Mickey was a nice, cheerful, optimistic boy. No one could remember ever having seen him 1; it seemed he didn't 2whatever people said to him. Even his teachers admired his good 3. It was so unusual that a story was going around that Mickey's 4 must be due to some special secret. They asked Mickey so much that he 5 his favorite teacher, Mr. Anthony, to tea one afternoon. When they had finished, Mickey 6 Mr. Anthony around the house. When Mickey opened his bedroom door, the teacher 7. The huge wall was a unique collage (拼贴画) of thousands of colors and shapes! It was the loveliest decoration Mr. Anthony had ever 8.

"Some people at school think that I 9 think badly of anyone," Mickey started to explain, "and that 10 at all bothers me, but that's not true at all. I'm just like anyone else. I used to get angrier than all the other kids. 11 years ago, with the help of my parents, I started a small collage. With every little piece I stuck on I added some bad thought or act."

It was 12. The teacher looked closely at the wall. In each one of the small 13 he could read "fool", "silly", "idiot", "pain" , and a thousand other 14 things.

"This is how I started 15 all my bad times into an opportunity to 16 to my collage. Now I like the collage so much that, each time someone makes me angry, I couldn't be17. They've given me a new piece for my work of 18."

    That day, the teacher was impressed by Mickey's 19 to have an optimistic character. Without telling anyone, Mr. Anthony 20 his own collage and he would often recommend it to his students.

    When Julio Diaz stepped off the subway platform after work one night, he was simply planning to walk over to his 1 local diner for a meal. But when a teenager boy 2 him with a knife, Diaz knew the evening was about to take a more 3 turn.

    The young man 4 Diaz's wallet, and Diaz passed it over without 5. But just as the robber turned to walk away, Diaz called after him: “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something.”

    The robber turned around, 6.

    “If you're going to be 7 people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you 8.”

    The teenager looked at Diaz in 9, and asked why he would do such a thing. Diaz 10, “If you're willing to risk your 11 for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money.” He told the young man that he'd just been heading out for dinner, and that he would be happy for some 12.

    The young robber decided to take Diaz up on his13, and they headed into Diaz's favorite local haunt (常去的地方) together. As they were sitting at the table, the manager, the dishwashers, and the 14 all said hello to Diaz, and the young man was 15 at his popularity. “You're even nice to the dishwashers!” he exclaimed.

    “Haven't you been taught that you should be nice to everybody?” Diaz asked him.

    “Yes, but I didn't think people actually 16 that way,” the teenager replied. Thanks to Diaz, he was beginning to see that 17 wasn't such a strange phenomenon.

    When the bill came, Diaz told the teenager that he'd have to pay for the meal. After all, he still had Diaz's 18.

    But the teenager slid the wallet back across the table without a moment's thought, and Diaz 19 him to dinner. Diaz also gave the would-be robber a $20 bill to take with him—in 20 for the young man's knife.

    “I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right.” Diaz said.

    Everyone has something that he or she cherishes a lot.

    Dad had a green comb. He bought it when he married Mum. Every night, he would hand me his 1 and say, "Good girl, help Daddy clean it, OK?"

    I was 2 to do it. At age five, this dull task brought me such 3. I would excitedly turn the tap 4 and brush the comb carefully. Satisfied that I'd done a good job, I would happily return the comb to Dad. He would 5 affectionately at me and place the comb on his wallet.

    Two years later, Dad started his own 6, which wasn't doing so well. That was when things started to 7. Dad didn't come home as early and as much as he used to. Mum and I became 8with him for placing our family in trouble. With 9 , an uncomfortable silence grew between us.

    After my graduation, Dad's business was getting back on track. On my 28th birthday, Dad came home 10. As usual, I helped him carry his bags into his study. When I turned to leave, he said, "Hey, would you help me 11 my comb?" I looked at him a while, then 12 the comb and headed to the sink.

    It hit me then: why, as a child, 13 Dad clean his comb was such a pleasure. That routine meant Dad was home early to 14 the evening with Mum and me. It 15 a happy and loving family.

    I passed the clean comb back to Dad. He smiled at me and 16 placed his comb on his wallet. But this time, I noticed something 17. Dad had aged. He had wrinkles (皱纹) next to his eyes when he smiled, 18 his smile was still as 19 as before, the smile of a father who just wanted a good 20 for his family.

    As we all know, helping others is a great service, and it's easy to see how to help some people, but what about those people whose needs are not so obvious? This story may have happened a while back—It was a lesson which has1with me and helped me ever since.

    It was Thanksgiving and I was volunteering with my parents at a2for the needy. We stood behind the counter3out hot food to whoever came in. Most of our diners looked like they had been having4times: their clothes were old and dirty.5short, they looked needy!

    Then, a man came in, who looked anything6needy. He was well dressed; he wore a/an7suit. I wondered what he was doing there and my jaw dropped in amazement when he 8the line for food. The closer he came to my service station, the more I9. What was this man doing? I wanted to know. Surely he was not going to take food meant for those who were really in10!

    Then my11quietly took me to one side. She said, "You12that the needs of the people who come here must be purely13: hunger, inadequate shelter, clothing, etc. And this gentleman doesn't seem to have any of those problems.14what if he needs emotional help? What if he needs15, or just to be among other human beings?" Her words16me like a ton of bricks! I felt like I should apologize to the man—but I didn't.

    About a week later, the shelter17a large donation from an anonymous(匿名的)person. I can't help but18if it came from that man.

    Now, whenever I meet someone I remember my mother's19and try to send kindness and blessings their way, regardless of how they look. Needs aren't always20. But kindness always makes a difference.

Earlier this year Rodney Smith Jr. made headlines when he drove eight hours from his home in Huntsville. Alabama, to cut the lawn for an elderly soldier in North Carolina who couldn't find anyone to help him with his yard work.

That wasn't the first time the twenty-nine-year-old Bermuda native had gained such attention. To do his good deeds, Rodney often finds leads for those in need through social media.

Back to one August afternoon in 2015, Rodney Smith Jr. was driving home. That's when Rodney saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He would take a couple of shaky steps, using the handle to stabilize himself, pause, then slowly push the mower again. Rodney decided to help. Mr. Brown thanked him greatly, and Rodney went home feeling satisfied.

Sitting at his computer to do his homework, Rodney couldn't get Mr. Brown out of his mind. There must be many Mr. Browns out there. He went online and posted that he would mow lawns for free for senior citizens. Messages flooded in.

One day a cancer-battling woman said she wasn't having a good day. Rodney decided to do more than mowing lawns. After he finished mowing, he knocked on her door. "You're going to win this fight, Madam", he said. Then he asked folks to pray for her on social media.

Word of Rodney's mission spread. A grandmother in Ohio said he'd encouraged her 12-year-old grandson to mow lawns. He got a letter from a seven-year-old boy in Kansas. "Mr. Rodney, I would like to be a part of your program, and I'll make you proud," he wrote.

That gave Rodney an idea. In 2017, he decided to establish a programme Raising Men Lawn Care Service to make a national movement for young people. The kids learn the joy of giving back.

Yard work seems like a small, simple thing, but taking care of the lawn means a lot to the people they do it for. "When we mow their yards for free, they can use the money for healthcare and food etc. It means more than you would think," Rodney said.

The year was 1937. I was seven years old. And I was with my father and mother, at a Chinese restaurant in Boro Park, Brooklyn. That was the first Chinese restaurant I ever ate at. I was always given food from the adults' orders.

I'm not sure when it was, but the time did come when I had my first order — Won-Ton soup, egg rolls and spare ribs. That made me excited. My father seemed to know the Chinese waiter, a young guy; his name was Jimmy. I remember being surprised that a Chinese man could have an American name.

Some months later, my father took me to a restaurant in Manhattan's Chinatown called The Rathskeller on Mott Street. This was my first time in Chinatown and I was very impressed by how different it was from Boro Park. We went there a few times. I just couldn't have enough of the food there.

In 1951, I was sent to work in the Hospital Treasurer's Office at Letterman Army Hospital. A colleague had an uncle who was a waiter at The Far East Cafe on Grant Avenue in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown. Once a week, a group from the office would go there for lunch and my colleague's uncle would take good care of us. My favorite dish was Tomato Beef Chow Mein.

It wasn't until about 23 years later, in 1974, that I had my next serious relationship with the cuisine (菜肴) of China. I was lucky to take some cooking lessons provided by a famous Chinese restaurant's chef. Then my life entered a new phase (阶段). I didn't know it then, but some time later, it became clear to me that Chinese food would follow me through the days of my life.