We have been driving in fog all morning, but the fog is lifting now. The little seaside villages are 1 one by one. "There is my grandmother's house," I say,2 across the bay to a shabby old house.

    I am in Nova Scotia on a pilgrimage (朝圣) with Lise, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯)3 memory for me. Lise was one of the mobile children,4 from house to house in childhood. She longs for a sense of 5 , and so we have come to Nova Scotia where my husband and I were born and where our ancestors 6for 200 years.

    We soon 7 by the house and I tell her what it was like here, the memories8back, swift as the tide (潮水).

Suddenly, I long to walk again in the 9where I was once so glorious a child. It still 10a member of the family, but has not been lived in for a while. We cannot go into the house, but I can still walk11the rooms in memory. Here, my mother 12 in her bedroom window and wrote in her diary. I can still see the enthusiastic family 13 into and out of the house. I could never have enough of being 14 them. However, that was long after those childhood days. Lise 15 attentively as I talk and then says, " So this is where I 16 ; where I belong. "

She has17her roots. To know where I come from is one of the great longings of the human 18. To be rooted is "to have an origin". We need 19 origin. Looking backward, we discover what is unique in us; learn the20 of "I". We must all go home again—in reality or memory.

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.

    Many people spend their New Year's Eve getting dressed up and dancing their way to midnight. My brother and I decided to do things a bit1.

    We each filled a backpack with clothes, shoes and other things and headed out to the 2. The first person we saw was a 15-16-year-old boy picking up 3 plastic bottles on the train platform（站台）. We called him over and started up a(n)4. We had a look at his 5 and noticed he had 6 fingernails（手指甲）. We explained that it was 7 to keep short nails and then we 8 cutting them for him. When we were 9 we offered him some chocolate candies, which made him look at us 10. We talked to him some more and began 11 some of the chocolate ourselves. Finally, he 12 took the chocolate himself and then began telling us his 13.

    His name was Raju. After his mother died, his father remarried. Unable to 14 his stepmother（继母）, Raju ran away from 15 and has been living on the streets for 3 years, collecting and 16 empty plastic bottles.

    When we met Raju, he wasn't wearing any 17. One quick look into our backpacks and we18 what we were looking for-a pair of Nike shoes. When we dressed him in them-Raju's eyes were full of19. “These shoes are so great. Nothing will hurt my 20 .Thank you so much!” Touched by our actions, he joined us as we walked around and looked for those in need.

    The family had had a cat for years. Then, one day, the children finally 1 to persuade their parents to get them a dog as well. So a little Labrador（拉布拉多犬）2 .

    The dog was so3that everyone wanted to hold him and he charmed everyone by just loving them. The cat made it very clear she did not welcome another 4 in the house, but the dog just 5 the cat anyway. The little dog 6her anywhere, trying to make friends with the angry cat. No amount of 7behavior from the cat could persuade the dog not to love the cat.

    The family thought the cat would 8like the dog.

    Then one day the family heard horrible 9 from their back yard. They ran to the 10 to see what was happening. They lived in the suburbs and so they saw a real lynx（猞猁）was just planning on11 their cat for lunch. The poor cat had nowhere to run or hide. It would only be a matter of seconds and their cat would be 12.

    And then suddenly a black lightning ran to the rescue. The little dog 13the big lynx with all its strength. It did not14 or stop to think. It saw its 15 in trouble and did what had to be done. The family opened the window and started yelling and the father ran to the yard. The lynx soon disappeared into the16

    And ever since that day the cat's behavior toward the dog17totally. Now it was the cat that followed the hero dog everywhere. They 18in the same basket. The cat even let the dog eat from her bowl.

So we can19: if ever anyone is 20 towards you, don't turn your back on them. They may not rescue your life —but their kindness can certainly rescue your day!

    Around twenty years ago I was living in Seattle and going through hard times. I could not find 1work although I had a lot of experience and a Master's degree.

    To my 2, I had to drive a school bus to 3my family. At the same time, I had some 4with different companies but they all5to say I did not get the job. I went to the bus barn（车库）, feeling6.

    Later that afternoon, 7doing my rounds through the town I had an inner wave rise from deep 8 me and I thought “Why has my9become so hard?”

    Immediately after this internal（内心的）scream, I 10the bus over to drop off a little girl. As she11, she handed me an earring saying I should keep it12somebody looked for it. The13was stamped with words “BE HAPPY”. Then it struck me. I had been putting all of my14into what was wrong with my life rather than what was15!

    One night there was a phone call for me from the16at a large hospital. She asked me whether I17do a one-day training for 200 hospital workers. I said 18and got the job.

    My day with the hospital workers19very well. I got a great20and many more days of work. To this day I know that it was because I changed my attitude to life.

    A girl complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her.

Without a 1, the father took his daughter to the kitchen. He filled three pots with 2 and placed each on a high 3. In one he placed carrots, in the second eggs, and in the last coffee beans. The daughter sucked her teeth and waited 4, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes the father turned off the heat. He 5 the carrots and eggs out and placed them in two plates. Then he poured the coffee into a cup.

    He asked 6, "Darling, what do you see?"

    "Carrots, eggs, and coffee." she replied.

    He asked her to 7 the carrots. She did and said they were 8. Then he asked her to take an egg and 9 it. After pulling off the shell, she 10 the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to drink the coffee. She 11, as she tasted its rich aroma (芳香).

    "What does it 12, Father?" She asked.

    He explained that each of them had 13 the same adversity (困境), boiling water, but each reacted 14. The carrot went in strong and hard but it turned soft and 15. The egg had been fragile, but after sitting through the boiling water its 16 became hardened. The coffee beans were 17, however, after they were in the boiling water, they had 18 the water.

    "Which are you?" Father asked his daughter. She was then wordless as if 19 in thought.

    When adversity knocks on your door, how do you 20? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?