1 . The members of the group saw each other regularly, because they all had serious health problems. Twelve-year-old Marc was autistic (自闭症). But here, in the group circle, they could talk about what they felt. Here they could listen to the others and provide each other with some of the human attention they often so terribly missed.

But that evening, they didn’t know how to talk about what had just happened: Paul had died. The group would never again enjoy his animated laughter. Everyone stared straight ahead. Only sadness and a sense of impotence rose to the surface. No matter what she tried, Jackie, the nurse facilitating the group, couldn’t get a conversation going.

Then Jackie described how people in some cultures, when they were sad and wanted to share their feelings but could not find the words to express their sorrow, would sit in a circle and make rhythmic music together. Then everyone picked up one of the djembe drums in the room. Jackie began softly beating hers and the others joined in. Boom-boom-ta, boom-boom-ta. Slowly, they let the rhythm carry them away. Marc had trouble keeping time with the others and gave Jackie a frightened look. She smiled her encouragement, and he focused as well as he could. Jackie began to play slowly, and the others followed. At her sign, a few began to drum out of time with the beat.

Suddenly, the rhythm of the music changed. Everyone was playing his or her own melody: no one was leading the park. Everyone was carried by the music. Gradually, the sadness found its way out. Karin, in a wheelchair, was the first to think of how much Paul had enjoyed making music with the rest of the group. Then the others told their own stories. Their faces were wet with tears-as were the instruments-but still the rhythm carried them. They felt as one, with each other and with Paul. These were tears of sorrow and mourning, but also of solidarity and connection.

Henri began to smile, and the rest soon joined him. The rhythm quickened. Their combined music held power and energy. Marc felt relieved. A broad smile lit up his face, and the others were happy to see him this way. Then the situation had changed completely. Sorrow had made way for hope.

People have been making rhythmic music in groups, using drums. It is a tradition, wherein healing takes place through the spirit and the emotions, through contact with the body and its subtle powers of self-healing. In a recent study, physician Barry Bittman showed that making rhythmic music in a group affects our physical condition. Immune cells in particular are stimulated to greater activity.

2 . Twenty years ago, I was months into my first job at a start-up independent publishing company in New York.One afternoon, I ________ a train with a load of hot-off-the-press catalogues (目录薄) our first to list every one of our titles. I was on my way to ________ my aunt, who’d agreed to ________ them to her friends.

Back then, I was much less _______ ; somehow I made it on the train but I hadn’t had time to buy a _______ . I figured I’d buy one on board. When the conductor came to stand next to me, I opened my _______ and found nothing inside. They didn’t ________ credit cards back then. I was told to get off at the next station.________,the man next to me handed $15 to the conductor. I was beyond grateful and ________; I promised him I would send him a check, which he ________. I made him write down his address, though.

Later, I wrote a check, ________ it in a letter, and sent it off. I expressed my ________ again and included my email address. Soon he emailed me and we ________ a lasting friendship.

That ________ action has stayed with me .Thinking about that day, I ________ myself to be much kinder to strangers and to focus on the good in people.

3 . Bailey Martin was like many of her sixth-grade classmates at age 12. She played sports and loved to read. But one night, Martin was in bed and covered up her left eye. She realized something wasn’t right. “I noticed I couldn’t really see anything,” she said. She went to the hospital. A doctor in Chicago discovered that it was acute macular neuroretinopathy (急性黄斑神经视网膜病变), a rare disease without a known cure. She was declared blind.

At first, she had to learn Braille (盲文) to read. But what of sports? She didn’t want to lose that part of her life. “I just really didn t want to give up, and I didn’t want to give up who I was as a person,” Martin said. So, that summer, she competed at the Iowa State Fair, showing her horse. When she returned to school at South Hamilton, she joined the cross-country team. “And once I started playing a few different sports again, it not only helped me grow my confidence back, but it also made me realize just how much I love sports and how much sports can really help with finding yourself,” Martin said. She was determined to keep going.

“She chose to run without a guide. It wasn’t easy, but she made it work, running on the team through ninth grade. She made it through the season,” her mother Sara Martin said. “She hit lots of trees. It didn’t t stop her. She wasn’t afraid of getting hurt.” Her parents warned her it could happen, even if she had her sight. “ We’ d rather have you hurt trying something than be too scared to try,” Sara told her daughter.

So, Martin kept going. Now, the 18-year- old senior at South Hamilton High School plans to compete in the Paralympics (残奥会).

Martin is driven to keep going and keep competing. The fact that she’ s overcome as much as she has even surprises and encourages herself.

4 . Sunday evening, October 30, 1938, was peaceful in New York City. Some people were returning home from a trip to the countryside, and others were sitting down to dinner. In those days, televisions were not very common. Most people listened to the radio for news and entertainment.

At eight o’clock that evening, there was a concert of dance music, but Suddenly, the programme was cut off by a news report: a large spaceship had landed in a field and an army of Martians (火星人) was moving towards New York City and then the radio went silent.

People felt worried. Some drove out of the city as quickly as possible, but soon the roads were crowded with cars. Some people put wet towels on their faces because they thought there was a gas attack. In New Jersey, some farmers went out with guns. Although it was dark, they found a large cylinder (圆柱体) standing in a field, and, thinking it was the Martian spaceship, the shot at it many times.

Many people were so frightened that they did not hear the next announcement on the radio: “Ladies and gentlemen, you are listening to a radio play called The War of the Worlds.”

A message was sent to police stations that there was no real Martian attack, and the police Offices soon returned calm to New York City.

Many people were very angry that they had been fooled by the play, and complained to the radio station. But what about the spaceship that the farmers found in the field? The next morning, they found that they had damaged a large water tank (罐)!

After a long drive and precious little sleep, Todd left his Wisconsin motel around 5:30 a.m. to make it to a funeral near Green Bay. Not long after, he started to hear a grinding sound coming from his front tire, and it kept getting louder. He finally pulled into Lauritzens BP & Sports shop in Wild Rose,Wisconsin, hoping to find help. It was only 7 a.m., and he still had 75 miles to go.

As luck would have it, Todd found Glenn Geib putting oil on the shelves. The mechanic checked out the car and gave Todd some bad news: The wheel bearing was failing and needed to be repaired right away. Fixing it would take a few hours. Geib then looked Todd up and down and asked why he was so dressed up. Todd explained that he was going to the funeral of his boss’s wife.

Geib checked the only one rental car agency in town, but it was sold out. The next closest rental agency was 40 miles away. “I must have looked pretty stressed out at this time,” Todd wrote later on Facebook. Geib noticed, and he was determined to help.

With a population of 699, close-knit Wild Rose has a reputation in central Wisconsin for kindness. Seniors gather at the Wild Rose Community Center for free midday meals. The local Lions Club chapter collects used eyeglasses for folks who can’t afford them, part of the Lions Recycle for Sight program.

But kindness in Wild Rose doesn’t come just from organizations. Kent Barnard, the town library director, remembers a high school kid who walked into Patterson Memorial Library needing gas money. Barnard happily gave it to him, and the guy went on his way. A couple years later, that man came back. “You gave me $10 for gas when I was in high school,” he said, and Barnard was repaid.

“People are not well-off, but they’re taking care of each other,” says Jerry Apps, a local author who lets the library sell his books and DVDs and keep some of the proceeds to fund its programs.

So, faced with a stranger in need at the service station, Glenn Geib did what came naturally.

Todd jumped into the car and made it to the funeral.

A parent’s nightmare turned to relief in Florida as policemen swiftly rescued a missing five-year-old girl with autism. The local police launched a desperate search,     1     (use) air and ground efforts. Thermal imaging (热成像)    2     (lead) to the discovery of her in a swampy area. A body-worn camera captured the heroic moment of her rescue.     3     policemen’s quick response, she was found unharmed. The public praised the team’s efficiency in turning     4     could have been a tragedy into a heartwarming reunion.

Susie Smith came home from school one day, and had no sooner entered the sitting room than she burst into tears.

“What is the matter, my dear child?” said her mother, drawing her daughter to her side and smiling.

“All our class must bring in compositions tomorrow morning, and I never, never can write one. We must write twelve lines at least, and I have written only a few words after trying nearly all the afternoon. See what work I have made of it!” sobbed Susie.

Mrs. Smith took the rumpled (皱巴巴的) and tear-stained paper which Susie held in her hand, and glanced at what she had written. In a careful hand she had tried to write upon three themes: Time, Temperance, and Industry.

Time is short. We should all improve our time.

Temperance is a very useful thing.

We should all be industrious if we wish to do anything in the world.

These sentences were all she had written. Susie continued, “I can’t think of another word to say upon any of these subjects, and I know I shall have to go to school without a composition, for I won’t be so mean as to copy one from a book, or to ask you or papa to write one for me.”

“That is right, my dear,” said her mother. “You will be far happier with a poor composition, if it is all your own, than with a fine one written by somebody else. But cheer up. You have not begun right—you have been trying to write upon subjects that you know nothing about. Run into the garden and play. I will call you in half an hour.” “But my composition,” began Susie. “Don’t think about your composition while you are gone,” said Mrs. Smith, “but have as pleasant a time as you can.”

It seemed but a few minutes to Susie before she heard her mother’s voice calling her. She went into the house at once—her hands full of sweet flowers, and her cheeks rosy with exercise. “Now, Susie,” said her mother, “I want you to sit by the window with this nice sheet of paper and a pencil, and write something about what you can see.”

“But my composition, mother,” said Susie, “when shall I begin that?” “Never mind your composition, my dear. Do this to please me, and we will talk about that by and by.” replied Mrs. Smith.

Susie thought her mother’s request was a strange one.

“A composition!” exclaimed Susie. “Is that a composition?”

10 . Seven-year-old Everett Botwright is a bright, imaginative kid. Like many children on the autism spectrum (自闭症), he also _________ with the smell and taste of many foods. So when the boy showed great interest in Star Wars Kraft Dinner, his parents were _________. “It was amazing,” father Reed Botwright says. “My wife cried. She hadn’t seen him _________ in, not to mention addicted to a new _________ in a long time.”

There was only one _________ . After buying all the _________ they could find in their hometown of Nanaimo, B. C., the family _________ needed more. In February, Botwright _________ a request on Facebook, asking for _________ tracking down the limited-edition pasta.

The __________ went viral. Thousands shared Botwright’s post on __________ media, including Star Trek legend William Shatner. Star Wars Kraft Dinner __________ from across North America. “People have reached out and many thanked us for __________ our struggle,” Botwright says.

Kraft Heinz Canada donated $10,000 to autism charities, __________ 144 boxes to the Botwrights and even asked Everett to select the __________ Kraft Dinner shape. On his birthday, March 7, he __________ the Minions (小黄人). Nanaimo’s Real Canadian Superstore donated 411 packages, and a class of Ouebec teens sent a shipment; __________ boxes came from as far away as Florida.

The __________ number: over 800 boxes, and Botwright says, “We’re still counting.” Everett is __________ thank-you cards for every donor, and Botwright says the outpouring has taught his four kids, ages three to eight, a lesson: “There is __________ in the world.”