2 . Earlier in the year we set out plans for a butterfly garden in the heart of the village. We drew up a plan showing our ______ and needed a donation to buy wildflower seeds. While we ______ to see if our donation would come through, Butterfly Conservation Scotland ______ us enough wildflower seeds.

The next ______ was that the seeds would have to be ______ within the next fortnight, which also meant that the turf (草皮) would have to be lifted before we could plant! It was suggested that we ______ a machine to lift the turf.

We were just about to ______ for the day, when my friend turned up with a lot of daisies (雏菊). What a joy! Everyone ______ to work and planted the daisies all along the back of the garden

3 . “Small Acts of Kindness” really made me think outside the box. Dr Max is right, “it takes nothing to be nice”.

I was in New Zealand in January visiting my son and grandson. I only had a small amount of cash on me as we stopped for a drink and cake, but the shop wouldn’t take cards. As I counted out my coins and realized I needed $2 more to pay for the cake, two boys waiting on bikes behind me observed this scene and one boy spoke up, “I can pay the extra amount.” It shocked me that a boy who didn’t even know me could be so kind. I politely refused his offer and just had the drink, but I thanked him a lot.

I “paid this forward” when I arrived in the UK. This expression for describing the beneficiary (受益者) of a good deed repaying the kindness to others instead of the original benefactor (although the concept may be old) may have been coined by Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book, In the Garden of Delight. At the chemist’s, a young lady didn’t have enough cash to pay for a hair band that her daughter was keen to have, so I paid the bill for her. It was only £2.99 but it made me feel good about myself and I hope it also made this mum and daughter’s day!

With tiny gestures, we can give people a reason to keep on living. I intend to do this much more in the future.

4 . One day, a little boy was playing and his father was doing his office work.

While playing, the little boy was getting curious about things and kept repeatedly coming to his father to ask questions. The father was getting disturbed and couldn’t do his work, which made him upset. So, he thought, “Why not give him some work, which can keep him concentrated for a few hours so that I will be able to finish my work?” He took out an old book and found a page with a world map printed on. He tore that page from the book and cut it into small pieces to make a small puzzle game for the boy.

When the boy came again, the father gave those pieces to him and said, “Here is a puzzle for you. Join these pieces and you will make a world map. When the map is made, come and show it to me. ” He started doing his work believing that he would not be disturbed for hours.

But within 5 minutes, the boy came back and said, “Dad, look, I made the world map.” While checking, the father found that the pieces were joined correctly. He asked, “How did you do this so quickly?” The boy smiled and said, “It was easy, Dad. The pieces of the page that you gave me had a world map on one side and a picture of a cartoon on the other. I just joined the pieces to make the cartoon and the world map also appeared.”

Often we see a difficult problem and try to solve it. But when we can’t, we think that it cannot be solved and get troubled over it. This is because we see it only from one side, our own point of view. We are not able to think that there can be another, from which it can be solved. Therefore, whenever there is a problem in life, we should look at it from every angle (角度). That way, a solution may be found to that problem.

At a neighbor’s pool the summer after sixth grade, Charley shouted out those famous last words, “Hey, watch this!” As he dove into the pool, Tad froze. It wasn’t the deep end!

Charley was hurt bad when he hit the bottom of the swimming pool. The doctor said he might have broken his back and could lose the use of his legs. His life would change forever. Tad didn’t see Charley for over a month after he was carried away in the screaming ambulance.

When Tad went to visit Charley in the hospital, his “Hey, dude, how’s it going?” was greeted by an annoyed grunt (嘟哝声) . Looking small and pale, Charley cried, “I can’t walk-how do you think I feel? I wish I was dead!”

“Bro, you’ll get well! You’re tough.”

“No, the doctor said I won’t.”

“Aw, man. That’s horrible!” And the conversation died right there.

Tad didn’t go back after that. He just didn’t know what to say. When Charley got out of the hospital, Tad went over to his house a few times and played video games, but it just wasn’t the same. Not only was his friend’s body damaged, so was his spirit. Tad had made friends with other boys who enjoyed all the things he and Charley used to do. Even if he felt sad and guilty, he wasn’t spending more time at Charley’s. Tad wanted to help and be a good friend but didn’t know how now.

Charley just became sadder and sadder, and Tad spent less and less time with him as the school year passed.

When summer break started again, Tad didn’t see much of Charley. He had made the baseball team and didn’t have time for video games. At least he told himself that was the reason. He was shocked right before eighth grade started when he saw Charley sailing down the sidewalk with a big black dog by his wheelchair. “Wow, what’s this?” Said Tad, running over to his friend.

“This is Rowdy! He helps me.”

“Wow, what does he do?” Tad was interested.

After that, Tad could sense something had changed.

I went to sleep with my mouth open and I woke up with a sore throat. The medicine I took was expired (过期的) and my mom was forcing me to go to the doctor because she was worried that it would make me ill. When I went to brush my teeth, there was no toothpaste left and as I was trying to squeeze anything left in the tube. The toothpaste splattered (洒) all over my face and my school uniform. I washed my hair last night thinking I’d have time to straighten it in the morning, but because of the toothpaste incident I didn’t have enough of time to do anything to it at all. Now my hair was curly and I was in sweatpants (运动裤).

On my way to school, there was an accident holding up traffic on the one-way only street to my high school. That day was my first day of high school, and also my birthday. You might be wondering: Wait… It’s really your birthday? Then how come you didn’t mention your parents wishing you a happy birthday that morning? All are very good questions. I didn’t mention it because it never happened. My own parents forgot my birthday.

Maybe this day would get better. On my way to the classroom, I tripped up on the stairs and scraped (擦伤) my knee. I saw some students pull their phones out to capture the embarrassing moment. As the bell rang, in came the teacher. She asked us to introduce ourselves. Soon, it was my turn. Facing the new classmates, I found my legs trembling and my heart beating fast. Worse still, my mind totally went blank and my throat seemed to get blocked. Needless to say, roars of laughter filled the classroom. I fled from the platform with discomposure (狼狈). Not until this class was dismissed did the awful feeling fade away.

However, this day continued to get worse.

When I finally got home, I found my parents’ car was in the driveway.

8 . On an autumn day, a stranger rang a woman’s doorbell. The woman looked through the peephole (窥视孔) and saw a man. At first, she thought it was a salesman who might go away. When he didn’t, she decided to answer and see what he wanted.

The man asked if a woman named Karen lived at the address. The woman answered that Karen was her mother, but she wasn’t home now. The man smiled, handed an envelope over and then walked away. When the woman saw the contents of the envelope, she was shocked. She then rushed out of the apartment to run after the man, but the stranger was gone.

Inside the envelope was $1,000 in cash and a letter explaining where the money was from. “Please accept this gift. Our late mother devoted much of her time and resources to helping people through Random (随机的) Acts of Kindness program. One way our family honors her is to keep the tradition with acts of random kindness. Although we do not know you personally, other members of our community identified you as a deserving recipient of this gift. Please use this money in any way you see fit.”

Random Acts of Kindness does not have to involve the giving of money. It can be as simple as sharing your time with someone lending an ear, or offering a compliment (赞美). The most important part is that the act is done with no expectation of anything in return.

It turned out that Karen had been battling cancer for three years. The illness left her financially struggling and this amount of money would really help her. We truly never know what someone is going through and how much a random act of kindness might help turn their life around. Surely, $1,000 won’t necessarily meet her need, but it can go a very long way in changing someone’s luck and setting them on a better path.

9 . When I went away to university, my mom used to cook food and send it back with me with strict instructions to wash the lunch-boxes and bring them home. She was proud of it, but I was ______ by my lunch-boxes-why did we need to save these things? I ______ the options: if I didn’t recycle the lunch-boxes, would she still send me ______ ? I knew the answer was yes, ______ it was not a risk I was prepared to take. So, I washed the ______ lunch-boxes very carefully.

After I formed a ______ of my own, like my mother before me, I’m also the ______ owner of a large number of lunch-box collections, which I guard ______ . No matter how many glass microwave and oven-safe containers I have, no matter how beautiful and functional they may be, I cannot help ______ yogourt containers. They truly are the most ______ objects, with uses ranging from food storage to toys for my ______ : at the beach, in the bath, for endless Lego (乐高) creations.

I still remember when I married my husband, an American from Boston, my mother was ______ , “You know, you come from very ______ backgrounds,” she said. Managing cultural differences is undoubtedly an ______ .

The other night, I heard my husband yelling in the kitchen, and the next morning, I found my ______ in the recycling bin. I narrowed my eyes a little as I fished them out, washed them up and replaced them in their drawer with my death stare at my husband.