【推荐3】My philosophy (哲学) professor was a typical eccentric philosopher, whose behavior was a bit strange. His disheveled (蓬乱的) appearance was highlighted by a well­worn tweed sport coat and poor-fitting thick glasses, which often rested on the tip of his nose. Every now and then, as most philosophy professors do, he would dig into one of those existential “what’s the meaning of life” discussions. Many of those discussions went nowhere, but there were a few that really hit home. This was one of them:

“Respond to the following questions by a show of hands,” my professor instructed.

“How many of you can tell me something about your parents?” Everyone’s hand went up.

“How many of you can tell me something about your grandparents?” About three-fourths of the class raised their hands.

“How many of you can tell me something about your great-grandparents?” Two out of sixty students raised their hands.

“Look around the room,” he said. “In just two short generations hardly any of us even know who our own great-grandparents were. Oh sure, maybe we have an old photograph stored away in a musty cigar box or know the classic family story about how one of them walked five miles to school barefoot. But how many of us really know who they were, what they thought, what they were proud of, what they were afraid of, or what they dreamed about? Think about that. Within three generations our ancestors (祖先) are all but forgotten. Will this happen to you?”

“Here’s a better question. Look ahead three generations. You are long gone. Instead of you sitting in this room, now it’s your great­grandchildren. What will they have to say about you? Will they know about you? Or will you be forgotten, too?”

“Is your life going to be a warning or an example? What legacy (遗产) will you leave? The choice is yours. Class is over.”

Nobody rose from their seats for a good five minutes.

【推荐1】Jamil Jan Kochai, the author of 99 Nights in Logar, searched for more than a decade for Susan Lung — the second-grade teacher who had changed his life over 20 years earlier. On Saturday night, the two were finally reunited at one of his book-reading events.

The writer was born in a refugee camp for Afghans in Peshawar, Pakistan, and his family moved to California when he was just a year old. At home, they spoke mostly Pashto and some Farsi, so by the time he reached first grade, he was at a total loss because he could hardly speak English. Then came Mrs. Lung, who quickly realized that Kochai was deeply struggling at Alyce Norman Elementary School.

The two got to work, meeting for one-on-one lessons nearly every day after school. At the end of the school year, Kochai won reading-comprehension competitions.

Lung and Kochai lost touch when Kochai’s father got a job in another city and the boy moved on, with a new love of reading and writing. When he grew older, Kochai’s parents encouraged him to find his former teacher to thank her. But despite his efforts, he failed to track her down.

“I didn’t know her first name. She was always just Mrs. Lung to me, so when I called places to ask about her, they couldn’t find any records of her,” Kochai said.

Then, while promoting his first novel, he wrote an essay for Literary Hub magazine touching on the transformative impact that Lung had on his life. Lung’s doctor happened to read it, and told the now-retired educator about that.

Lung’s husband saw a Facebook post about Kochai’s reading event on Saturday in Davis, California and suggested he drive his wife there.

“I had no idea they were going to be there,” Kochai said. “It was just like a sweet dream. Mrs. Lung was sitting in the front row. She was just the same Mrs. Lung. Just as sweet, kind and warm as ever.”

Kochai and Lung hugged, and Kochai finally got the chance to express to her how much he still thought of her and how much she meant to him.

【推荐2】The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.

Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.

But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.

Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.

One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”

That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.