1 . Even though I’m no skater, I’ve always considered Rochester a perfect location for an outdoor skatepark. Being a place missing some pleasures in Chicago, Rochester fosters a do-it-yourself (DIY) attitude in the pursuit of having fun.

So, after I noticed a skatepark being built under the highway entrance, I had a strong desire to know about it, not because I wanted to learn to skate, but because it is a perfect setting to develop the DIY charm of Rochester. So, last Saturday, I visited the skatepark for the first time, not only to take a closer look at its physical design, but to take a look at the crowds it attracts. On arriving there, I was fascinated to notice all the skaters taking cover from the rain under the highway, concentrating on a small concrete (混凝土) ground with a ramp (斜坡) on the far end.

I began chatting with a Rochester skater named Angel Vazquez. “All you need is a slab of concrete and a ramp, and you can spend many hours learning countless skills,” Vazquez said. “Once you’ve learned them all, you can do it all over again with different gestures.”

He then pointed toward the other skaters. “Look at them. So many people from different walks of life come here to skate. Whatever their status, everyone is brought together here by skating.” He then specifically pointed out a young man doing tricks on a nearby rail, saying, “See him? He is my best friend. He is unable to hear me because he is deaf, but we love to skate here together. We communicate with each other through a notepad.”

Soon after my conversation with Vazquez, I thought about our conversation. It felt as though the ground under my feet had a pulse. Even during a rainy day, life’s heartbeat can be found at that park, pounding (怦怦地跳) to the rhythm of wheels rolling over concrete.

After knowing that she couldn’t bear a child, Helen was devastated. One day while she was driving home from the café, a dirty puppy in the road caught Helen’s attention. After consideration, Helen and her husband eventually decided to take him home. And they later named him Ollie.

Two years later, Ollie had grown into a large ball of fur. Ollie was Helen’s world, and she hated it whenever someone addressed him as her rescue dog. Helen never went out without Ollie. One day, they were hanging out together outside a supermarket, unprepared for what was coming their way.

“Hey boy, wait in the car. I’ll be back, alright?” Helen said as she patted Ollie on his head. She locked him in the car and headed to the supermarket because Ollie hated crowded places and never accompanied Helen to the stores.

Moments later, there was a sudden outburst of chaos. Helen was busy shopping and had no idea it was raining heavily outside. The whole area began to flood unexpectedly. People rushed to every open store they could find for shelter.

12-year-old boy Matt was looking for a place to run to safety when he spotted people running to the supermarket nearby. He had no time to think and ran after them.

Matt hurried upstairs with the rest. Suddenly, Helen noticed the situation and was alarmed. “What happened?” she asked a man and screamed at the top of her lungs when she learned of the flood. All she could think of was Ollie trapped in the car.

“OLLIE..., I left my dog in the car,” she cried, running toward the window. “My dog is trapped in the car. Somebody, please...”

Matt looked outside and saw the car Helen pointed to was in the flash flood. Helen was frightened to go out because she didn’t know how to swim. Matt understood Helen’s anxiety and ran to her pet’s rescue.

He grabbed an iron rod from the corner and raced downstairs. “Hey kid, where are you going? You will drown,” someone shouted. But Matt turned a deaf ear to him because he was determined to save Ollie. In the meanwhile, some people placed a call to the rescue center.

He braved the currents and swam to the car.

Minutes later, a rescue team arrived.

4 . There will be some people who question or judge our motives (动机). But that shouldn’t stop us from being friendly, generous and ________ to others. Sometimes we are the giver of an act of kindness. Other times, we are the ________. It doesn’t matter. Kindness makes everyone feel ________.

My daughter ________ this story. Many years ago a man who lived in New York City decided to ________ his parents two hours north. As he approached their small town, his car ________. A woman stopped to ________ a ride to a mechanic (修理工) in town, and as they ________ on the way, he learned that she was a local realtor (房地产经纪人). He shared that he was from the city visiting his ________. They went their separate ways, but he never ________ her kindness.

Forty years later, his parents died, and the son needed to ________ their house. He remembered the realtor who had helped him many years ago and called her office. ________, the woman had passed away. Her daughter and granddaughter were running the ________ and ended up being his realtors. As it turns out, they sold the man’s parents’ house to my daughter and son-in-law! A simple act of kindness had a(n) ________ decades later.

In most ________, we don’t know the long-term effect of our acts of kindness. But the receiver often never forgets.

A cross between dinner and performance art, Dining in the Dark is a new trend where diners enjoy a meal with one of the key senses removed in order to strengthen your other senses, such as taste. Many of these restaurants are operated by the blind in order to offer a chance into their world and a unique experience on the world around you. The very first dine in the dark restaurant was opened in 1999 in Zurich, Switzerland, and is called Blindekuh (Blind man’s Buff). Since then, they have grown in popularity and popped up on nearly every country.

Encouraged by online reviews, my husband and I found Nox, a dine in the dark restaurant in Singapore and we booked a dinner in the dark , all ready to challenge my taste buds and table manners. We started in the entrance and had a glass of wine with the manager who explained the process. First, we put phones, watches, and anything that could reflect or provide a light source into a secure locker. Before entering the dark room, we were seated in a lighted room and given some starters while reviewing the drinks menu. Soon after, we were introduced to our waiter who was visually impaired. He was responsible for guiding us up to the second floor of the restaurant (the dark room) and bringing us to our table. There were 2 other couples with us and we were requested to form a single line and rest our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us as the waiter guided all of us up to the room.

My first response to stepping into a completely dark room was

This experience had instead given me a much-needed attitude towards life.

Nupur walked along the road with a sad look on her face. Tomorrow was her friend Neeta’s birthday but she did not have anything nice to wear to the party. Her father’s small factory had closed down and there was hardly any money left at home to buy a new dress.

Nupur decided to wear an old dress that had been her favourite for many years but was a little too short for her now. “I will ask the tailor to lengthen it,” Nupur said to herself. The tailor however refused to do so. “I don’t take such work right now since the orders have started pouring in and my hands are full.”

Nupur left holding the bag with the dress in it and thought, “What am I to do?” Suddenly she saw a lady get out of the car and walk towards the bank. The lady opened her handbag to take out some papers but her wallet fell to the ground. Unaware of it, the lady went into the bank. Nupur ran and picked up the wallet. There were so many people in the bank that she decided to wait on the steps.

After a long time the lady came out. Nupur handed her the wallet that she had dropped. The lady could not believe it. The little girl had been waiting for her for so long, just to give back the wallet. The lady looked at the contents and everything was just the way she had left it. She looked at the girl’s old and dirty clothes. “What is your name and where are you going? Can I drop you home?” The lady asked. Nupur told the lady that she was going home. She also said that she had been to the tailor to get a dress tailored to wear for her friend’s birthday party but the tailor had refused to do so and that her father was jobless.

The lady looked at the dress with visible dirty spots.

In the evening, Nupur went to the lady’s home to get her old dress back.