January 1984, Sudha made a historic 13 by giving a public recital in Bombay. She performed in such a great manner that it 14 everyone to tears and this 15 pushed her to the number one position again. That evening when she asked her dad the 16 question, he didn't say anything. He just touched her feet as a praise.

    Sudha's comeback was 17 moving an event that a film producer 18 to make the story into a hit film. When someone asked Sudha how she had 19 to dance again, she said quite simply, "YOU DON'T NEED FEET TO DANCE."20 is impossible in this world. If you have the will to win, you can achieve anything.

I didn't go to Santiago, Chile to look for friendship. In fact, Chile was not even on my wish list.

A mid-life crisis woman, I got a chance to study abroad. I only wanted to learn about global business, taste South American cuisine, and check "study abroad" off my wish list.

On the fifth day, I joined a group for a neighborhood work project aided by the anti-poverty (扶贫) organization. Our tasks were to build a water tower and paint the community center. Upon arrival, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like a scene out of a horrible film. That moment redefined poverty for me because I had never seen such terrible living conditions. As advised, I showed no signs of the motional battle going on inside me.

Just as I was about to start work on painting, a request came through for a few volunteers to help Nadia, a local resident who volunteered to cook for us. I raised my hand to help because I wanted spend time with the people of the neighborhood despite my shortage of Spanish speaking skills.

Nadia had a sincere smile but not overly friendly. Even without speaking each other's language we started to learn about one another. We chatted about our children, our upbringing, shared picture of our family, struggled to instruct each other to communicate in the other's language, and laugh many times.

After we fed everybody and the dishes were washed, my day was over. But I found myself hesitant to leave. It was as if I had known her my entire life. I had not predicted the unselfishness heart I would encounter, and it was moving.

As we were waiting for the car to pick us up, Nadia showed me her plants that are well-maintains. I could see that despite the hard conditions she was passionate about life. She made me long to be stronger person. She showed me that poverty was external, but happiness was internal. I was seeking to give 100 percent for a well-intentioned cause, but I left receiving 200 percent from her.

The summer after my freshman year college, I had to get my first job. This was probably one of the1 tasks I have ever had to do. I had never held a job when I was in high school because my parents wanted me to put all my 2 into my studies. 

At first, it was very hard. I filled out dozens of 3 but got no calls back in the first two weeks. It made sense because I had 4 no job experience. All I could 5 was that being a high school graduate and a year of college. 

However, halfway through the third week, I finally got a call back from one of the places I 6 . We had set up a meeting time, and after my 7 , I was more than ready to start working the following Monday. I was 8 at the chance of working for my wages. 

When I started, it was very clear that I was not 9 . I made mistakes with orders and often 10 sales promotions（推销）. My parents made a bet I would not 11 the first two weeks, and I would be back looking for more 12 . However, I stuck with it. 

After working a while, I got better at orders, and always 13 the cheaper options for customers. A couple of weeks later, I had been told by the manager that I had 14 the award of the best employee of the month. It taught me a lot about responsibility and gave me the 15 of working.