Peter woke up early in the morning. He went downstairs in a hurry and started to have his breakfast as quickly as possible.

“Why are you in such a hurry, early bird?” Mum asked him. “We will have an English spelling test today, Mum,” Peter said. “Mr. White promised to offer prizes to those who get 100 scores. I’ve been studying the word list since last week. Although the words are difficult, I am well prepared for them.”

Peter reviewed the spelling of each word once more carefully when Dad drove him to school. At last, it was time for the students to have a test. “Responsibility,” Mr. White started. Peter wrote it on his test paper quickly and confidently.

“The second word: contribution,” Mr. White said.

“So easy,” Peter thought. He quickly wrote the word down.

Thirty words later, the test papers were collected by Mr. White. “I am to mark your papers now,” he told the class. After marking the test papers, Mr. White said, “Three of you won a prize today for excellent test scores. Peter, David and Mary got full marks on the spelling test!”

Mr. White praised them. Meanwhile, he gave the three students each a dictionary. Peter’s was an English-Chinese dictionary—the one he liked best. Peter was so excited that he held it high when his classmates cheered. “This is my happiest moment,” Peter thought.

After Mr. White gave the test paper back, Peter had a look at the words, feeling proud of his spelling. All of a sudden, the word “contribusion” confused him. It didn’t seem right. Peter began to compare them after taking out the word list. “C-O-N-T-R-I-B-U-S-I-O-N,” he whispered. He spelled it wrong.

“What am I to do?” Peter said to himself. “I expect my classmates to think I’m a master at spelling. If I tell Mr. White one of my spelling words is wrong, I’ll have to give my prize back, or I will become an example for telling a lie.”

Staring at the full marks written on his test paper, Peter was lost in thought. After a while, he remembered a lesson Mum used to teach him, “We ought to be an honest person.”

Slowly,Peter raised his hand.

Peter looked around.

5 . The morning after an evening struggle to care for my three-year-old daughter, I couldn’t wait to send her to school. I, as a mother, was tired from the anger and her inability to communicate because of her slowed language development.

As I accompanied her into the car, I felt desperate. Nothing was right with our world. She’d been born around the same time when the nation was witnessing the birth of another Great Recession. My job and my house had been victims (牺牲品). Then this happened. My child’s language delay (语言发育迟缓) was identified, but doctors struggled to properly help her. I felt like we both needed to be rescued.

I returned that afternoon as disenchanted with my little girl as when I left. Walking slowly toward the school’s playground gate, I found her preschool teacher racing to greet me. “You should have seen her today!” His breathy words were supported by excitement. I didn’t interrupt. “See that climber.” He pointed to a wooden piece of playground equipment that looked like a rock wall. I nodded. “Well, every day since she started school, she’s tried and failed to make it to the top.” He took a breath. “And today she did it!”

He expressed his joy just as he’d witnessed her conquering Mount Everest! “She cheered and celebrated! I wish I’d recorded it!” His words comforted me. My daughter had conquered her mountain. As she ran toward me. I recognized something I hadn’t before. I saw her perseverance (毅力). I saw her strength. I saw a Hero.

Everyday greatness celebrates ordinary people who do unusual things in big and small ways, showing courage, kindness, love and selflessness. We encourage you to click these brief accounts and invite you to share your own story.

6 . Eileen Taylor had something sweet on her mind in the drive-through (汽车餐厅) line at Heav’nly Donuts. But it wasn’t a doughnut (甜甜圈).

Just the day before, a stranger ahead of her in line had _________ paid for her coffee. “It made such a big difference in my day,” says Eileen. She had recently _________ her job as a physician’s assistant, and money was tight. But Eileen was _________ to pick up the $12 bill of the family _________ the car behind hers. What she didn’t know was that her _________ would go around, and in a chain reaction (连锁反应), other _________ would be encouraged to pay backward (向后) too. In two and a half hours, 55 drivers paid for the _________ of the person behind them in line. The doughnut shop’s employees had _________ this before. In fact, this Heav’nly Donuts was known as a special _________—manager Wendy Clement says her customers are the “best in the world”. But, even so, the workers were ____________ when a 15th car pulled up to the window and the driver ____________ the next customer. By the time the lines for the drive-through and at the counter were empty, the shop had more than ____________ its previous record. Later that day, Eileen went back to pick up a coffee. Wendy told her what had happened.

“Everyone was all ____________ ,” says Eileen.

Now—working again as a physician’s assistant, Eileen ____________ Heav’nly Donuts every Saturday morning, having a ____________ —and paying for the order of the customer behind her.

8 . Twelve-year-old Leonardo was born in a poor family in Bambamarca in Peru. He knew how to read but he had never seen a book in his life. So he asked the new priest (牧师) in his village to give him one. But there was no electricity. So Leonardo borrowed candles from the church and sat up all night reading it. The next morning, he was at the door of the priest asking for another book to read.

John Medcalf, the priest, was moved. He also realised that people would love to read if given a chance. But he knew how difficult it was for Leonardo and those in his village to get books. And yet, no one can be taught to read and write without books. To make people in a poor, faraway area grow to love books, they have to be with them. So he thought the only way was to bring books to people.

But how could this be done? Mobile libraries or car libraries would be too expensive and difficult to continue in the rocky, hilly land of Peru. So what other methods could be used?

Medcalf got a new idea from the barefoot doctors of China. And that was how the barefoot librarians first appeared in the villages of northern Peru, almost thirty years ago.

The librarians began by going from village to village, lending books to villagers. They helped start The Rural Library Network of Peru.

At first, they were teachers of the village schools which these faraway libraries belonged to. But the teachers were not very interested in the job because it meant a lot of hard work. So, village leaders took on the job themselves.

Today, there are 600 village libraries across Peru. The barefoot librarians who walk up to 15 hours a day with bags of books are their lifeline.

9 . “Do you need a vase for your purple carnations(康乃馨)?” a gentle voice ________ me in my hospital bed. It was one of those few ________ moments when no one else was in the room with me and I had slipped into sleep. Usually the room was full of ________ and their families.

“Yes, these are from a special friend,” I ________ to sit up in spite of my weak body. She was a cleaner and while clearing the desk beside my bed, she ________ the flowers. But why would she care? And she said purple carnations” ________.

I asked her if she likes flowers. Her eyes lit up and she spoke in excited ________. She loves flowers so much that every flower in her garden each day gets a special hug and ________ from her before she leaves for work. My God! I can’t believe it!

I told her that I’ve been ________ a lot of flowers from my relatives and usually I had them delivered to the nurse station. And I decided to give her the purple carnations just because of her ________ about flowers

She was in great ________. But being the nice person she is, she still tried to ________ me to have half of them and she would happily take the rest home. I asked her if she could ________ them with others instead. She was doubly happy.

She left, came back and said, “I will be thinking of you whenever I see purple.” I almost ________. Such goodwill for something so ________? I was really amazed and impressed by this cleaner!