It was already half past seven and I was running late again for the dinner appointment with my wife, Eleanor. We had 1 to meet at the restaurant at seven o'clock. I felt a little uneasy, but to my2 ， I had a good excuse: A business meeting had 3and I'd wasted no time getting to the dinner.

    When I arrived at the4 ，1 apologized and told Eleanor I didn't mean to be late. She screamed, "You never mean to." Well, I 5tell she was angry. "I'm sorry but it was not6," I said. Then I told her about the business meeting.7, my explanation seemed to make things worse, which started to drive 8 mad as well.

    Several weeks later, when I9 the situation to my friend Ken Hardy, he smiled, "You10a classic mistake. You're stuck 11your own way of thinking. You didn't 12 to be late. But that's not the point. What is13in your communication is how your lateness affected Eleanor." He pointed out that I focused on the intention14Eleanor focused on the result. Thus, 15 of us felt misunderstood and crazy.

    Thinking more about Ken's words, I 16 recognized the root cause of such disagreement. It's the result of the action that really 17.I should have started the conversation by expressing18 my actions affected Eleanor and 19the discussions about my intention for later, much later and even never.

    Later on, after talking to Eleanor and really20her experience of the results of my lateness, I've managed to be on time a lot more frequently.

The Homeless Hero

    For many, finding an unattended wallet filled with £400 in cash would be a source（来源）of temptation（诱惑）. But the 1 would no doubt be greater if you were living on the streets with little food and money. All of this makes the actions of the homeless Tom Smith 2 more remarkable.

    After spotting a 3 on the front seat inside a parked car with its window down, he stood guard in the rain for about two hours waiting for the 4 to return.

    After hours in the cold and wet, he 5  inside and pulled the wallet out hoping to find some ID so he could contact（联系）the driver, only to 6 it contained £400 in notes, with another £50 in spare change beside it.

    He then took the wallet to a nearby police station after 7 a note behind to let the owner know it was safe. When the car's owner John Anderson and his colleague Carol Lawrence returned to the car—which was itself worth £35, 000—in Glasgow city centre, they were 8 to find two policemen standing next to it. The policemen told them what Mr. Smith did and that the wallet was 9.

    The pair were later able to thank Mr. Smith for his 10.

    Mr. Anderson said：＂I couldn't believe that the guy never took a penny. To think he is sleeping on the streets tonight 11 he could have stolen the money and paid for a place to stay in. This guy has nothing and 12 he didn't take the wallet for himself；he thought about others 13. It's unbelievable. It just proves there are 14 guys out there.＂

    Mr. Smith's act 15 much of the public's attention. He also won praise from social media users after Mr. Anderson 16 about the act of kindness on Facebook.

    Now Mr. Anderson has set up an online campaign to 17 money for Mr. Smith and other homeless people in the area, which by yesterday had received ￡8,000. ＂I think the faith that everyone has shown 18 him has touched him. People have been approaching him in the street; he's had job 19 and all sorts,＂ Mr. Anderson commented.

    For Mr. Smith, this is a possible life-changing 20. The story once again tells us that one good turn deserves another.

    A little boy invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's 1, she said she would go. This 2be the first time that his classmates and teacher 3 his mother and he felt 4 of her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar（疤痕）that 5 nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to 6 why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were 7 by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother 8the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed（尴尬）and 9himself from everyone. He, however, 10 a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

    The teacher asked 11 ,"How did you get the scar on your face?"

    The mother replied,"12 my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was 13 afraid to go in because the fire was 14, so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked 15 but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us." She16 the burned side of her face. "This scar will be17, but to this day, I have never 18 what I did."

    At this point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and felt a great 19 of the sacrifice（牺牲）that his mother had made for him. He held her hand 20 for the rest of the day.

    This is the softest and merriest laughter of the year. Maria and Pit Sanders didn't1 their son's teachers. Instead, they decided to present them with 2 for Christmas.

    Maria and Pit Sanders say,“Their son,14-year-old Jake, is that3 kid who always has something to say in class.” So, when the parents wanted to say thanks to Jake's teachers for 4 him, Maria Sanders said they had to do something 5.

    “How many coffee cups does a teacher6,” she said.“But who doesn't need a glass of wine after 7 a kid like mine?” With help from a friend's printing company, the Sanders turned some bottles of wine into a truly 8 holiday gift for their son's teachers.

    The label features a picture of a9 Jake and reads,“Our Child Might Be The Reason Why You 10 So Enjoy This Bottle On Us.” The teachers 11the wine,“that's all I'm going to say,” Maria Sanders said.“None of the 12 were shocked by it.”

    Word about the gift spread13 after Jake's older brother, DJ, posted a photo on Twitter and received more than 10,000 likes: My parents always get our elementary school teachers a 14 around Christmas. It is very 15 of them to present something small like a candle or flower to say thank you. This year they got them bottles of wine and 16 the labels with their own with my smiling brother on them… Happy 17!

    Jake insisted he's not18 by the gift. In fact, he helped 19 the wine personally.“I thought it was 20,” he added.

    At the far end of Islington Road in Newton, Massachusetts, lives a little girl near and dear to the neighborhood. Two-year-old Samantha Savitz is 1, but she loves to talk to anyone who knows sign language. And her whole personality changes when it's someone who can 2 with her.

    Her desire for communication has been 3 obvious to everyone in the neighborhood. Whenever Sam tries to be neighborly, they 4 themselves lost for words. So they need to 5 more than a basic conversation with the child in the community.

    Unfortunately, this isn't something you can 6 with ease. You'd need the whole community to learn sign language 7 for a little 2-year-old girl. You can't 8 neighbors to do that. You can only appreciate them when they do.

    On their own, Sam's neighbors got together, 9 an instructor, and are now fully 10 an American Sign Language class. Even the parents of deaf children don't 11 to learn sign language. Now Sam has a whole 12 to communicate with her.

    And this level of inclusion will almost certainly guarantee a happier, more 13 Sam. Her parents says there aren't words in any language to express their 14. In fact, they're already seeing a 15 in their daughter. "The first thing she says to us is 'friend'", said her mother, "I think your heart would 16 just as mine did."

    Sometimes it feels like America is losing its 17 of community — but then you hear about a place like this where it takes a whole village to 18 a child. Now the village is alive and is here to 19 us that what makes a "good neighborhood" is nothing more than good 20.

The Coffee Place

    I used to believe politeness was a thing of the past. Very seldom had I met a 1 human being in this modem age of the so-called Ceneration X.

    Recently, I had to change my 2, when I came face to face with just such a human being. I had gone to a coffee place, with two of my grown-up daughters. The place was crowded with the usual loud crowd and we had to climb the stairs in order to find a(n) 3 table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we were going down the stairs, where the 4 space made climbing down only possible in a single 5, with hardly any space for another person to either climb up or 6.

    Just as I was in the 7 of my going down, a gentleman entered by the main 8 of the coffee place which was in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed 9 by the man who would want to go up 10.I kept coming down as fast as I could, 11 on to the bannister (扶手). My daughters were already down, looking up at me and hoping I would reach them before the 12 started up the stairs.

    Nearly reaching them, I noticed the man still standing near the 13. I reached my daughters and passed him at the entrance door he 14 holding open. I looked back, thinking he was still there trying to 15 whether to go in or find another less crowded place. But later I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time. I told my daughters about it and felt bad that we didn't even thank him who was actually holding the door open for us to pass through 16 going up.

    We 17 his thoughtfulness. Such 18 people are hard to find these days when pushing roughly is very 19 in our advanced but aggressive society. Till date, I remember this gentleman and 20 to God to make more human beings like him.