Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel (吵架) with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.

The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”

“Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.

“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man, “Come in.”

The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.

“What is it?” asked the man kindly.

“Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!”

Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you remember the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?”

Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?”

On the way home. Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

Nearing the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.

At that time, her mother came back and touched her hair gently, which called her mind back.

Emily White was born seventeen years ago with many physical issues affecting her tiny body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. Though no one expected her to survive, she did make it. But she had a strange figure that everyone could recognize, even from a distance.

In Emily’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school hall at Christmas. It had been performed for so many years that it had become one of the most important events for many of the townsfolk. Each year, many people tried out for the show, but most were turned down. Only the best performers could be included.

Emily had a most beautiful singing voice. Last year, she asked Mrs. Owens, her music teacher, if she could join in the performance. Mrs. Owens took a look at her body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable too.”

Without singing a single note, Mrs. Owens sent Emily back through the door of the choral room (合唱室). Hurt and upset, Emily decided never to try out again. But things changed as the following school year, Mrs. Owens retired and a new music teacher arrived—Mr. Butler.

He had heard about Emily and suggested that she give it a try again. Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. But finally her love for singing and strong desire to join in the performance outweighed her hesitation. She tried out again and learnt the result would be posted the next day on the door of the choral room.

Emily couldn’t sleep that night, having turned in bed back and forth thousand times as she was worried that she would be rejected again and would never fit in.

The nex tday, Emily hurried to school and anxiously glanced at the list of the result.

Finally, the day of the performance came.

Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.

An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.

“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.

“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”

“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.

Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.

Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，

“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”

“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”

At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.

But things began to change as she was doing the chores.

I was 15 years old, living with my parents in a countryside 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa. We were far from the town and had no neighbors, so I would always look forward to going to the town to visit friends and hang out with them.

On a sunny Saturday, my father had to attend an important meeting in the town in the afternoon and I begged him to drive me to the town to visit my friend Toby. To my wild joy, he agreed and said, “I will pick you up from Toby’s house at 5: 00 p. m., and then we will go home together. Have a nice day!” Excitedly jumping into his car, I dreamt of my happy time in the town with Toby. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the town and I waved goodbye to father.

After chatting and dining with Toby at his house, we went to the nearest movie theatre at around3: 30 p. m. I got so absorbed in John Wayne’s latest movie that I totally forgot the time. It was not until 5: 30p. m. that I suddenly remembered the appointment with my father. Toby and I ran back as fast as we could to his house. As I had expected, Toby’s parents and my father had already been waiting for us at the doorway of the house. My father and I said goodbye to them and walked towards the car. “Why are you so late?” My father said in an anxious voice. So ashamed was I that I didn’t dare to tell him the truth and I murmured (小声说),“I had to buy a book in Uncle Tom’s bookstore,” not realizing that he had learned about the truth from Toby’s parents.

I was ready to be scolded (责备) in the face when he caught me lying. To my surprise, however, he said calmly, “There must be something wrong with the way I brought you up. I haven’t given you the courage to tell the truth.” Then he was lost in thought.

There was dead silence in the car on the way home.

After I heard my father’s words, tears of regret ran down my face.

Amy is good at making pies, which got her a job at the Good Times restaurant months ago. And she was often regarded as the best worker there. Recently, she became the supervisor (主管) of the restaurant. She was kind and friendly to all the workers and the customers.

One morning, Amy was taking orders when she heard a conversation. “What you did there was great, Mason! It was hard to carry the old lady safely out of the fire. For a moment, I thought you couldn’t make it, my friend,” one man said. Then the other man replied, “Yeah, it was difficult, but that’s our job. And you were the hero today, Gordon. You carried that girl on your shoulder and her dog in your hand. It’s going to be on the newspapers tomorrow, I’m telling you.”

From their clothing and conversation, Amy knew they were firefighters. And she quickly realized that they were talking about the previous night’s fire at the old hotel on the other end of the road. Then the man named Gordon continued, “I don’t care about being in the papers. The little girl and her dog reminded me of my own daughter. She’s constantly asking for a dog, too.”

Amy was moved by the courage and sincerity of the two men. She wanted to show her appreciation for their selfless service. “How about helping pay for their meal?” she thought.

However, she wasn’t a rich girl at all. Weeks ago, her father had an accident and broke his legs. The operation cost a lot of money. And now he needed a wheelchair (轮椅) to move around so that he could live an easier life. But her family was poor and a good wheelchair wasn’t cheap. Amy was trying hard to save money for a wheelchair for her father. And she still needed a lot of money. “Well, the firefighters’ meal won’t cost too much,” Amy finally thought.

Then she went to the cashier (收银员) and secretly paid for their meal.

The next day, the firefighters began raising (募捐) money for a wheelchair for Amy’s father.