Powell was walking home one dark night. As he1the city bridge, he noticed something 2--a person was sitting on the rail, legs hanging over a3 about 100 feet below, at this time.

    “At first I thought he was just4 But as I got closer, I heard him whispering.5I clearly heard ‘I'm just going to jump,'” said Powell.

    “Hey, buddy, what are you doing?” Powell asked. He kept his6, standing about six feet away not to 7the guy.

    “I'm going to jump,” the guy said.

    “His8had pain in it, but I could9he didn't really want to do this. He10felt there wasn't any other way.” said Powell.

    Powell sought to11him. “You have any kids?”

    Without turning to look at Powell, the stranger only showed a12of his daughter on his cell phone. She looked to be two years old. “Think about how13her dad at a young age will affect her.” Powell14 Over the next ten minutes they talked, the stranger gradually opened his heart.

    “I'm having a15time.” the stranger said. “I can't make any money and I'm hungry.”

    Thankfully, Powell's calm, sincere persuasion caused the stranger to16turn and look at him. Powell, now about two feet from the stranger, held out his hand and17it there. “I felt I could catch him18if he jumped, but I also wanted him to know that I was there for him.” he said. To his19 the stranger took his hand and climbed down.

    Powell is great! It's always good to offer help and show your care if you find someone in your life20with disappointment.

    I've learned a lesson that accepting kindness is important, too. I'm a social worker and have been 1 more time recently with those unlucky people that some might say are less 2. I had a wonderful interaction (互动) this past week, when I had the 3 of being the receiver of kindness. I was speaking to a gentleman who has bad luck and is in 4. We were just talking for a while and getting to 5 each other.

    Towards the end of our evening he said he wanted to 6 me a hamburger at the nearby fast food restaurant. In time before, I would have 7 that he let me buy him a meal, since he had a greater 8 than I. But my kindness experience has taught me the 9 of being a good receiver, too. So I told him if he 10 wanted to do that I would be 11 to share a meal with him.

    It was great! He was so happy to be able to 12 something like that and he was 13 the entire time. I felt glad to 14 the wonderful feeling of someone's giving. We 15 some great conversation and I could see it 16 so much to him.

    As we parted ways, instead of me feeling bad that he probably spent his last few 17 on our meal, I smiled and felt with a wonderful 18 of connection and gratitude. It's not only fun to be a receiver of kindness, 19 this also gives someone else the chance to be the 20. That is important, too.

    One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to 1my strange problem—inability to 2. In the library, I found my way into the “Children's Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the 3 at random. The cover of a book 4 my eye. It 5 a picture of a beagle(小猎兔狗). I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, 6 to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

    There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked 7 to my dog. I ran my fingers 8 the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. 9, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

    Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. 10 pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been 11 from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final 12 of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together. My mother's call returned me to the 13 world. Something 14 me: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly 15 and I was going to read them. I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般的) 16 that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable 17 in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was 18 that her son had read thousands of books, was 19 a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the 20 has held.

    There are lots of ways to raise awareness for a cause. Usually, the 1 the idea is, the more it gets noticed. And that's precisely why one 2 Frenchman has caught our attention.

    Baptiste Dubanchet is biking across Europe, surviving 3 on discarded (丢弃) food. The three-month, 1,900-mile journey from Paris to Warsaw is Dubanchet's 4 of raising awareness of food waste in Europe and throughout the world.

    As you can 5, the trip is no piece of cake. While restaurants 6 tons of food each year, much of it remains inaccessible because of 7 garbage containers, health regulations, or business policies. Only about one in ten places 8 him food that would otherwise be discarded. For legal 9, most restaurants have a policy against 10 food waste. "Some people have even 11 their jobs by giving me food," Dubanchet said.

    What's 12 interesting is the attitude various cities have toward Dubanchet's cause. Berlin has been the 13 while the most difficult was the Czech town of Pilsen. There, he had to 14 at some different stores or restaurants before finding food. The 15 is all the more serious when you consider the 16 exercise required to bike from France to Poland.

    "I have to get food 17 because after all the biking I am tired and I need the 18." Dubanchet explained "Is my 19 full or empty? That is the most important thing, not what I am eating."

    He aims to 20 his journey by mid-July. With any luck, he'll turn a few more heads in the process.

As a young man, Aaron was a skilled artist, a potter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son developed a stomachache. Thinking it was some

1 disorder, neither Aaron nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the illness was actually severe and the boy 2 suddenly that night.

The son's death could have been prevented if he had only3 the seriousness of the situation! Aaron's emotional health got 4 under the heavy burden of his guilt (内疚). What's worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Aaron could handle, and he 5 alcohol (酒精) to help him cope. In time Aaron became an alcoholic (酗酒者).

As the alcoholism (酗酒) 6, Aaron began to lose everything he possessed — his home, his land, his art objects, everything. 7, Aaron died alone in a San Francisco motel room.

When I heard of Aaron's death, I reacted like most people who show no respect for one ending his life with nothing material to show for it. "What a complete failure!" I thought. "What a8 life!"

As time went by, I began to reevaluate my earlier cold9. You see, I knew Aaron's now adult son, Ernie. He has a family and he is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his 10. I saw the free flow of 11 between them. I knew that kindness and consideration had to come from somewhere.

I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to12 an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to 13 him. "I'm really 14 by something," I said." I know your father was basically the only one to 15 you. What on earth did he do to make you become such a special person?"

Ernie sat quietly and thought for a few moments. Then he said," From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Aaron came into my room every night, gave me a16 and said, 'I love you, son.'"

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Aaron as a(n)17. He had not 18 any material possessions to his son. But he had been a kind loving 19. He 20 one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.

When I was 20 years old, I had a big dream in my mind. I wanted {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (travel) around Africa with my backpack. So I left my hometown with confidence(信心) and arrived {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Cape Town, not really sure what to do next. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (lucky), before my trip started, I met a kind; old Nigerian man. He gave me the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (good) travel advice I had ever received: "Be like a student on your way around the world."

The advice sounded simple, but {#blank#}5{#/blank#} really changed my idea about traveling. He helped me realize that travel is about {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (learn) cultures. It's far too easy to go into {#blank#}7{#/blank#} new country and believe your ways are better.

"But if you. study, ask questions, and try to learn from the locals, you {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (have) far richer experience," he promised.

After seven {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (month) of full backpacking in Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, I realized having a student-like mind helped me learn a lot, which {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (satisfy) me more than any other trip that ever did to me.