William, a highly skilled plumber (水管工) with three decades of experience, was admired by everyone for his outstanding plumbing abilities. However, what many didn’t know was his deep love for music. Ever since he was a young boy, William was passionate about singing. He dreamed of attending a music school and becoming a famous pop singer, just like his idol Willie Nelson. He even dreamed about performing in his own private concerts someday. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a car accident claimed the lives of both his parents, abruptly ending all his ambitions for the future. As the eldest brother in his family, William had to drop out of school and find a job to support his two younger sisters.

After three decades, William’s passion for singing remained as strong as ever. As he went about his plumbing work, he always carried a little radio with him, belting out tunes and joyfully singing along. The dull tasks of repairs became enjoyable and much more manageable with music in the background. Occasionally, when inspiration struck, he even composed a song or two of his own. In fact, he had setup a small basement studio where he recorded some of these songs, purely for the fun of it.

One day, William received a call from a client, Remus Gall, asking him to help repair the pipes in his kitchen. William accepted the mission readily. Upon arriving at Mr. Gal’s, he was led into the kitchen and began his work. As usual, while doing the repair work, he happily sang along to his small radio. Coincidentally, Remus Gall was a music producer and owner of a small recording company. Remus overheard the plumber singing and immediately realized there was something in William’s voice. He was amazed that an ordinary plumber should have such great talent in singing. After the repair work, Remus got the chance to talk with William and introduced his profession to him.

“You’ve really got a beautiful voice.” Remus said sincerely. “Have you ever thought of releasing an album of your own? If so, I would be more than glad to help you.”

William was greatly shocked by what he heard.

After three months’ hard work, William’s first-ever album finally came out.

Mark was a 11-year-old boy. One day he was selling magazines for his school fees, walking up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at(怒视) them. It was said that the old man’s name was Henry.

Mark knocked on the door and waited, sweating due to fear of the old man. Mark’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing by their parents.

Dusk found Mark wandering and hesitating(犹豫) what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened: “Why are you standing here?” the old man Henry said impatiently. Mark was very afraid but he had to sell a certain number of magazines for his school fees... So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”

Henry just stared at Mark without saying a word. Mark could see that Henry had dog figurines(小雕像) on the shelves inside his house. “Do you collect dog figurines?” Mark asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” Mark then felt sorry for Henry, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.

“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” Henry was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”

Mark was sad that he was not going to achieve his goal of selling a certain number of magazines. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. Mark went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he had got some years before from an aunt. The figurine did not mean so much to him since he had a real living dog and a large family.

Mark held the dog figurine and ran out of his house.

Mark’s contact and communication with Henry made a difference to Henry’s life and character.

It was a beautiful day for sightseeing. We were a group of students just out for some fun. The weather was perfect for a picnic, so when lunch time came, we set our sights on a small park. Since we all had different things to buy, we decided to get what each of us wanted, and meet back on the grass in a few minutes.

When my friend Joy headed for a hot dog shop, I decided to go with her. We watched the seller put together the perfect hot dog, just the way we wanted it. But when we took out our money to pay the bill, the seller surprised us.

“You are the first customers to visit, and the first order is given to you for free,” he said.

After we thanked him, we joined our friends in the park, and dug into our food. But as we talked and ate, I was distracted (分心) by a man sitting alone nearby, looking at us. I could tell that he hadn’t showered for days. Another homeless person, I thought, like all the others you see in cities. I didn’t pay much more attention than that.

After we finished eating, we packed our lunch bags and prepared to throw them away.

Suddenly, a strong voice came from that homeless person.

Joy asked me to wait for her for a minute and ran to the hot dog shop.

It took place in a teacher’s family. One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room after school, when he accidentally threw the ball at a vase sitting on the shelf. The vase dropped to the floor and a large piece broke off. What made Ben more upset was that the vase was not a common decoration but an antique (古董), which was handed down through generations from the 18th century. It was also his mother’s favourite possession. To cover his terrible action, the terrified boy glued the pieces together hurriedly and put the vase back to its place.

As the mother herself dusted the vase every day, she naturally noticed the cracks (裂纹) that evening. To her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the suddenly inspired boy said that a neighbour’s cat jumped in from the window and he couldn’t drive it away no matter how hard he tried. It raced around the living room and finally knocked the vase off its shelf. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying, for all the windows were closed before she left for work each morning and opened after she returned. However, in the face of her son’s nervous eyes and the suspicious looks of the other family members, Ben’s mother remained calm. She realized she shouldn’t just simply blame and punish her son for lying. She came up with another idea.

Before going to bed, the boy found a note from his mother in his room, asking him to go to the study at once. The boy thought he would now be punished but, as he had already lied, he was determined to deny everything to the end, no matter how angry his mum became.

In the study, calmly bathed in the light, his mothers face showed no sign of anger. On seeing her son push open the door and cautiously enter, she took a chocolate box out of a drawer and gave him one.

The mother said, “This chocolate is a reward for your imagination: a window-opening cat!”

Now with some chocolates in hand, the boy’s bad attitude disappeared.

When my daughters reached the third and fourth grades, I sometimes allowed them to walk to and from school alone if the weather permitted. One warm spring day, a little dog followed them home after school. It had short legs and long lovely ears. It was the cutest dog I had ever seen and the girls begged me to keep it.

The dog was about twelve weeks old. It had no collar (项圈) or identifying marks of any sort. I didn’t know what to do. I thought about posting an advertisement but I really didn’t want to. It would break the kids’ hearts if someone should show up. Besides, its owners should have watched it more closely.

By the end of the week the dog was part of our family. It was very intelligent and good with the girls. The following week something told me to check the lost-and-found section in the local paper. One particular advertisement jumped out at me and my heart beat with fear for what I read. Someone was begging for the return of a lost dog in the neighborhood of our grade school. The owner sounded extremely eager. My hand shook, and I couldn’t bring myself to pick up the paper.

Instead, I pretended I hadn’t seen the advertisement. I quickly put paper away in the drawer and continued with my dusting. I never said a word about it to the kids or my husband.

By then we had named the dog. It was Kevin, so we called it Kevin. It followed the girls everywhere they went. When they went outside, it was one step behind them. When they did the housework, it was there to lend a hand.

There was only one problem with this seemingly perfect picture: my conscience (良心) was bothering me. I wondered in my heart whether I had to call that number in the paper and see if our Kevin was the dog they were desperately seeking. It was the most difficult thing for me to do.

But I had to make a decision.

The woman said, “Where is my dog? I would like to have a look at it.”