Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, won brief international fame at Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games for an extremely unlikely victory.

    Twelve months before the Olympics, Moussambani had never gone outside of his home country, an extremely poor tiny African nation. Having1his admission into the Olympic Games, Moussambani set about teaching himself to 2. The only pool that was3belonged to a local hotel, and they 4 him to use it between 5 and 6 am, three times a week. Before Sydney he had never set eyes on an Olympic 5, let alone practiced in one. Moussambani had no6, no lanes（泳道）, and no way of tracking his efforts. Worse still, he didn't know he had been entered in to the 100m race, not the 50m he had7.

    When the day came, events got 8. Of the three competitors in the first round, Moussambani was the9competitor who was not removed from the game for starting early. He now had to do it alone, against the 10, fighting for a chance to be in the final.11it seemed that he's not going to finish it in the second half of the race, he 12completed it with a time of 1＇5". It was the slowest time in Olympic history,13a personal best.

    International media 14him 'Eric the eel' and a real model of the Olympic 15that it's not the winning, but the taking part that 16. When he was17after the race, Moussambani said, “At first I got worried that I couldn't 18. Thinking of the dear people19me, I kept on and it happened.”

    Moussambani never gives up. He is now the head coach of the national team and thanks to his20, the country has built two 40m pools.

    Last night my husband and I were taking a walk. Then we saw a man1over on the ground, crushing(砸碎) something with rock. He was completely 2 his task and didn't look up at anyone 3 We kept noticing him. I thought he was crushing stones to make 4 but why would he do that?

    Finally we decided to go up and5 to him. He was crushing pieces of left-over bread to make feed for the birds that 6 there early morning. The large pieces of hard bread would be 7 for the birds to eat so he crushes them into a fine powder.

    He's been doing this every night, by himself, for the last 3 to4 years. What 8us more was that he was surprised we were even taking an9 in this, since for him it wasn't a big deal. Every night, after10 so his accommodation from his job as a tailor, he goes around 11 left-over bread from all his housemates. He12eats a quick meal and comes here, and spends the next 1 to 2 hours13 crushing each piece and makes a neat pile for the birds, which he says will be 14 by next evening. He also leaves grains on top of the pile, which he 15 every month from his wages.

    When we asked him what16 him to do this simple, small but devoted act of 17 he shrugged his shoulders and said. It's just something18I do: so that the left-over bread doesn't go into the rubbish and the birds get 19” We shared his story and perhaps it might inspire someone to start something 20 in their own area,

    Valerie was very worried about her dad. For some time now she had noticed he was 1 his hair. One day, she asked him, "Daddy, every day you have less hair. 2is that?" Her father smiled and said, "It's the hair thief. He visits my 3during the night when I'm asleep.

    One by one he pulls out my hair, and there's no way to 4him."

    This worried Valerie, but she was 5to help her dad. That night she stayed 6as long as she could. When she was 7her dad and mom had fallen asleep, she took a hammer and went to their bedroom slowly and 8. She didn't want the hair thief to 9her. When she arrived at her father's side, she carefully inspected her father's head in order to catch the hair thief as soon as he 10. Before long, she saw a shadow on her father's head and she 11it with the hammer.

    Her father12a loud cry and got out of bed at once. He turned the 13on, and trembling with 14, he saw Valerie waving her hammer in the air. "Daddy, I 15got him. But it looks like he 16!" said Valerie. Meanwhile, the mother 17. She burst into 18 when she knew what had happened.

    So Valerie's father had to explain that the hair thief didn't exist, and that losing hair is something that just happens naturally to most fathers. Valerie still 19about her daddy, but she no longer waited for the hair thief. 20 she bought her father a very nice sleeping hat.

    I believe in miracles(奇迹) because I've seen so many of them. One day, a patient was referred to me who was one hundred and two years old. "There's a1in my upper jaw," she said. "I told my own dentist it's nothing, but he 2I come to see you."

    Her eighty-year-old son accompanied(陪伴) her. He would3to add something, but she stopped him. She wanted to tell everything herself. I found a large cancer that spread over much of the 4of her mouth. A careful examination later 5that it was a particularly bad sort of cancer.

    During her next appointment, I explained to her the6of the problem She held my hand in hers and said, "I know you're worried about me, but I'm just7."

    I thought otherwise. After a great deal of 8on my part, and kindness on her part because she wanted to 9me, she agreed to have me refer her to a cancer surgeon. She saw him, but as I expected,10treatment.

    About six months later she returned to my office, still energetic and11.

    "How are you?" I asked.

    "I'm just fine, honey," she responded in 12 spirits. "When can I get started on fixing my dentures(假牙)?"

    Surprised to see her at all, I answered 13 ,"Let me take a look in your mouth and we'll see about it. "

    I couldn't believe my eyes. The cancer that had 14 nearly the entire roof of her mouth was gone—only one small area of redness 15.

    I had read of such things happening, but had 16seen them with my own eyes. That was my first miracle. Since then I've seen many others, because they keep getting 17to see. In fact, miracles are daily events for me now. And people are in miracle,18through them we have a chance to know ourselves and to19the miracles of one another.

    Since my first miracle, I've come to understand that a miracle is20we choose to find it.

    I was five foot ten and weighed between 340 and 360 pounds; the exact number depended on whether you took my weight before or after one of my big meals. I knew that I needed to 1.

    "At every 2, just make sure that at least half your plate is full of fruits and 3." And my doctor suggested I start with 20 minutes of easy exercise twice a day. "Something you can enjoy, like taking a walk. And I suggest that you go to 4 a dog."

    "A dog is a good partner," she said. "Plus, you live in an apartment, which means the dog has to be walked. So you walk your dog twice a day, and that will be your 5."

    "I've never owned a dog. What about a cat?" I asked.

    "Have you ever seen anyone 6 a cat?"

    My friend Casaundra said she had the 7 dog for me. There he was: a large black-and-white dog with a big round body. He looked up at me and then 8 his head with a clear look of 9. Like, Really? This loser? I suppose I looked at him the same way.

    I named him Peety, and we took it 10, just as my doctor had suggested. Peety weighed 75 pounds when a healthy 11 for him was more like 50 pounds. But on our first walk together, Peety took the lead. We made it halfway down the 12 and then came back. Luckily for me, he didn't walk very fast. You could 13 hear my footsteps on the sidewalk as I 14 each leg forward—thump, thump, thump, like the giant from "Jack and the Bean Stalk." The next day we made it to the 15 of the block. Soon he would 16 me around the block.

    Over the next weeks, Peety kept 17 harder and harder on the leash(束缚). There were times when I couldn't 18, even though I'd dropped five pounds a week 19 I started the plant-based eating and walking.

    We walked together for nearly five years, until Peety died of cancer. He'd come into my life, and simply by being here, he 20 me. And in that moment, I felt like the two of us could have done anything.

It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty,but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference,The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk,and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying,so they kept watch on him. 

"Last week he tried to commit suicide,"one waiter said. 

"Why?"

"He was in despair. "

"What about?"

 "Nothing. "

"How do you know it was nothing?" 

"He has plenty of money. "

They sat together at a table that was close against the wall near the door of the cafe and looked at the terrace(露台)where the tables were ll empty except where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the tree that moved slightly in the wind. 

"The guard will pick him up,"one waiter said. 

"What does it matter if he gets what he's after?"

"He had better get off the street now. The guard will get him. They went by five minutes ago. "

The old man sitting in the shadow tapped his saucer with his glass. The younger waiter went over to him. 

"What do you want?"

The old man looked at him. "Another brandy,"he said. 

"You'll be drunk,"the waiter said. The old man looked at him. The waiter went away. 

"He'll stay all night,"he said to his colleague. "I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o'clock. He should have killed himself last week. "

The younger waiter took the brandy bottle and marched out to the old man's table. 

"You should have killed yourself last week,"he said to the deaf man. The old man motioned with his finger. "A little more,"he said. The waiter poured on into the glass. "Thank you,"the old man said. The waiter took the bottle back inside the cafe. He sat down at the table with his colleague again.