【推荐1】He really did look like a tourist, with a camera around his neck and a bottle of sunscreen sticking out of his bag. The strong man sat at the table, drinking lemon juice and pretending to look at travel brochure(小册子). His sunglasses masked his eyes, but I knew he wasn’t looking at the brochure: he hadn’t turned a page for the last ten minutes.

As I brought him his dishes, he coughed up a “thank you” and looked at me briefly.

I tried not to stare at the tiny scar(伤疤) across his left eyebrow. I walked back inside, shaking my head. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite recognize him. Then it hit me. In the car accident one year ago, the mysterious(神秘的) stranger helped me out of my smashed car, just before it exploded. I rushed back to his table. He was gone.

I moved his plate and found his tip, along with a card: I am deeply indebted to you. The night of your car accident, I was on my way to rob a jewelry store. Saving your life brought things back in perspective(观点). I now live an honest life, thanks to you. God bless you! Mr. D.

I was stunned. The night of my car accident, I was heading for an interview in a shady dance club. Seeing human kindness through his heroic gesture turned my life around and brought faith back into my life.

I unfolded the tip he left. Among the singles was a grand with a pen mark underlining “In God We Trust”. I said a silent prayer for him and got back to work, smiling.

【推荐3】Once there was a woman who was greatly disturbed by her husband. He seemed to care little about her.

So the woman took her trouble to the local magician. She told him her story, full of pity for herself. “Can you give me some magic powers to make him love me again? ” she asked anxiously.

The magician thought for a moment and replied, “ I will help you, but first you must bring to me three hairs from a living lion. These! Must have before I can give you my magic powers.”

There was indeed a lion that often came near to the village. It was frightening. The woman thought again and again and at last she had an idea.

The next morning she took a young sheep and waited anxiously. When she saw the lion approaching, she left the sheep in the path of the lion quickly and went back home. So it happened that, every day early in the morning, the woman would rise and take a young sheep to the lion. Gradually the lion came to know the woman. Seeing the lion's trust in her, the woman carefully pulled three hairs from it and set out for the magicians house “Look, "she said happily as she entered, “here they are! ”And she gave him the three hairs.

“How did you make it ?” asked the magician in surprise.

The woman told him the whole story. A smile spread over the magician’s face. "You may treat your husband the same way you've treated the lion, "he said.

【推荐1】Why do people throw stuffed animals(毛绒动物玩具)at figure skaters?

Moments after figure skaters finish their program, crazy fans throw gifts onto the ice.    1    As NBC Sports reports, Sasha Cohen was once given several cashmere sweaters; Canada’s Elvis Stojko and Parick Chan have walked away with swimsuits; Debi Thomas even got a box of Domino’s pizza after her performance at the i987 world championships.

Flowers and clothing aside, the post-program offerings are mostly stuffed animals.    2    , though it’s not clear exactly how or when this custom began. First, flowers, once the go-to item to throw to skaters, are dirty. The ”cleaners“-the kids who skate around collecting all the gifts between the programs have a much easier time picking these stuffed toys up than hurriedly clearing every petal(花新)and leaf away that fell off the flowers.

    3    ,In 1989, US Figure Skating banned (禁止)sports halls hosting national championships from selling flowers. And ahead of the 2002 national championships, the organization completely forbade fans from bringing their own flowers to the halls at all.”    4    . Even when they’re wrapped, the petal and leaf fall out and become a disaster,“ Larry Kriwanek, chair of the event’s organizing committee, said. Instead, fans could buy already-authorized(已授权的)stuffed animals inside the halls and show their favorite skaters with those.

There’s another benefit of choosing a stuffed animal    5    .”We sometimes will get stuffed animals made in custom costumes to match what we’re wearing,“ American ice dancer Meryl Davis said. It turns out that skaters often do try to take especially meaningful or thoughtful gifts home with them.

【推荐2】Mindy Scheier is on a mission to make fashionable clothing accessible to everyone. In 2014, she started the Runway of Dreams Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps bring adaptive clothing to disabled people.

Scheier explained the inspiration behind her efforts. ''My son, Oliver, was born with rigid spine muscular dystrophy, '' she said. ''His lack of strength created challenges with typical clothing. After spending years in the fashion industry, I decided that there was an opportunity to combine my fashion experience with my others. ''

Scheier began to create trendy clothing that her son could wear with ease. For example, she used magnets and elastics(松紧带) in place of buttons and zippers. Those adjustments have enabled Oliver to wear the same style as his friends do, even jeans.

Scheier's vision extends beyond just helping her own son. ''I soon realized that millions of disabled people were also struggling to access fashionable clothing that meets their needs, '' she said. That was why she started the Runway of Dreams Foundation.

On September 5, 2018, the foundation held its annual fashion show during New York Fashion Week. The event showcased the foundation's new adaptive clothing. The show featured several disabled models, including Cole Gottlieb and Maddie Hostetter. Cole, a 9-year-old boy born with cerebral palsy, loves to play baseball and soccer. He was excited to participate in the fashion show. ''It lets me be a role model to others, '' he said. Maddie, aged 8, was born with only one full arm. ''I heard about Runway of Dreams from my mom, '' explained Maddie. ''Even though I can button clothes with one arm, the magnets have made it much easier for me. ''

Scheier-whose TED Talk was released in January 2018-credits her passion with the progress Runway of Dreams has made in the last few years. ''Passion allows you to not take no for an answer, '' she encourages. ''It allows you to keep going when faced with challenges. ''

【推荐3】The Joy of Giving

Many athletes can light up the scoreboard with their skill. But it takes a special kind of athlete to light up a child’s face.

Runner Sanya Richards Ross is a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and though she now lives in Texas, her passion is helping young people in her homeland through her Fun 4 Kidz Foundation, which tackles illiteracy and promotes a healthy lifestyle. “Education is so important. Jamaica has its share of poor people who don’t have the means to get a great education. When you’re educated, your opportunities are endless. I had great support growing up, but not everyone is so blessed. So far, our program has been in seven schools in Jamaica, helping 400 students,” said Sanya.

Houston Texans All-Pro J.J. Watt is all business on the football field. But with children, he is playful and fun loving. He started the Justin J. Watt Foundation to provide after-school sports opportunities for underprivileged children. These activities help the kids learn about teamwork, leadership, and perseverance. He said, “At one of the first schools where we gave out uniforms, a kid told me, ‘It’s the best day of my life. I’m going to be a football player.’ Simple things like that keep me helping kids. Seeing the smile on a kid’s face is everything.”

Mia Hamm is one of the greatest soccer players in U.S. National and Olympic history. Inspired by her brother, Garrett, who died from a rare blood disorder, she started the Mia Hamm Foundation to raise awareness and money for those in need of bone marrow or cord blood transplants. As she said, “We do charity soccer games, bringing together unrelated donors and recipients(受助人). To see that reunion is one of the most powerful things you can see. There are a lot of tears when people meet their donors, who are their selfless, thoughtful heroes; who gave them a second chance at life. If I can help reduce the suffering of others, I will gladly do it.”

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is one of baseball’s greats. His daughter, Isabella, has Down Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes delays in physical and intellectual growth. Albert and his wife, Deidre, started the Pujols Family Foundation to help children with Down Syndrome.

For these athletes, there’s no better feeling than to bring joy to people and to those in need, and seeing a smile on a child’s face at a foundation event or wherever they are involved really makes it all worth it.

【推荐2】In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.

My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.

Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No.3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.

You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.

The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.

In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!

I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside, it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.

【推荐3】Centuries ago, these caves were places of worship (祭祀) for Buddhist monks. Today they’re homes for 200 poor Afghan families and one classroom.

Fereshta Ahmadi was able to stay in school after her family moved to the caves about a decade ago. She’s now a senior at an all-girls high school in Bamyan but she felt the need to educate the children of cave settlers. So 6 years ago, she transformed her living space into a classroom.

For 2 hours every day she teaches 30 primary school-age kids different subjects including English. She says she wants to give an opportunity to the children who don’t have access to mainstream schools.

“Cave settlers are no different from people who live in modern communities or people who live in fancy apartments and buildings. They, too can study, can go to public schools and take private courses so they build their abilities and development.”

Using her own money, the young teacher opened a small library with 200 books to improve the reading skills of her students. She hopes to expand her cave class in the future. “My plan is to change my small course to a big school and there must be some assistance from government and /or other organizations so that I can take my services to the next level.”

The children in this classroom are happy to get an education and they have big dreams for the future. “We study different subjects here, for example, Dari, math, English, drawing and reading, I want to become a doctor in the future and serve my people,” said one of the students.

Years of conflict and poverty forced these families to seek refuge (避难所) in these ancient caves with no basic facilities and, previous to Ahmadi’s initiative (自发性), no chance of getting an education for the children. After an Afghan service broadcast report about Ahmadi’s school, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education offered to help her in her efforts.