A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.

Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”

“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”

“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”

The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.

It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!

Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.

Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.

She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”

Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.

As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was a volunteer for an organisation at the beginning of this year. The organisation is aimed at helping children who suffer from cancer. One day, we were asked to raise money for cancer research and programme funding at an event.

Since my friend Lisa was also a volunteer for the organisation, I went to the event with her. There were many people at the event. After seeing our poster, some people came to us and talked with us. But few people donated money. It was a bit hot that day. Both Lisa and I got really upset.

Half an hour later, Lisa started complaining, “I don’t think we can raise much money today. ”

“Don’t worry. The event lasts for three hours. There is still a lot of time left，” I said, though I also thought poorly of our plan to raise much money that day.

While Lisa and I were talking, a little boy of about eight years old came to us. He stood in front of our poster and started reading.

After a while, he asked, “What is cancer？”

I explained what cancer is. Then I said, “Many people around the world are suffering from cancer. It can be really dangerous. More research is needed to learn about it so that people with it can suffer less. That’s why we’re collecting money for it. ”

“Do children suffer from cancer, too？” asked the boy.

“Yes. Many children suffer from cancer. Some of them may die. They need help. ” Lisa said and I nodded.

Hearing that, the boy became sad. Then the boy asked, “How much money have you collected？”

Both Lisa and I were embarrassed to tell him that we didn’t raise much money. At last, we said, “Not much. ”

The boy looked into our donation container and only saw a few one­dollar and five­dollar bills. The boy said nothing after seeing that and left. Then some girls came to us and we started talking with them. Neither Lisa nor I thought the boy would return. However, about twenty minutes later, the boy did return.

It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线)through thick evergreen forest.

I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.

What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!

I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened. “I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”

I bit back my frustration(懊恼). I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.

David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer—that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.