When I settled in Chicago, my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a 1problem and had to go to hospital for a2examination.

    It seemed a small3compared to the one I was about to face ,but things started to go4right from the beginning.Not having a car or5the city, I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A  to B. 6I'd left myself plenty of time, soon it was7I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the8direction.

    I9the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I looked into the eyes of a 10, who was trying to get past me11, instead of moving on,she stopped to ask if I was12. After I explained my13 to her, she pointed to a bus stop across the street, where a bus would take me back into the city to my14. Sitting there waiting, I felt15that someone had been willing to help.16, hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend17at me to get in. She had returned to offer me a18to the hospital.

    Such unexpected19from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive. As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose20, for all things are possible.

    Mary and I , together with our husbands, helped look after our neighbors' children this weekend. Our1have two children aged 3 and 6 and my husband and I chose the six-year-old child. What a pleasure! We2last night with Mary who invited us to have dinner. They were looking after the 3-year-old boy for 3at their dining table.

    The 3-year-old child was 4his parents who were overseas for the weekend. When he saw his sister he 5with tears flowing on his face. I had “Plan B” in the back of my head. When I saw that the child was6and my friends who were looking after him were also 7 I offered to take both of them with us.

    I thought another8for the night wasn't the best idea, so we 9made a decision to go back to our own house. Then I 10the child's overnight bed 11 and we came back home together. I had a12night as the boy was awake 5 times through the night, crying for his mommy, and it took a while to13him down.

    Mary and her14came over this morning with their own children who are under 2 years old15I could have a short16 At noon, they left. I had just got to get through the17baths and dinner, and18 their parents would be back.

    At night, both my husband and I were tired but we thought it was good to have “Plan B”, and how happy we were with such 19friends that invited us for dinner, and were thoughtful enough to20me a break this morning.

Double Trouble

    When I was eight, I wanted a toy and needed $10 to buy it. But, as usual, I was broken. I decided to ask my 11-year-old sister, Kathleen, for a loan. I went to her room1her for the cash. Laughing, she agreed to2me the money, but added, “I will charge you 10 percent compound interest every 3until you pay me back.”

    “Compound interest what's that?” I asked.

    “Well, interest is what you call the4money borrowers have to pay back on a loan,” she explained. “Compound interest means that the interest payments get bigger and bigger the5you take to pay back the loan. To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month. If you wait two months to pay me back, your6will grow from $10 to $11. So I'll be charging you interest on $11. Then I will add that interest to the $11 you already owe me, for a 7of $12.10. That's what you'll owe after two months.”

    “Sure. I get it,” I said. Though truthfully, I was getting 8

Kathleen lent me the money, and I bought the toy. My birthday came a month later, and my mom gave me $10.9that was just the amount I needed to buy another toy I wanted10I put off paying my sister for a month. After another month, I11about the loan.

    Several months later, on Christmas morning, my sister and I each found a $02 bill in our stockings. I was just putting it into my pocket 12Kathleen tapped me on the shoulder.

    “Sorry, kiddo. That's mine. I'm13on your debt.”

    “Huh?” Then I remembered the loan. “Hey! How can it be that much? I 14borrowed $10.”

    “True,” she said, “but interest has been compounding for eight months. Now you 15me $21.43.” She paused, then added. “You can pay me the $1.43.”

    I 16to believe that a $10 loan could more than double so quickly. Much to my17my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all added up.

    My head18as I tried to keep track of Kathleen's 19 but this time, I got the basic idea of compound interest. I 20the hard way that borrowing money can be “double trouble” in no time.

    William Weaver was one of 14 black students integrating(使融合进入) the all—white West High School. A teacher told him that he “didn't belong.” He had a test and the teacher 1 him and then just took the paper away and said, “ 2 is up.” The first report card he got was 3 F's. So he started to think maybe he didn't belong and that he was 4 .

    One evening he was at home and Edward Hill, his science teacher from the 5 school, came by to visit. Weaver told Mr Hill that the white school were trying to 6 him away. Mr Hill asked Weaver to come to his old school after 7 . So every day waiting for him would be Mr. Hill with other teachers and they 8 him. Once he got past those F's, he stopped 9 himself. But no matter what he did, he was never 10 at that school. Weaver never had a 11 with a counselor(辅导员)about going to college. But, to his 12 , he got a letter telling him he had been awarded a scholarship. Weaver 13 it and went on to 14 Howard University.

    Many years 15 , Weaver came across Mr Hill and told him, “Mr Hill, if I had not gotten that 16 , I don't know what would have happened. And I don't know 17 I got the scholarship because I never even applied for it.” Mr Hill said, “I know, because I filled in the 18 and sent it off for you.” So Mr Hill stepped 19 and changed his life, 20 at that time Weaver didn't realize how much he was being helped.

The Fitting-in of Suzy Khan

    The first time I saw Suzy Khan, I knew I had to help her. She was really small for her age of 12. The boys in my class often 1 about her and laughed their heads off. She would open a book, pretending to read, with tears dropping on the open page.

    All I knew was that she was an orphan (孤儿) from Africa. She had just been adopted by a family in town who 2 that the best way for her to learn American ways of life was to be with American kids. I looked down at this 3 girl and promised myself that somehow I would help her.

    But how could I help her 4 in with us? There had to be a 5 .

    One day, when I went into the classroom, I saw that Suzy had 6 her geography book to a picture of a train, and in her notebook, she had made a(n)  7 copy.

    I was surprised and thought that she could do something in the coming 8 show. So, I took her to see the art teacher, Miss Parker, and showed her what Suzy had 9. “why, it's wonderful,” said Miss Parker, who then showed us a poster she had painted 10the talent show. “I need more of these, but I just don't have enough 11. Could you help me, Suzy?”

On the day of the talent show, Suzy's 12 were everywhere —- all over the hall and all over the school, each one different.

    “And finally,” said Mr Brown, the schoolmaster, at the end of the show, “we have a (n) 13 award. I'm sure you've all noticed the wonderful posters.” Everyone nodded. “One of our own students 14 them.”

    I could hear everyone whispering. “Who in our school could draw 15 well?”

Mr. Brown waited a while before saying, “16 this student worked so hard on the posters, she deserves a 17 , too. Our mystery(神秘) artist is our new student —- Suzy Khan!”

    Mr. Brown thanked her for all the wonderful posters and gave her a professional artist's set. “Thank you,” she cried.

    I 18, at that time when I was looking at her excited face, she'd probably never 19 anything in her whole life.

    Everyone started to 20their hands. Suzy Khan gave them a shy smile and the applause was deafening. I knew then Suzy was going to be all right.

    A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful 1, and knowing her husband could 2 it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the 3 husband told her how 4 he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He 5 her beautiful gift package (盒). She opened it and 6 a Bible. 7, she raised her voice and said to her husband. "With all your money, you give me a Bible?" She was so 8 that she left him.

    Many years passed and the lady was very 9 in business. She owned two large companies. She 10 her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to 11 him. But before she could, she 12 a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions (财产) to her. She needed to come back 13 take care of things.

    When she arrived at his house, sadness 14 her heart. She saw the still new 15, just she had left it years before. With 16 she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring 17 from Bible to the floor and a 18 could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words "LOVE YOU ALWAYS".

    19 your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it's because it is better packaged! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things in the world! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the 20.