1 . I parked outside the grocery store that weekend, still tired after another stressful week of work. I’m an accountant, and it was the middle of busy season, which meant tight deadlines and crazy hours. A long weekend was coming up, and a friend suggested that I relax at a nearby woman recover center. I moved through the passageway with my shopping cart, hurrying to beat out a few others who were heading for the already long checkout line. It took me more than an hour to finish the shopping.
When I got back to my car, groceries in hand, I found a note on my car. In beautiful handwriting and blue ink, the writer explained that her car had scraped(刮擦) my Honda Civic when she pulled into the space next to mine. “I’m sorry!” she wrote, and added her insurance policy(保险单) number and cell phone number. At the bottom, she signed her name, Elyse.
What an honest person！I was quite surprised. Few people act like that nowadays. Most people would have just driven away. A few weeks later I got the estimate for the repair: $1,500! There’s no way she’ll pay this much, I thought. I picked up that note with the beautiful blue script and dialed the number, ready for an argument.
“Hello?” Elyse answered cheerily. “Hi, you left a note on my car?” I began. But even when she heard how much the bill was going to be, Elyse still sounded just like she had in her note, so friendly—and calm. How was it possible for her to be like that? I wondered. Believe it or not, I got the money for the repair.
When the busy period at work finally passed, I decided to go to the recover center that my friend had suggested. I had my doubts if it would help, but it couldn’t hurt, right?
Checking in at the front desk, I looked through the guest book, looking for a blank spot to write my name. Finally, I reached the last page. There, at the top, in the same perfect handwriting that she had used in her note to me, was Elyse’s name.
1. The author got her car scraped when she was _______.| A．parking her car outside the grocery store |
| B．doing some shopping in the grocery store |
| C．driving to the grocery store |
| D．on her way to the woman recover center |
| A．Elyse is a woman who is difficult to deal with |
| B．anyone who scrapes others’ car should write down his name and address |
| C．the grocery store where the author did shopping was not busy |
| D．the author didn’t expect Elyse could pay for the repair voluntarily |
| A．She is an accountant and usually very busy. |
| B．She is always too busy to make any friends. |
| C．She is quite selfless and likes helping others. |
| D．She is poor and always trying to get money from others. |
| A．A fixed amount. |
| B．A repair price. |
| C．A guessed amount. |
| D．An exact price. |
| A．Elyse is the boss of the woman recover center |
| B．the author would return the money for the repair to Elyse |
| C．the author is eager to learn perfect handwriting from Elyse |
| D．the author may meet Elyse and they might become friends |
2 . It was a cold winter day. A woman drove up to the Rainbow Bridge tollbooth(收费站). “I’m paying for myself, and for the six cars behind me,” she said with a smile, handing over seven tickets. One after another, the next six drivers arriving at the tollbooth were informed, “Some lady up ahead already paid your fare.”
It turned out that the woman, Natalie Smith, had read something on a friend’s refrigerator: “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The phrase impressed her so much that she copied it down.
Judy Foreman spotted the same phrase on a warehouse wall far away from home. When it stayed on her mind for days, she gave up and drove all the way back to copy it down. “I thought it was beautiful,” she said, explaining why she’d taken to writing it at the bottom of all her letters, “like a message from above.” Her husband, Frank, liked the phrase so much that he put it up on the classroom wall for his students, one of whom was the daughter of Alice Johnson, a local news reporter. Alice put it in the newspaper, admitting that though she liked it, she didn’t know where it came from or what it really meant.
Two days later, Alice got a call from Anne Herbert, a woman living in Marin. It was in a restaurant that Anne wrote the phrase down on a piece of paper, after turning it around in her mind for days.
“Here’s the idea,” Anne says. “Anything you think there should be more of, do it randomly.” Her fantasies include painting the classrooms of shabby schools, leaving hot meals on kitchen tables in the poor part of town, and giving money secretly to a proud old lady. Anne says, “Kindness can build on itself as much as violence can.”
The acts of random kindness spread. If you were one of those drivers who found your fare paid, who knows what you might have been inspired to do for someone else later. Like all great events, kindness begins slowly, with every single act. Let it be yours!
1. Why did Natalie Smith pay for the six cars behind her?| A．She knew the car drivers well. |
| B．She wanted to show kindness. |
| C．She hoped to please others. |
| D．She had seven tickets. |
| A．thought it was beautifully written |
| B．wanted to know what it really meant |
| C．decided to write it on a warehouse wall |
| D．wanted her husband to put it up in the classroom |
| A．Judy Foreman | B．Natalie Smith |
| C．Alice Johnson | D．Anne Herbert |
| A．Kindness and violence can change the world. |
| B．Kindness and violence can affect one’s behavior. |
| C．Kindness and violence can reproduce themselves. |
| D．Kindness and violence can shape one’s character. |
| A．People should practice random kindness to those in need. |
| B．People who receive kindness are likely to offer it to others. |
| C．People should practice random kindness to strangers they meet. |
| D．People who receive kindness are likely to pay it back to the giver. |
