1 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

An Unforgivable Mistake

A few years ago, the company I work for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved jogging, so I was really happy when I found the apartment they had rented for us was next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go for a run before I went to work.

Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of muggers (行凶抢劫者) in the park, I didn’t usually take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning my wife asked me to buy some bread on the way home, so I put a $10 bill in my back pocket.

It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging around. While I was running, another jogger bumped (撞) into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, when I noticed the wide path where I was running, I thought it was kind of strange. The warning of muggers in the park occurred to me. It could have been a mugger! I suddenly became alarmed, so I checked my pocket. The money was missing! I immediately started to run after the jogger. I finally caught up with and grabbed him firmly by the arm. I started shouting and demanding that he give me the $10 bill. I’m not usually a hot-headed person, but I really lost my temper at that moment. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.

I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife the story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started with pride. She immediately interrupted (插话), “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

Looking at the money on the table, I stood there, shocked.

For several days, I waited at the same place.

4 . I was doing well as a department head in a Mumbai firm, but my relationship with the boss had become strained (紧张的). Not wanting to ________ this, I resigned rather impulsively (冲动地). But with no other job offer in hand, I soon became ________.

Then, one morning, a Situations Vacant ad I spotted ________ a person like me. So, carrying my ________ typed CV (简历) in an envelope on which I had written both “To and From” ________, I took a train on a Monday morning to get to the post office, where I could have it weighed, stamped and ________. Getting off the train, I ________ the crowd of office-goers out of the station and on to the street. Suddenly, I noticed my envelope was ________!

I rushed back to the ________. The train was still there. A ________ of the compartment in which I travelled ended up with nothing. I waited ________ for the train to pull away. It hadn’t fallen on the tracks either.

The ________ thing to do was to go home, sit at my typewriter, make a new CV and covering letter and mail it. But losing the envelope was like a bad ________, so I gave up.

Three weeks passed. I ________ a letter that referred to my “lost” job application and inviting me for a ________ with the company’s managing director, I was ________.

I soon got the job, and ________ there as deputy general manager until I took voluntary retirement.

I still think about my application ________ its addressee (收信人). I imagine someone found it. He or she might have asked others on the train. Realizing it would be ________ to a fellow citizen, the finder took it to a post office, stuck the stamps and mailed it. To that ________ friend, I want to say: Thank you for a little act that proved to be so big for me.

6 . The 65-year-old Steve Goodwin, suffering from early Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默症), was losing his memory.

As a keen lover of the piano, he was truly _______ to play music, _______ he had never performed outside the family.

Melissa, his daughter, insisted it’s _______ worthwhile to save his music. Steve _______, tears in eyes. _______, Naomi, Melissa’s best friend and a talented pianist, came and met Steve for the first time, showing willingness to help.

She told Steve she’d love to hear him play the _______. Steve moved and sat at the bench, hands _______ as he gently placed his fingers on the keys. Naomi put a small _______ near the piano. In great difficulty, Steve pressed on, playing for the first time in his life for a _______.

“It was amazingly ________, worth saving.” Naomi said after listening to the recording.

They met every other week. He’d move his fingers ________ on the piano due to the disease, and then she’d take his place. He ________ to explain what he heard in his head. He stood by the piano, his eyes closed, listening for the first time to his own work being played by someone else.

Steve and Naomi spoke in music. He heard it, all of it, but just couldn’t play it.

However, working with Naomi did ________ for Steve. It had completely excited within him the faith ________ he could write one last song. Steve called it “Melancholy Flower”.

Naomi managed to ________ 16 of Steve’s favorite, and most personal songs. The Goodwin family found a sound engineer to record Naomi playing Steve’s songs. They thought that would be the end. But it wasn’t.

In the months ________ the Christmas concert, Naomi told the director she had a special one in mind: “Melancholy Flower”. She believed that Steve’s music was beautiful and professional and needed to be shared to the ________. They were soon ________ to add it to the playing list. Steve considered it an honor, too.

By then, Steve was having a hard time remembering the names of his friends. He arrived and was________ in the front row, surrounded by his family. The house lights faded. Naomi took the stage. Her fingers. His ________.

9 . For most people, having things stolen feels like an offence. Robbie Pruitt admitted that he got_________ when he discovered the theft of his mountain bike last September. But soon enough, his_________ took a turn. After letting go of his anger and frustration, he found himself on a road to sympathy_________.

For Pruitt, a keen bicyclist, the first thing to do was_________ his   stolen bike. But   when he went bike shopping, he found few available, which got him thinking: What if the_________ of bikes was Covid- 19 related, and what if the person who’d taken his bike really needed_________ to get to work?

With that thought in mind, Pruitt_________ a plan and posted it on the community website. He _________ to fix bikes free of charge for anyone who needed it. He also asked for unwanted bikes, which he would repair again _________. And then he would donate them to folks who could truly use them but didn’t have the __________ to buy one.

The day the post went live, Pruitt received thirty __________ bicycles. Then came more than 500__________ for detailed information. By the end of 2020, Pruitt had repaired more than 131 for donation or to be __________ to their owners.

Pruitt tries to give his donations to families that are __________ struggling. __________ simply satisfying a material need, he has provided an opportunity for kids in his neighborhood to learn how to fix their own bikes.

In addition to __________ skills, Pruitt’s lessons teach teamwork, encourage self-worth, and promote feelings of community. __________, the kids have gained a sense of accomplishment.

“It’s a really great __________ for kids,” said a neighbor in an interview with the local newspaper. “Pruitt is certainly providing a __________, but it’s not just the bikes. It’s the relationships in the community. It’s the __________ that he can make on people.”