In the tenth grade, I began working for free at a vet's that was run by a friend. I wanted to get experience for what I thought would be my future job. However，on one particular Saturday morning I learnt something perhaps more important.

    The hospital was in the middle of one of the poorer sections of the city and some people could only pay for the most basic treatments. On this Saturday，a man and his young son，who was probably about 7 years old，walked in with a small cat in a cardboard box. There was something wrong with the cat's left eye. But the man could not afford to pay for the cost of the medicine. He kept quiet for a while，and then he asked where the nearest animal shelter was. Hearing this，his son cried and started to argue with him. All of a sudden，an older woman who was sitting in the waiting room stood up，walked up to the counter，and told the man that she would pay for the cost. The man thanked her and the son got to keep a healthy cat.

    I always thought it was the right thing to help out a needy person，but I only saw people do acts of kindness on TV or in movies. What the woman did made me believe that these things do happen in real life，and quite often.

    Now，when I can't decide whether to help someone who is in need，I remember this woman，and then I have the courage to step up to the plate. Sometimes other people follow.

    We've all had cases where we've waited just a bit too long to pay an electric bill or speeding ticket. But one man, from California by reasonable assumption, who goes by “Dave”, recently took procrastination (拖延) one step further, by paying a parking ticket almost a half-century after it was given.

    In December 2018, the Minersville Police Department in Pennsylvania received a letter in the mail. Whoever wrote the letter decided it was best to keep his name somewhat unknown, so he put the return address as “Wayward Road, Anytown California” under the name “Feeling guilty”.

    When the officers opened the envelope, they found a brief letter, along with a $5 bill, and a parking ticket dating all the way back to 1974.The note read, “Dear PD, I've been carrying this ticket around for 40 plus years always intending to pay. Forgive me if I don't give you my info. With respect, Dave.”

    Even though the initial parking ticket was only for $2, “Dave” must have felt awfully guilty because he left 150 percent, or $3, in interest.

    Michael Combs, the Police Chief of the Minersville Police Department, stated in an interview that the same ticket would cost about $20 if it was given today. Combs went on to share that the original ticket from 1974 was given to a vehicle that had an Ohio license plate.

    Because there was no system for tracking tickets given to out-of-state cars back then, “Dave” could have gotten away with never paying the $2 fine. But apparently, guilt got the best of him, and he decided to finally cough up the money more than 40 years past its due date.

    There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life. Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom.

    But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools.

    You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.

    Arthur Miller(1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists（剧作家） of the 20^th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression (大萧条时期) of the early 1930s.

    Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators (标志) of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with his system, Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment (情绪): if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.

    When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It was the first play to win all the three of these major awards.

    Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56^th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.

The True Story of a Young Man

When Reginald Lindsay received a scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1967, what he wanted most was not a job with a good salary, but a chance to be a member of Congress as a southern representative. After earning his degree at Harvard Law School in 1970, he returned to the South to practice law among the poor. "I want to help them understand what their rights are and to help them achieve them," he said. Then he ran for political office at the local and state level until he was ready to try for Congress.

Reg grew up in a low-income Negro section of Birmingham, Alabama. Brought up by his grandparents after his parents were divorced while he was very young, Reg had been living through a period of far-reaching progress in race relations. In the summer of 1968 Reg himself became a good example of this progress when he became the first Negro student appointed to a special new program. The program introduced bright young students to the workings of the Georgia State government and encouraged them to seek employment there after finishing their education. "I've been lucky," he said. "I seem to have been in the right place at the right time."

But luck was only part of Reg's story, for he made the most of opportunities that came his way. He learned to read in kindergarten and began visiting the public library regularly to borrow books. His grandparents encouraged him, though neither of them had much education, and they bought him a set of encyclopedias. "I loved those books," he remembered. "I used to come downstairs before breakfast and read short articles. I enjoyed reading about famous men, and then I would pretend to be one of them. I guess it was partly a childish game and partly an escape. It wasn't too much fun to be a Negro when I was a kid." While studying for his bachelor's degree at Morehouse College, Reg worked on several political campaigns helping candidates get elected to government offices. At the same time he maintained a "B" average while majoring in political science.

With just two more years to complete at Harvard Law School, which also gave him a scholarship, Reg made a good start on his professional career. He said, "The good life for me is the kind of life where I can find satisfaction in public service." Then in 1975 he was the Massachusetts state commissioner of public utilities and from 1993 to 2009 he was judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

We all know someone who holds court wherever they find themselves with amusing stories. For the rest of us, conversation can be trickier. Our editor asked Catherine Blyth, the author of The Art of Conversation for her tips on how to shine — and not get cancelled — at your next small-talk.

Consider what you want from a conversation

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. In fact, a conversation is usually a way to get something we want, whether that's to making a friend, or to asking someone on a date. Knowing what you want will keep things flowing. "At least, what you can get from a conversation is an interesting adventure with another mind. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}." says Blyth.

Guide the other person to help you

"There's nothing more flattering (受宠若惊) than feeling like that you've helped someone," Blyth says. She suggests finding a way to make the other person useful to you. "{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, that allows you to reveal a bit of yourself while inviting them to help, which is a great way to get conversation started."

Listen attentively and purposefully

Are you listening to understand, or listening to respond? That's a perfect question a would-be conversationalist should ask themselves. "A good listener indicates what interests them. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If I'm conversing with someone who makes it all about themselves, I'll gently point that I'm not interested and shift us towards other topics." says Blyth.

Keep your phone out of sight and out of mind

"If you're chatting with someone with your phone next to you, what you're saying is ‘you're only as important as my next notification'," says Blyth. "Whatever you do on a screen isn't a conversation. Problems arises from comparing real conversation to text messaging. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We need to give each other some grace."

A. Seeing the world through the eyes of others is a reward itself

B. People feel bad about conversation because they think it's a performance

C. Your responses should show which topics are interesting and which aren't

D. The best mindset you bring to small-talk is the idea that it's a treasure hunt

E. A direct praise is good, but if it's something like ‘I love that coat, where did you buy it?'

F. In a real conversation, you can't look things up, think about how to phrase your thoughts

G. You have to constantly be listening with your ears, your mind, and be conscious of doing so