On a sunny day, Linda and Jack were to try the new boat on the river.Linda jumped out of bed excitedly, got dressed quickly and woke up her brother Jack.

    After1Linda and Jack arrived at the riverbank and2the new blue boat waiting for them.They got into the boat and packed their picnic under the3.Linda started the engine and4they went into the wide, brown and unknown5of the river.

    Suddenly, they found the boat sounded6round a bend in the river.On the distant sandbank they saw a long dark creature7in the sun. It opened one eye at them and then suddenly disappeared into the8.

    “What was that?” shouted Jack.

    “It looked like a crocodile to me!” said Linda.“We'd better be9.”Just as they came round the next10, the engine11and came to a stop.Linda12to start the engine again. But it wouldn't start. They were13.

    “Let's get the wooden oars,” said Jack. “Maybe we can 14 the boat free.

    They tried but failed.

    “We're stuck on a sandbank,” said Linda. “We'll just have to sit here having our15and wait for the water to16.”

    “It's boring!” said Jack.

    Suddenly, they felt the boat move .It moved slowly off the sandbank. And the engine started again. Just at the same time they noticed a black17by the boatside and in no time it disappeared in the brown water ahead.

    They18heir journey down the river. It was so exciting .

    At noon they saw a small river19the main river. It wasn't on the map . “Let's20there!” said Linda.

    The boat turned and went into the smaller channel .On both sides grew thick unknown trees.

    Yesterday, I posted a photo of a pile of cross stitch kits (十字绣) on my blog. To my1many readers say I do well in them. 1 couldn't use them all,2 finally I decided to 3the rest to ladies in my neighbourhood who like to 4a project with their own hands.

    I 5them all up into a box and decided to start with the lady who 6a pub. She's perfectly7and she served me with a cup of coffee. I took her out to my car and showed her the 8I was holding it in my arms beside my car when another car 9up next to us with two other10in it. Within moments I was pushed against the 11behind the weight of three elderly ladies and I had to 12my way to pick up the empty box. The three ladies had taken every single item in that box with13expressions on their faces and lots of thanks. One of the ladies has a son who is a firefighter. She decided to give some cross stitch kits to the14station. Her decision did make me 15I had in my mind a wonderful picture of all these 16and strong firemen sitting around all working on their cute cross stitch Christmas stockings while they17for fire alarms to be called in.

    Finally,18 and laughter all went around, and then I e-mailed another 19who often visits me and also likes cross stitch kits. She promised to send me her extra cross stitch kits, too. I just know kindness will finally 20on to others.

    I felt like a good mother on that summer morning. I'd 1 up early, made a picnic lunch2 my three- and five-year-old daughters into the car, driven to my friend's house, packed her and her3 into the car, and driven the hour and a half to the shore where we4 our towels on the sands by 10 a.m.

    Soon the girls began running. About 50 yards from us, a man, maybe 5 his late 50s, was fishing. The girls stood next to him and watched with their mouths open 6 he cast the lines. He smiled at them. They all ran back to us except my three-year-old Drew, who7 just seated herself next to the white bucket where the man was 8 planning to put the fish he caught.

    However, suddenly a 9 came to my mind. Is it dangerous for Drew to stay there with the stranger? Good moms should also teach daughters that the world is dangerous. Then, I watched them like there was a hidden 10 in the lifeguard chair filming the man as America's Most Wanted. Every few minutes, I looked to my five-year-old to make sure she hadn't been 11 out to sea, then back to Drew to make sure there was no 12 between her and the stranger.

    When I looked at Drew again, she had started 13 with the man. She was probably telling him where we lived and how her father was away on 14. He nodded. She kept talking. He nodded again, then they laughed.

    A few seconds later, she ran back to us, with a toy fish in her hand. It must have been something 15 he used for bait(饵). The three other girls were 16 so they didn't try to 17 how eager they were to have one.

    Just when I was at a loss, there he was: the man, standing right next to us. He was holding three more toy fish. He handed them to each of the girls. By their 18 I realized that he was 19 a warm-hearted man, meaning no harm at all.

    “Thank you”, I said, realizing that yes, there is evil in this world…but there is also good, and 20 in strangers, and lessons for mothers to learn that only three-year-olds could teach them.

    It was an evening in September when I landed in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in Malaysia. I was a 19-year-old Dubai-raised kid away from home for the first time to 1 my undergraduate studies.

    I had never travelled alone before. I pushed my 2 and headed to the airport 3 to find a gray car with the name of my university on it.

    As we left the airport, the driver began talking to me. As I am a driving 4 myself, we started talking about cars and driving.

    “Never make a Sarawakian 5,” he warned. “No road rage（路怒）. Very dangerous!” Not long into our 6 the lights of the car behind flashed at us. This continued more aggressively and my driver started to 7. We pulled over to the roadside. My heart was pounding but I tried to put on a(n)8 face as the man from the car came up and made his way to my side of the car. As he reached my window. I 9 it and tried to 10 a smile.

    I looked down at his hands to see that he was 11 my travel bag. It 12 my passport, return tickets, as well as cash and letters for the university. I had left it 13 on the trolley at the airport and this man had been trying to 14 it to me ever since we had left the airport.

    Breathing a huge sigh of 15, I took my bag and 16 this stranger. The man welcomed me to Kuching, wished me luck with my university studies and drove away.

    This act of kindness 17 cheered me up and thanks to this honest 18, the initial self-doubt I had about my decision to 19 so far away from home was 20 with hope and excitement.

    At my heaviest I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to 1 bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of  2 but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my 3.

    When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me 4 . I didn't want to live the rest of my life with this 5 weight any more.

    That year, I6 a seminar where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her 7 story —she had not only 125 pounds, but also raised $25,000 for homeless children.

    8 by her story, I created the As We Heal(痊愈), the World Heals 9. My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,00010 a movement founded 30 years ago to end hunger. This combination of healing myself and healing the world  11 me as the perfect solution.

    12I began my own personal weight program, I was filled with the fear that I would 13 the same difficulties that beat me before. While the 14 hung over my head, there were also signs that I was headed down the right 15. I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations began 16in from hundreds of people.

    Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I consulted with a physician(内科医生), I hired a fitness coach, and I began to eat small and 17 meals. My fund-raising focus also gave me new motivation to exercise 18.

    A year later, I19 my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I've been given a second life to devote to something that is 20 and enormous.

    Now you're a fool for helping. "I don't want to get involved" seems to have become a national motto. One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City, California to New Orleans, Louisiana. In the middle of the desert, I passed a young man standing by the roadside. He had his 1 out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him. There was a time 2 you'd be called a jerk for passing by somebody 3.

    Several days later I was still 4 about the hitchhiker（搭便车的人）, about how I didn't even lift my foot 5 the accelerator(油门)for him. "Does anyone stop any more?" I wondered. I recalled Blanche DuBois's famous line— "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Was that 6 these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey 7 the US without any money, just 8 on the good will of others. What would happen? Would he find food, shelter and support?

    The idea intrigued(激起兴趣)me.

    The week I9 37, I realized that I had never done something truly crazy. 10 I decided to really do it: travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. I would only accept 11 of rides, food and places to sleep. For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states. I was treated kindly 12 I went. I was 13 by people's readiness to help a stranger.

    In Oregon, a house painter named Mike 14 the cold weather and asked if I had a coat. I didn't, so he gave me a big green army-style jacket. A lumber-mill worker in Michigan named Tim invited me to a 15dinner with his family in their shabby house. Then he offered me a tent. I refused, but Tim insisted, packing it into my bag himself. I found people were generally compassionate. Hearing I had no money and would take none, people bought me food or 16 with them whatever they happened to have. Those who had the 17 to give often gave the most.

    I'm 18 to all the people I met for their rides, their food, their shelter and their gifts. My faith in ordinary folks was 19. I was proud to live in a country where people were still willing to help. In spite of everything, you can still depend on the 20 of strangers.