It was very late when I got out of the cinema. By the time the  1 ended, it was 1 a. m. I walked to my car which was    2 across the street. When I arrived, I noticed something 3the doors were unlocked. I took a quick  4 round the car and to my great 5,  everything was undamaged, except that my  6 was gone. After a further search, I had to 7 the fact that it was gone, but I considered myself incredibly  8 that nothing valuable was taken.

      The next day I got a  9 voice mail from a man. He said he had walked his dog in the morning and came across my 10 briefcase with my name on it. I called him back 11. He promised to 12 it. At first I asked him to send it, but then I 13. Though we were in the same city, I didn't want to trouble him. I finally decided to go to collect it though it probably wouldn't be 14enough to go to a 15 house to pick something up.

       I met the man and was greatly  16 to him. Words could not express my 17 of this stranger's kindness. I think that there's so much 18 in the world and there are so many people who 19 their inner goodness through acts of kindness. It feels good to give kindness and it also feels nice to 20  others want to give.

       On our first anniversary, Jack bought a bottle of Casaque, an expensive cologne（古龙香水）for me. "We agreed to save the money for your postgraduate education", I said somewhat half-heartedly as I took it out from a beautifully-wrapped packet. "I am unable not to give something 1 to the world's most beautiful bride, honey!" I held it to my2, and smelled the most pleasant flavor I could ever3. Looking down at my4blue jeans and ugly, ragged tennis shoes, I wondered if I could ever be worthy of it. But I would 5. I used only a little of it every time 6Jack graduated and our life was financially easier. It's a 7the foolish love of a young husband.

       Then one day three-year-old Jim was sitting on the floor8the empty cologne bottle. His lips wet, he was making a(n) 9face. He drank my10cologne! "Jack, come quick," I cried, "can cologne11my baby? Jim drank the rest of it!" "It's mostly just alcohol, honey," Jack12me. Little Jim was fine, and my concern for my child was13. I now felt 14to see the empty cologne bottle.

      A few weeks later, Jack bought another bottle of my beloved cologne. I 15it as much as I had done to the earlier one. 16, it became three-quarters empty. I thought it best to buy another 17. But the shop assistant told me that there wasn't even a maker of that brand any more.

    Now I only use my special cologne on very important occasions, because there will be18to replace it when these last few precious19are gone. But from the bottom of my heart it's not three-quarters empty but still one-quarter full. Perhaps if I'm very careful, I can 20using it for the rest of my life.

    The other day I was talking to a stranger on the bus; he told me that he had a good 1 in Chicago and he wondered if, by any chance, I 2 to know him . For a moment, I thought he might be 3 , but I could tell from the expression on his face that he was not. He was 4. I felt like saying that it was ridiculous (可笑的) to think that out of all the millions of people in Chicago I could possibly have ever bumped into his friend. But, 5, I just smiled and reminded him that Chicago was a very 6 city. He nodded, and I thought he was going to be content to drop the subject and talk about something else. But I was wrong. He was silent for a few minutes, and then he 7 to tell me all about his friend.

    His friend's main 8 in life seemed to be tennis. He was an excellent tennis player, and he even had his own tennis court（网球场）. There were a lot of people with swimming 9, yet there were only two people with private tennis court; his friend in Chicago was one of them. I told him that I knew several 10 like that, including my brother, who was doctor in California. He 11 that maybe there were more private courts in the country, than he realized but he did not know of any others. Then he asked me 12 my brother lived in California. When I said Sacramento, he said that was a coincidence(巧合) 13 his Chicago friend spent the summer in Sacramento last year and he lived next door to a 14 who had a tennis court in his backyard. I said I felt that really was a coincidence because my next-door neighbour had gone to Sacramento last summer and had hired the house next to my brother's house. For a moment, we stared at each other, but we did not say anything.

    “Would your friend's name happen（碰巧） to be Roland Kirkwood?” I asked finally. He laughed and said,“Yes. Would your brother's name happen to be Dr Rey Hunter?” It was my 15 to laugh. “Yes,” I replied.

My Perfect Imperfect Life

    A few years ago, I was standing at the barre (扶手杠) waiting for my adult ballet class when I heard a voice behind me. "So, do you have this perfect life?"

    My first reaction was to1who was being asked such an odd question. Then I remembered there were only two of us in the room. When I turned2, the other woman was looking straight at me.

    I had no idea how to answer it. Was she3? Who has a perfect life? Sure, occasionally I did find the perfect dress or the perfect pair of shoes,4never would I use that word to describe anything about me or my life. I felt a twinge of guilt for somehow giving her that5.

    She watched me. I finally6to whisper a quick "No".

    By then, the teacher had entered the room and turned on the music to start class. With a sigh of7, I moved my feet into the best position. But as soon as my knees bent for our first pose, I realized my8had been disturbed. This woman's words wouldn't9echoing in my thoughts.

    I wanted to know how she came up with her very mistaken10. If she knew anything about my life, she never would have had the11to ask me that question.

    I did my best to do our floor exercises in front of the mirror. For a few moments, I didn't see the usual12of my older self attempting to use a beautiful art form to 13my gracefulness. I only saw the little girl whose father died when she was two, the child who walked home from elementary school every day to an empty house, who learned to sew her own clothes to14money.

    Perfect. My life had been far from it.

    When those memories15, I was left with a vision of the woman I had become, the woman16by all those things I considered imperfect. I now saw the woman who had learned to be self-reliant, who17her family and her friends, who didn't take life for granted. Was that the "perfect" this woman had detected?

    I still don't know, but I no longer feel18or feel like I must keep track of all the difficult times to prove my life isn't19. If ever again asked whether my life is perfect, I would have a different20. Because now I see that, despite all its imperfection, it is.

    One evening, Catherine was at home as usual. As her1swung between what she was going to do with her life and their dinner plans for the evening, she was unexpectedly2by an urgent call from her sister “Get over here! Turn on NBC and check these guys out. They are just like you….” One Facebook message and a phone interview later, Catherine3herself on a bus with 8 strangers in the middle of the sweltering desert heat of Utah, picking up trash and4awareness about zero-waste and climate change.

    With a deep5of the environment and a desire to make a6, Catherine, Davey, and a group of self7“environmental pick-up artists” went on a coast to coast road side trash pick-up. As they walked, sometimes only80.9 miles in an entire day, they 9 and steadily made their way across the United States for three years, picking up a total of 201,678 pounds of trash.

    Catherine and Davey10with us wonderful stories of hope and inspiration that fueled their11to continue their journey. After spending weeks silently12how she would have enough13to fly home for their two-week spring break, Catherine found a blank, unidentified envelope14with $850 cash in the desert. Just enough to get her home and back. After their bus15outside of Denver, they unexpectedly got16and arrived in Yosemite National Park three weeks later, just in time for the “Yosemite Facelift” where17from all over the state came together with a18of cleaning up trash all over the park.

    Being at the right place at the right time became almost normal, and they realized that much of what they 19was more than just a coincidence. Together, their team learned to simply 20themselves to their task, and surrender to the journey.

    I started volunteering at a soup kitchen several years ago. The original reason I was going was to 1 community service hours for school. My plan was to 2 go there a few times and get my service hours, but it taught me a lot. The typical volunteer there served 3 to people.

    Basically, I was 4 serving bread and juice to whoever wanted it, which was a simple task. Some of the people were homeless, and some of them were 5 families. All of them were people in need of a hot meal and a place to 6 for an hour or several minutes. 7 some of them looked like they weren't behaving well, we always took care of them.

    The first time I went there was right before Christmas. For the people coming to the soup kitchen, it was not exactly a 8 time. It made me think about my happy Christmas and made me feel how 9 I was. Unlike them, I have a home and I don't 10 cold or hunger. At that point, I decided that I 11 wanted to go back there. I couldn't offer them much, but I could always offer my time and 12. The experience also gives me a feeling of 13. Whenever I go there, people are 14 that I showed up again. They know my name and they know that I am more than happy to 15 them. It truly feels good to know that you can 16 someone's day. I've realized that the feeling of doing good for people can be a better 17 than any amount of money. You can't buy that feeling.

    I have never 18 a single second of my volunteering. It 19 me that dozens of cities have made it illegal to set up a soup kitchen. But I will continue my volunteer work and find more ways to show my 20 to people in need.