A Good Man

    It's a late Saturday afternoon in early March, and I am sweating in search of the only gift my son wants from Los Angeles: a 1 to the homes of the stars such as Brad Pitt and Jet Li.

    A cheerful taxi driver says, “No problem. Map sellers are everywhere!” When the taxi stops, a fellow 2 with a thin folded sheet and says: “Ten dollars.”

    Ten dollars! With absolute 3I inform him, “That's too much.” The map man leaves. I begin walking, certain I'll find a (an)4 star map soon.

    I am 5. There's hardly anybody on the street. There don't seem to be many real stores, just cars and bars. No maps. No stars. Blocks pass. The sun begins to sink. At the edge of West Hollywood6fellow wanders ahead, selling star maps to some teenage girls.

    Ten dollars7. Forget it. My son will 8.

    That night, I call my wife. “Did you get one of those maps to the stars? He's been talking about 9else.”

    This10is hard to ignore. It's late. At all-night markets: no maps. I head back to the hotel. Morning is coming. There will be one last11. After I check out, I take a taxi. But at nine in the morning, map sellers are 12 to be found.

    “You know,” says the driver, “The guys with the maps just aren't up yet!” He's right.

    “Forget it. Let's go to the airport.”

    “Well,” says the driver, “I could 13 you one if you like.”

    Sure. Trust this guy? I might as well throw cash onto the freeway. But exiting the taxi, I14 my last chance. I hand him $13 and my business card. Three weeks pass. I've15 on the star map. My son has stopped mentioning it.

    Then one afternoon, sticking out from under piles of flyers, there it is: a big white envelope. There is a small note. I can hardly read it16 I make out a few phrases一“forgive17 “taxi's been down” and, finally, “here's map for your son.” There's no return address. It's signed, “kind regards, M.”

    I hold the note in my hand18 what my son said to me when I got back from Los Angeles.

    “Did you meet any 19 Dad?” he asked.

Now I know what to tell him.

    “Yes, I did. I met a guy named M.”

    If you never 20 anybody, you'll never find the good guys.

    It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at the local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were1, we realized that only minutes earlier an 2woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground.3was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.4, a lot of people stopped to help out.

    5we were walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very6about what had happened to the elderly couple. He7to me," Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of 8."Seeing that there was a flower stall (摊位) at the front of the supermarket, he added, "Why shouldn't we9the lady a flower? It will make her feel better." I was10that he'd come up with this11 idea. So we went over and told the flower seller12we wanted. "Just take it," she replied. "I13take your money for such a wonderful14."

    By now medical staff had arrived, and were15the injured woman. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was16my son. At that, the old man started crying and said, "Thank you very much." He then turned to me, "You have a 17son. Happy Mother's Day to you."

    The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from.18being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with19in her eyes and gave him a little20.

    It's a Friday morning in Boston, which means Dr. Jim O'Connell is making his rounds. He might be more 1 inside an exam room, but that's not where his patients are. Dr. Jim O'Connell is one of a handful of physicians making house calls to the 2 in the city.

    More than 550,000 Americans are homeless, and many have health problems but no 3 to cure. O'Connell and his team are doing something about it. On a daily routine, they 4 about 700 regular patients. "I feel like I'm a country doctor in the middle of the city." he said.

    O'Connell began to do this 33 years ago, when he was at Harvard Medical School and was  5 to be a one-year position as the founding physician of a new health-care program for Boston's homeless. That turned into a 33-year 6 at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, one of the country's largest of its kind. O'Connell 7 about everything, from stitches (缝补)for an arm to surgery for the soul. If patients can't be treated on the street, he finds them a treatment bed at the respite facility(休息治疗区), a place for patients who are too sick to be on the streets 8 not ill enough for a hospital stay.

    "Everything I had been taught to do—go fast, be efficient—was 9 when you take care of homeless people." When you see somebody outside, you get them a cup of coffee and sit with them. Sometimes it 10 six months or a year of offering a sandwich or a cup of coffee before someone would start to talk to me. But 11 they engage(参与), they'll come to you any time because of 12 you. When asked about how his life might have 13 , if he had become a highly paid physician, O'Connell said, "I 14 think about it anymore."

    Some things are far more valuable than money. Just ask Dr. Jim O'Connell who gets everything from patients who have nothing 15 to give.

    In one of my college classes, we were required to do an act of kindness. My project included 1lunch for an elderly person. When I2the elderly person with the food I cooked, it never3to me that it would result in a new friendship and the discovery of a4.

    The person I visited was Bill, who was unable to5much. A nurse came regularly to help him move to and from the wheelchair because he has no6. Bill said he was delighted to see me and it was a7for him to eat a meal with me because he usually eats8. He said the food was great, but he enjoyed having9even more than the food.

    Bill had had a10life when working on the railroad and had many11stories to tell about his travels to many places. I was12a trip because of his stories. I had once13about traveling by train. However, I would14be going by train after meeting Bill.

    Perhaps the biggest15of this project was that I suddenly realized that I am16of working with the elderly. Spending time with them was fun-they have so much life experience to17. On the one hand, I am a good18. On the other hand, older people want someone to know their inner world, so it is a perfect19. I decided to focus my studies on the20. Hopefully in the future, I will work with them to help even more people like Bill.

    Today, I was sitting with some other students and teachers as the judges of the annual singing contest of Beijing National Day School(BNDS). Watching the wonderful performances on stage, I could not help 1what happened last year.

    Last year was the first year I came to the BNDS International Department. The first month at BNDS was almost a(n) 2: Curiosity quickly 3, replaced by a heavy workload. To make matters worse, I was

    4a total stranger in a new environment. When I was in trouble, I was too5to turn to anyone for help. I shut the door to the outside world.

    I thought I might continue to 6in darkness by myself, until one day, I saw the7of the annual singing contest. If I was not brave enough to communicate in words, maybe I could 8my heart out. Having made my decision, I joined the audition (试镜). Luckily, I9among more than 100 contestants and entered the top 32. After another three rounds of competition, I made10to the finals together with three other contestants.11more and more students knew that I joined the contest, they went to watch my performance, volunteered to 12for me and then shared my singing videos on social media. It seemed that I became well-known overnight.

    Finally, the big day came. When I13the nerve to walk onstage, I could not believe my eyes. The dark theater was suddenly lit up by14sticks, which were like stars in a dark sky. "Come on, Becky!" A shout broke the silence, followed by kind laughter. When it became15again, I began to sing.

    The music started, which drew me back to16. Now I might not remember clearly what songs I sang last year, but I would never forget the17in the darkness.  From then on, I had my18, made friends, and I even joined the singing club. Singing opens the door19a brand-new world. I know I will stay at BNDS, and I won't be20.

Damarie Thomas, a twelve-year-old Jamaican teen, was concentrating on practising his skills for the upcoming football contest when he felt a hard tackle(抢断球) from behind, which pushed him to the ground. His world changed overnight. Though his injuries did not result in paralysis(瘫痪), they were serious enough to affect his movement. It was the last time that he had played football.

Now Thomas is an adult and he uses a wheelchair to travel distances. Despite a number of difficulties, he perseveres in his attempts to walk. He proudly claims that from being able to move only two steps at a time, he can now do five steps unaided. Limited resources have influenced his treatment, but he is hopeful that he will be able to complete recovery soon. Having an experience like this would have broken many an adult, but not this young man. "It's not what happens but how you come back from it that counts," he said.

After his injury, Thomas did well in his primary school exams and gained a place at one of the top-rated high schools in Jamaica. However, at that time the school was not equipped to accommodate a physically disabled student and he had to accept a transfer to a high school near his home.

It is a blessing that Thomas has now signed up for an information technology course at Abilities Foundation, proudly claiming his improvement by learning coding(编码). The Abilities Foundation aims to equip the disabled with skills through training. The training centre encourages Thomas to chase his dream — he wants to become a successful software engineer, creating innovative technology accessible and beneficial to all, especially people with disabilities.