【推荐2】At seventy-three, Marcia Pollock’s father was a man of great independence and pride. The kids called him “Poppy”, a name that everybody used.

Poppy lived in his old neighborhood and he had a part-time job at a local pharmacy（药房）. After Marcia’s mother died, Poppy firmly refused Marcia and Jack’s invitation to come and live with them. He was stubborn about not crowding their little house, about not becoming a burden.

In fact, he was always helpful. The kids loved him because he listened to them and because he always brought them something. He also brought special gifts to Marcia and Jack, never arriving empty-handed.

And so it was with shock and bewilderment（迷惑）that Marcia went to see Poppy in the hospital that summer after he had fallen down in the street. The doctor said that Poppy had been living on coffee and doughnuts. Later that day, the pharmacist told Marcia, “He has practically no money at all—just the government cheque and what little he makes here. Yet I myself saw him spend most of his last cheque on your little boy’s bicycle.”

She became stern with Poppy.“You’re foolish, Poppy,” she said. “I have my pride,” Poppy answered. “False pride,” she hurled（斥责）back at him.

During autumn, Poppy didn’t come around as often as he had in the past, but when he did, he would still arrive with little gifts in hand. Then, just before the holidays, Poppy told Marcia that he couldn’t visit them on Christmas Day because he would watch the store, but Marcia knew the shop was not open on Christmas.

She felt worried and called Poppy, telling him that he was one of them and that they all loved him. Half an hour before the turkey went on the table on Christmas, Poppy came. The kids rushed to him and gave him more hugs and kisses than he had ever had before. Poppy held out his arms to Marcia, and his hands were empty — yet never had they been more filled.

【推荐3】Agatha Christie used to go out at night. She will never forget the night when she met a robber(盗贼) many years ago.

That evening, she was invited to a birthday party which lasted till 2 o'clock in the morning. Without company, Agatha walked home along the quiet street. Suddenly from the shadow of a dark building, a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her. ＂Good morning, Lady,＂ the man said in a low voice, ＂I don't think you wish to die here!＂＂What do you want?＂ Agatha asked.

＂Your earrings (耳环). Take them off!＂Agatha suddenly had a bright idea. She tried to cover her necklace with the collar (衣领) of her overcoat while she used the other hand to take off both of her earrings, and then she quickly threw them on the ground.

＂Take them and let me go.＂ she said. The robber was uncertain. He saw that the girl didn't care for the earrings at all, only trying to protect the necklace. He realized the necklace would cost more, so he said, ＂Give me your necklace.＂

＂Oh, sir. It's not worth much. Please let me keep it.＂

＂Stop talking rubbish. Quick!＂

With shaky hands, Agatha took off her necklace. As soon as the robber disappeared, she picked up her earrings and ran as fast as she could to her home.

The earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost only six pounds ten shillings (先令).

【推荐1】At the time,I attended a private school called Maryvale College.I was the champion of the Maryvale sports day every single year.and my mother won the moms’trophy(奖杯)every single year.Why?Because she was always chasing me to kick my ass,and I was always running not to get my ass kicked.Nobody ran like me and my mom.

She was a thrower,too.Whatever was next to her was coming at you.If it was something breakable,I had to catch it and put it down.If it broke,that would be my fault,too,and the ass-kicking would be that much worse.

We had a Tom and Jery relationship.me and my mom.She was the strict disciplinarian(纪律执行者)；I was naughty as shit.She would send me out to buy groceries,and I wouldn’t come right home because I’d be using the change from the milk and bread to play arcade(街机)games at the supermarket.I’d drop a coin in,time would fly,and the next thing I knew there’ d be a woman behind me with a belt.It was a race.I’d take off out the door and through the dusty street, clambering over walls.ducking through backyards.It was a normal thing in our neighborhood. She could go at a full sprint(冲刺)in high heels,but if she really wanted to come after me she’d kick her shoes off while still going at top speed.

When I was little she always caught me,but as I got older I got faster,and when speed failed her she’d use her wits.If I was about to get away she’d yell,”Stop!Thief!”She’d do this to her own child.She’d yell”Thief!”knowing it would bring the whole neighborhood out against me,and then I’d have strangers trying to grab me and tackle me,and I’d have to duck and dive them as well.all the while screaming.”I’m not a thief!I’m her son!”

【推荐3】Aerial performer Jennifer Bricker was born without legs, but she never let it stop her.

Wrapped in a loop of red silk hung from the ceiling Jennifer Bricker climbs and twists to the music. Her head hangs down and her strong arms let go as she balances on her back, high above the ground a move that’s all the more daring because she has no legs.

Jennifer was a few months old when she was adopted by Sharon and Gerald Bricker. She had big brown eyes, a bright smile, and huge amounts of energy. When a doctor advised her adoptive parents to carry her around in a kind of bucket, they refused.

Jennifer soon learned to walk — and run — on her hands and bottom, and grew up fearlessly climbing trees and bouncing on the trampoline（蹦床） with her three older brothers. “My parents didn’t treat me differently so I didn’t grasp the concept that I was different. I knew I didn’t have legs but that wasn’t stopping me from doing the things I wanted to do.”

At the age of three she was fitted with artificial legs, but she never really took to them — she moved more freely without.

In 1996 the Olympic Games took place in Atlanta. Jennifer loved to watch the women’s gymnastics team, and especially adored the 14-year-old Dominique Moceanu who competed for the US. When Moceanu and the women’s team won gold, Jennifer decided she was going to be a gymnast, too. She took up power tumbling, which involves performing floor exercises down a runway. But Jennifer did not want any allowances to be made for her disability.

At the age of 10 she took part in the Junior Olympics and by age 11 she was tumbling champion for the state of Illinois.

Jennifer now travels the world as an inspirational speaker and acts as an aerial performer.

【推荐1】Dating back to 2002, this is the fifth time that I have traveled overseas to work with Roma people, whom you probably know better as “gypsies”. Every time I came home feeling as though I had gotten far more than I gave.

The Roma live mostly in central and eastern Europe and to some extent in the Americas. Due to some reasons, throughout their history they are usually the last to be hired and the first to be fired, generally speaking. They live far away from town normally and in relative poverty.

Getting education is a common subject. That is where we come in. This time, I, along with three other men, was working in a village in Slovakia. Most Roma people there can’t speak English well, and we went to help out with that, hoping to make a difference to their life.

Staying with the Roma, I have learned anyone can help others. The first time I went abroad was to work with a Roma charity. When we arrived in a small village in Hungary, we found that several of the Roma were missing. They would return the next day, because they had traveled a few hours away to serve in a prison. That is, these who we thought needed us were off helping some other people who needed them.

We may think we are traveling over to “give” to them. Actually, we also received warm hospitality. Some small gifts would sometimes come our way, as they expressed their thanks. On the last day of this trip, the local Roma warmly invited us to stay for a coffee with home-baked sweets. These poor people always find some ways to welcome trusted visitors.

Here what I want to say is that the Roma people that I have worked or talked with are just as smart and able as we are. They are wise Roma people in many ways, though having lived quite differently from most of us. There is nothing fault born with them. They are in every way that matters. We are all the same human beings.

【推荐2】A fourth-grade star athlete has made headlines for keeping up with high schoolers. However, it’s not for the honor. The selfless student is a guide runner for a blind autistic (患自闭症的) teen who needs a helping hand on the cross-country track.

Rebel Hays, 11, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, stepped up as a guide runner for a ninth-grader, Paul Scot, when West Fork High School put out a call for volunteers. Paul, their student, wanted to compete.

As they ran together, the pair became good friends. “Paul and Rebel’s story is so much more than running,” said Rebel’s mother, Lou Ann. “Paul doesn’t have many friends, so Rebel doesn’t just guide him a traces. They also spend time together,” she said, telling jokes. “Paul is grateful for his young guide’s direction.” “Rebel directs me whether there’s a ditch (沟)or there are hills, who encourages me to run faster.” Paul said.

In honor of their partnership, West Fork High School wrote a post on Facebook. Posting on Oct.6, 2021, after a 5K race at Chile Pepper where the boys achieved a personal record of 21 minutes, school representatives explained, “Rebel Hays has been helping Paul all season long. He is a promising runner, but more importantly, he has a huge heart! Thank you, Rebel! Thank you a lot!”

According to Mile Split Arkansas, Paul said that his goal this year was to break 21 minutes; however, they missed it at Chile Pepper but achieved it at Yan Buren Pointer Classic, finishing with a time of 20:59:44. With the help and direction from Rebel, Paul finished 59th out of 135 runners in the 3A boys race at the state Meet in Hot Springs in early November. Paul still has one more year of eligibility (资格) for cross-country and has now set a new goal of under 20 minutes.

【推荐3】It was New Year’s night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal―the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and regret. Now his health was poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads―one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll choose the better way ! “ But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were now honoured and happy on this New Year’s night.

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents’ early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort, he burst out a cry: “Come back, my early days! Come back!”

And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year’s night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

Those who still linger on the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain: “O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”

【推荐1】After spending the first five years of his life in San Diego, Adam Driver's family packet up and moved to a small town in Indiana, where Adam enjoyed a relatively routine adolescence. Then the horrific events of September 11th made Adam's life become anything but routine.

Just a few months following the events, Driver decided to join the United States Marine Corps. He considered 9/11 as being one of the reasons for joining the army, with his desire to leave Indiana providing the rest. He once said,"I'm grateful for having grown up in Indiana, but I needed to go out and the Marine Corps was a nice, stable option." After serving for two and a half years, and just two months before he was sent to Iraq, Driver injured his sternum in a biking accident. After he was healed, he injured it again during military training, which resulted in an honorable medical discharge.

After leaving the military, Driver decided to try his hand at acting. At first he studied close to home at the University of Indianapolis, but after just a year, he transferred to Julliard in New York City. He lived in a tiny apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey apartment while studying drama at a prestigious performing arts conservatory（音乐学院）. Following his graduation in 2009, Driver immediately began appearing in plays, including 2010's Mrs. Warren's Profession.

Adam's first major television experience was a guest spot on Law & Order, and was soon followed by a small role in the award-winning film You Don't Know Jack, which was Driver's first experience working with Home Box Office. Then after landing his star-making role on Girls, Driver was cast in a handful of feature films, including 2011's J. Edgar and 2012's Gayby, Not Waving but Drowning and Frances Ha.

He'll appear next year in the Coen brother's Inside Llewyn Davis and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.