【推荐1】When an earthquake hit a small town，many houses fell down.After the earthquake，all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

One Sunday，when I was reading a newspaper，a special picture touched me.It gave the clothing sizes of each family member.I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than themselves.I said to my seven­year­old twins，Brad and Brett, and three­year­old Meghan，“We have so much，and these poor people now have nothing.We’ll share what we have with them.”

I filled a box with foods and clothes.While I was doing this, I encouraged the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favourite things.Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together.Then she walked away.A few minutes later, she came back with Lucy, her much­loved doll.She put the doll on top of the other toys.“Oh，dear，” I said.“You don’t have to give Lucy.You love her so much.” Meghan said，“Lucy makes me happy，Mommy.Maybe she’ll make another little girl happy, too.”

I looked at Meghan for a long moment.She taught me a lesson.It’s easy to give something that we don’t want any more, but hard to give what we cherish (珍爱)，isn’t it?

【推荐2】In my opinion, my mother has the ability to do anything, especially chores such as ironing and cooking. However, teaching her how to use the Internet is as frustrating as untangling (解开) wires.

Once, my mother came to me to ask for help on how to find a recipe for all-beef Lasagna. I gave her very simple verbal instructions—go to the home page of a particular search engine and type in “recipe for all-beef Lasagna.” Fifteen minutes later, she came to me, telling me that she was unable to find the Internet icon. I went over to the computer and pointed out the icon to her.

Another fifteen minutes went by when I felt a tap on my shoulder. This time, my mother said that she was unable to search for the particular recipe. Gritting (咬) my teeth, I walked to her room again. I saw that she had typed “all beef La saga” instead. With frustrated strokes, I keyed in the correct spelling.

Yet another fifteen minutes went by again when my mother gingerly tapped my shoulder. I stormed next door without bothering to hide my frustration. The main page of the website had not shifted one bit. I then realized that she did not know how to scroll(滚动屏幕) down the page. What had initially seemed like an easy task was turning out to be an intense one.

To avoid being disturbed again, I decided to find the recipe for her. Without a word, I rapidly downloaded a few recipes, printed them out and passed them to my mother. However, seeing her embarrassment, I began to regret my impatience.

At that moment, memories flashed through my mind. When I was young, my mother endured my endless questions, enlightening me with much patience. Now that I am older, the roles slowly reverse. As my mother may increasingly need my help, shouldn’t I rethink how to respond to her needs?

【推荐3】Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your dress from there in a telegram (电报), "his wife said. "All right, " Dick answered.

He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

He found a taxi(出租车)and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.

"Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."

【推荐2】Many years ago, I was fresh out of school and working in Denver. One day, I drove to my parents’ home in Missouri for Thanksgiving Day. Suddenly, I found the gas was running out. I stopped, wondering what I was supposed to do. A car pulled up behind me and an old couple came out. They offered to pull my car to a gas station. When we said good- bye to each other. the husband gave me his business card.

When I arrived home, I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note. I soon received a note saying that helping me had made their holiday meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a nearby town for a meeting in the morning. In the late afternoon, I returned to my car and found that the battery was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford Dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found a salesman waiting beside the door.

“Would you please do me a favor?” I asked and explained my trouble. He quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. He would accept no payment. When I got home, I wrote a note to thank him. I received a letter back from the salesman. He said no one had ever taken the time to write him a note of thanks and it meant a lot.

Although it is easy to say thanks to others, it means so much.

【推荐3】Like everybody else, I was addicted to my devices. When realizing its harm, I decided to make “I’m doing Tech-Free Sundays now!” I told my mother, on the Saturday night before my no-tech journey started. “Oh,” she said. “So are you giving up, like, the wheel?” I defined my terms. No: computer, phone, iPad. No: email, Twitter, Instagram. Yes: wheels, modern medicine.

But when I woke up in the morning, I failed. The problem was my work: I needed to meet a deadline. I thought I could just use the computer for work, and wouldn’t check Twitter. And I didn’t, for many hours. And then I did. It was right there! And though I checked it very briefly, just in case anyone was mad at me, the spell (咒语) was broken.

But the beautiful thing about Sundays is that there is always another one. The next week, I changed my approach: no tech, at all. This time, I was prepared. On Saturday, I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish over the weekend, and then worked my way through all the parts that require technology. And then I put my phone down, and when I woke up on Tech-Free Sunday, I did not pick it up again.

Instead, I finish a book — one with paper! Do you know how pleasurable it is to read a book by touching it? It is a delight, like petting a literary cat. However, the trouble came when I went to meet a friend. I was running late, but had no way to tell her because my phone was at home.

Was I relaxed on such a Sunday? It was an unfamiliar feeling, but I was. I felt a sense of control over my life. But because life is nothing if not a learning process, the next weekend, I told everyone who might need to get in touch with me that I would not be reachable on Sunday.