2 . In a world where acts of kindness often go unnoticed, a good story that has been discovered reminds us of the power of care and the effect it can have on someone’s life.

It all started with a “Kindness Week Challenge” given to Brennan by his 8th-grade teacher, Ms. Watkins. Little did he know that this challenge would lead to a wonderful friendship with 84-year-old Ms. Ann.

Brennan’s promise to send his little attractive things every day for a week developed a habit of checking up on Ms. Ann and sending gifts regularly(定期地), long after the challenge was over.

Their friendship has now lasted for over five years, and Brennan still visits Ms. Ann every month with flowers, cakes, chocolates, cards and more.

They talk about everything from his high school life to his college goals. The pair has found that they share a common love of chocolates. Ms. Ann always hopes to hear about what he’s doing and loves to share her own stories from a different time. They have become the best friends, with Brennan treating her as his great-grandmother.

Brennan’s mom, Traci, takes pride in her son. She said, “The best thing a teenager can do is to take care of the elderly. I’m so glad my son has added more sunshine to Ms. Ann’s life. I hope he always remembers the joy he’s brought her, and his fun talks with her, keeps his kind heart, and thinks of others.”

Ms. Ann’s daughter Emma, with her husband Gould, has a 2-year-old son. They are thankful for Brennan’s friendship as they cannot always be with Ms. Ann. Brennan’s kind heart has brought more sunshine into Ms. Ann’s life, and her encouraging words have helped to inspire(启发)him in return.

3 . Once there was a little girl who had many misfortunes in life and was struggling with problems. One day she felt so upset that she couldn’t help ________ to her father why her life was so ________.

Sensing her ________, her father, a chef, took her to their ________. He asked her to just ________ till he finished everything. He filled three small pots with water and placed each on a burner. Once the water began to ________, he placed a potato, an egg, and some ground coffee beans in each pot. Curious, though, she kept ________ as her father instructed her to do so.

About twenty minutes later, he turned off the ________. The chef turned towards his daughter and said, “See, the potato went in strong and hard but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was ________, but now the egg became hard. ________, the ground coffee beans were unique. After being ________ the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.”

Seeing the little girl was still confused, he then ________, “The potato, the egg and coffee beans had each faced the same ________-the boiling water. However, each reacted ________. When hardships come your way, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?” Hearing these words, the girl made her choice inside-she would be the ________, which could not only change the whole situation but also change in its own way. After all, life is 10% what happens to you and 90%how you react to it.

5 . Olly Neal grew up in Arkansas. He didn’t care much for high school. One day during his senior year, he cut class and walked into the school library. He discovered a book written by Frank Yerby. The book was The Treasure of Pleasant Valley and it attracted Neal’s attention. But there was one problem — if Neal took the book to the check out counter (收银台), his friends would know he was reading books.

“Then my fame (名誉) would be down,” Neal said. “I wanted them to know that all I could do was fight and cuss (咒骂).” Finally, Neal decided to steal the book.

A week later, Neal had finished the book. He brought it back to the library. But when he put it back, there was another book by Yerby. He took it as well. The same thing happened again. He read four of Yerby’s books that term — checking out none of them.

But Neal’s sneaky action turned out not to have been so sneaky after all. Attending his 13-year high school get-together, Neal met the school’s librarian, Mildred Grady. She saw Neal take that book. She said, “My first thought was to call him out, and then I realized what his situation was. So I decided that if Neal was showing an interest in books, I would find another one for him and put it in the same place where the one he had taken was.”

This was not an easy matter, because Frank Yerby’s books were not especially available. But the woman’s efforts paid off: Neal went on to attend law school and later became a great judge. When Grady died, Neal told the story and he said, “I thank Mrs. Grady for helping me get into the habit of enjoying reading, so that I was able to go to law school and survive.”

Once there lived a girl named Melanie. The little girl was living with a dream. She wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her body was very flexible and she had a strong will power. Melanie’s parents never knew of the great dancing skills their daughter had until one day, they saw the little girl dancing with the beautiful steps of a ballerina.

“Isn’t it strange? Melanie is dancing so well without any formal training!” the mother said.

“We must give her ballet lessons to help her improve her skills,” her father said.

The following day, Melanie’s parents took her to a local dance training school. The teacher asked Melanie to dance. The little girl was happy and showed some of her favorite dance steps. However, the teacher didn’t seem interested in her performance.

“That’s OK. You can leave now!”the teacher said.

Melanie was shocked to hear this. So were her parents. They couldn’t believe their ears.

“The girl is common. She does not have the possibility to become a ballerina, ”the dance teacher said. “Don’t let her waste her time dreaming of becoming a dancer.”

Disappointed, Melanie and her parents returned home. Tears rolled down Melanie’s face. Her dreams were broken within a matter of minutes. Without confidence, Melanie never attempted to dance again. She completed her studies and went on to become a teacher in school.Life was good and she kept herself busy with family and work. However, whenever she happened to pass the school’s ballet room, memories of childhood dreams danced before her eyes.

7 . When my children were younger, we used to walk a graveled trail (用碎石铺成的小路) around the lake near our home. One spring day my daughter and I ______ just how much rubbish was ______ along the trail. The next day then we brought a big rubbish bag with us and started to slowly, step by step, ______ the rubbish along our way. There were plastic water bottles, wrappers for candy bars, empty chip bags, and even an old discarded shoe. We stopped and picked up each one. By the time we had circled the ______, the bag was nearly ______.

Tired but ______, we put the bag in an empty rubbish can. We stopped before we ______ home and took one last look at the lake as the sun set. It looked more ______ than ever.

I know that at times this world’s problems can seem ______ to deal with and you wonder what you can do to make a difference. But the ______ is everything you do makes a difference! Every time you bent ______ to pick up a single piece of rubbish you make a difference. Every ______ you share makes a difference. Every kind word you say makes a difference. Every hug you share, every flower you plant, every animal you ______, everything you do, no matter how ______, makes a difference in this world.

Therefore, make your difference ______ from picking up a piece of rubbish.