The Benefits(益处)of Doing More than You Are Paid for

One rainy afternoon an old lady walked into a Philadelphia department store.Most of the clerks ignored(忽略)her,1only one young man asked if he could help her.She replied that she was just 2for the rain to stop.He told her he wouldn't try to3her anything she didn't want.Instead he brought her4.

When the rain stopped,the lady5the young man and asked for his card.A few months passed,the owner of the store received6inviting this young man to Scotland to get orders for providing goods for a large company!The letter was7the old lady for whom the clerk had provided a chair.She happened to be owner's mother of the large company,8

When the young clerk had his bags packed for Scotland,he had already been one of the9in that department store,all because he had shown a little10to a stranger when no one else would.

      Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One early morning, I   1 a call for a taxi. When I arrived at the building, it was 2:30 a.m. and I found the building was dark except for the only light in a first floor window.

Many drivers would just shout once or twice and then drove away, but I thought this 2 might need my help. So I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a 3 , elderly voice. After a long time, the door opened. A small old man showed up before me, 4 a small bag. He kept thanking me for my 5 . “It's nothing,” I told him.

“Oh, you're such a good man.” He said. When we got into the taxi, he gave me a (an) 6, and then asked, “Could you drive through the city center?”

“But it wasn't the 7 way.” I answered quickly. “Oh, I'm in no hurry.” He said. “I'm on my way to a hospital. I don't have any family left. The 8 says I don't have much time left.”

      I   9   started the taxi and shut off the meter(计程器). For the next two hours, we drove  10   the city center. He showed me the building where he once worked. We drove past the church where he got married. He would never forget that happy moment. Sometimes he'd ask me to slow down in front of a building and would sit   11  the darkness for a long time, saying nothing. When the sun began to rise, we drove in silence to the address he had given me. When we arrived,   12 without thinking, I gave him a big hug. “You gave an old man a little moment of  13  . Thank you!” He said with tears in his eyes.

      I was completely lost in thought for the rest of the day. What would happen if I had refused to do   14  I did? We always think that there are no   15  moments in our lives, but great moments are just in what others may think small and unimportant ones.

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    I'm Henry, from America. This is my first time in Japan. One day some new colleagues (同事) invited me to 1. At first, I was quite happy and learned to use chopsticks with them, but later 2 started.

    That day, I had a 3. I felt uncomfortable with my nose, so I turned away from the table and blew (擤) my nose. My colleagues looked at me 4. They explained to me that in Japan, people don't blow their noses in public — especially at table.

    When I was trying to stick my 5 in my bowl of rice, one of my colleagues said, “Don't do that. Just leave them on the table.” Later, I found that leaving your chopsticks in your rice means death 6 Japanese culture!

    The next time I needed to blow my nose, I left the table and went to the toilet. 7 I returned, it was nearly time to leave. I noticed there were some small bowls with water in them on the table. It smelt good and I started 8 it before it got cold. Then I saw some of my colleagues cover their mouths. They were trying not to 9. “What's the matter?” I asked the colleague next to me.“It's for washing 10 fingers,” he said. For a moment, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

    Have you ever been a volunteer? Every year, thousands of young people in Britain take a year1before they start work or go to university. Some young people go to other2like France and Australia to work as volunteers. Volunteers give their time to help people3, they work in schools or hospitals, or they help with environment.

    Pauline Jones, 18, lives in Cardiff, Britain. Next year, she wants to go to4to study French, 5now she's living in Queensland, Australia. Pauline says, "I'm6with other people here to help with the coral reefs(珊瑚)in the7near Queensland. The reefs here are very beautiful, but if the sea water is very 8, the coral will die. I'm helping to do the9on the coral and the fish that living around the coral reefs. All over the world, coral reefs are10. We need to do something about the11before it's too late. "

    I'm staying with a family here and I help with the cooking and the cleaning I don't get12, but it's OK. I love my job here. And I'm learning a lot about people of Queensland-and13! When I14my work, I want to stay here for another three15, I want to travel around Australia. "

    One morning, I was waiting at the bus stop, worried about1 late for school. There were many people waiting in line at the bus stop, but most of them just stared (盯着) at their mobile phones, listening to music or going through the WeChat 2. No one talked or laughed.

    3 the bus finally came, we all hurried on board. I got a place next to the window, so I had a good view of the sidewalk. A boy 4 a bike caught my attention. He 5 beside the bus while waving his arm. I heard a passenger behind me shouting to the 6, but he 7to stop until we reached the next stop. The bus drove fast, and the boy tried his best 8 up with it. It 9 that he was a little tired, but he still kept riding. And he was carrying10 over his shoulder and shouting.

    Finally, when we came to the next stop, to our surprise, the boy ran up to the 11 of the bus. I heard an exciting conversation. Then the driver stood up and asked, "12 anyone lose a suitcase at the bus stop?" A woman on the bus shouted, "Oh, dear! It's mine." She pushed her way to the driver and took the suitcase 13. Everyone on the bus began talking about 14 the boy did, and the crowds of strangers suddenly became15 to one another.

    Sometimes even something small can change the relationship among people a lot. What an unforgettable experience!

    Once upon a time, a beautiful bird and a tortoise became good friends. The bird lived in a tree by the banks of the river. The tortoise had his1 there too. They are neighbours. Every day, after the bird flew down and had a drink of water, he would dance near the river to make the tortoise friend 2.

    One day, a bird-catcher caught the bird and wanted to take him away to the market. The unhappy bird asked the catcher to allow him to say 3 to his friend, tortoise. The bird-catcher 4 and took him to the tortoise. The tortoise was5 to see his friend a captive(俘虏).

    The tortoise asked the bird-catcher to let the bird go. And the tortoise said if the catcher6, he would give the bird-catcher an expensive 7. The bird-catcher agreed. To his surprise, The tortoise then dived into the water and in a few seconds 8with a nice pearl(珍珠). The bird-catcher was very happy to see it and he let the bird go at once.

    A short time later, the man came back and told the tortoise that a pearl was not enough and planned to catch the bird again if the tortoise doesn't 9 him another bigger and nicer pearl. The tortoise, who had already helped his friend, the bird, to leave the place to a forest far away after being set free, was greatly 10 with this man.

    "Well," said the tortoise, "if you still want to 11 another pearl, give the first one to me and I will fish another one for you." 12 his greed(贪婪), the bird-catcher gave the pearl to the tortoise, who 13 away with it saying, "I am no fool to take one and give two!" The tortoise then dived into the water 14, leaving the bird-catcher without a single pearl.

    We should learn from the short story that greed leads you to have 15.