| in memory of; first aid; in tears; in disguise; pass away; trip over; a great deal; in a whisper; at midnight; do great harm to |
My family, my wife, Joan, our two teenagers Hannah and Joseph, and I, live in Atlanta with our two dogs.
Ten years ago, we moved into our dream house, a very big three-story home. It was a beautiful place, but as our children grew up, our sense of togetherness (团结) began to disappear slowly. In the big house, we sometimes seemed to be strangers to each other.
One day when Hannah was 14, she became upset about the difference between the world's haves and the have-nots. She expected us to be "a family that makes a difference in the world, even if it's a small difference". Joan asked her, "What are you willing to sacrifice? Your house? Your room?" Hannah said yes to both. After talking it over as a family, we decided to sell our house and move to one that was half its size and price and donate (捐赠) the difference to those in need.
After a lot of research, we chose the Hunger Project, a US-based organization. It works with villagers in Africa, Asia and South America and helps them fight against poverty (贫穷). Our money went to pay for building two centers. Each has a meeting place, a bank and a health clinic (诊所). Together, the centers would serve more than 20 villages in eastern Ghana. We also traveled to meet the villagers and were blown away by their hard work and warmth.
To be honest, we were a little worried at first. Would we regard the new home as being too small for us? Or would we think we had given up too much? Two years later, I can tell you: It's the best move we have ever made. While we worked together on our family project, we became much closer. As Hannah said the other day, "We learned how to really trust each other."
Neither rain nor snow nor the dark of night can separate Tennessee postal carrier "Mailman Mike" from his 4-and-a-half-year-old friend Carter Lawson — or keep them from their appointments.
For the past nine months, the two have teamed up every day in the preschooler's Knoxville neighborhood for a few minutes of delivering mail together and chatting with fellow neighbors. Lawson wants to be a mail carrier when he grows up, and in an inspiring story, his mom told us how mailman Mike Crenshaw has been a role model to her son. "Anyone could just be like' Go away, kid', but Mike has really gone out of his way to talk with Carter, " said Cassie Lawson of the United States Postal Service carrier. Little Carter even got his own uniform to match Mike's. "It's been really cute. I just couldn't believe he got a full mailman's costume," the postal service employee said.
"Every letter carrier has stops he looks forward to and this is the one I look forward to every day," said Mike. "He's the end of my day, and the best part of my day. Not because it's the end, but because he's such a cute little guy."
The man and the little boy's connection isn't a surprise to Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "Kids respond to mailmen because letter carriers are a friendly, uniformed part of the neighborhood who bring something to their house every day, and are the ones they come to recognize and trust," Rolando said. "It's the same for the elderly, but in addition, letter carriers may be the only person they communicate with all day."
Have you ever been in a position where you were expected and required to take music lessons even though you had no interest?
The situation was this: my father was a music teacher. My mother was a piano player and, in fact, the whole family was very musical. I was the only one who didn't know how to play a musical instrument.
And, as a lot of families do, I was required to take the piano lessons even though I had no interest in learning how to play it. So, it started. Lesson after lesson I suffered. Finally, I just quit practicing and my piano teacher told my parents that I was hopeless. Great — no more piano lessons.
But my parents still thought that I should learn a musical instrument. In their opinion, having no interest in playing the piano didn't mean that I had no interest in other instruments. So they chose some other instruments for me, but the same things happened. It seemed that I was a bit headstrong (任性的) but, at the same time, I knew what I wasn't interested in.
The musical story didn't end here. It went on to where I decided what I wanted to learn — to play the drums. I loved playing the drums and played in several bands.
The point is this: if you are not ready to do something, you won't do it no matter how much someone else wants you to do it. Or, at the very least, you will certainly not put your heart and soul into it and will surely fail.
Think now what you really love doing and get down to it.
Having no kid of our own, my wife Alice and I always invited the children in our street to our house for Christmas breakfast.
Last year, however, Alice passed away. I was sad that I decided not to invite the children for Christmas breakfast. But Kathy and Peter, my next door neighbors, invited me (join) them for dinner on Christmas Eve.
As soon as I arrived, Peter asked me the key to my house but didn't tell me the reason.
a happy dinner with them, I went home and was surprised to find that my house (decorate) by Peter! It was as (beauty) as each Christmas before. At that moment, I hoped that I could serve Christmas breakfast, but I hadn't made any (prepare).
Early the next morning, someone rang my bell. I opened the door and saw a little boy (stand) outside. Before I could ask him was happening, he was joined by two of his friends. Within fifteen minutes, my house was full of children, and I had all the food needed for the breakfast! I had breakfast (happy) with the children again.
One day, an old wise man was going to teach people in a village. The villagers there were very (interest) in the wise man's ideas. Each person in the village had prepared well, thinking about questions they might ask the wise man.
The wise man finally arrived and (take) into a large room in the village, in people got together to ask their questions. There was great (expect) and excitement.
The wise man walked silently around the room and sang a sweet song. One by one, people took up the song. Before long, everyone started to sing along with the wise man. As people became comfortable with (he) song, the wise man started to dance the music. He danced everywhere in the room, and one by one, people danced with him. Soon everyone in the whole village was dancing (wild) together. Everyone danced with such big smiles on their faces that they totally forgot their worries in life.
Later at night, the wise man slowed the dance and finally stopped (dance). He looked into everyone's eyes and said gently," I believe that I (answer) all of your questions."
