1 . Recently my friend invited me to her residential hall, which is an African-American themed hall. They have lots of meetings and outings there. So I thought it would be fun. On this particular day they were having a pancake breakfast, just a time to mix. I was excited to be there, too.

I walked in at a time when the mini-party was at its peak. I found my friend; excitedly, we hugged and she led me to a seat in the back. We sat there for some time. I sensed some sort of discrimination. I wondered, were we just isolating ourselves or were we facing discrimination?

My friend’s breakfast came in first, and it was a plate full of colors. My mouth watered. I have always liked rainbow dishes: they make me hungry. She let me pick pancakes and fruit; we ate and only then began to talk.

The black American contemporary music was extremely loud. Some boys and girls were beating the tables and some guys on the stage were dancing in what looked like a kind of competition.

We talked about various subjects: hair, boys, shoes and books. And then we got to it. “What do African Americans think of Africans?”

We argued. I told her I thought African Americans were haughty. Why did they sideline us? When we met in a narrow passage and our eyes met, they quickly looked aside before we greeted. Why? Weren’t we all black? I mean, wasn’t this exactly the reason why there was an African-American themed house to begin with?

Did they look down upon us because they grew up in America and we in Sub-Saharan Africa? Oh yes, I felt this was it! They believed that we were HIV-positive and that the giraffes were right behind our huts.

My friend uttered, “No!” And then she continued：

“I also thought so at one point but after living with these guys, I got to a different conclusion altogether. These guys are not from Africa. They were not born there and may have never been there. We can’t expect them to naturally like us or bond. We are different. Skin color is the skin color.”

Wind whistled round the corner of the house, thunder rolled and rain beat against the windows — not a night to be outside but rather to sit by the fire. Thanks to the solid walls and roof overhead, I could imagine Dr. Frankenstein's frightening creation wandering on such a night. I was alone, my husband away and the nearest neighbor a quarter miles down the road. Alone, that is, except for Lassie, a hairy, black and white dog, who sat with her head on my lap, her intelligent, brown eyes gazing up at me as if to say, don't worry, we'll be all right.

Through the years she was with us, she proved time and time again to be a superb judge of character. We never knew if it was a result of her sense of smell or sound-but, whatever it was, she definitely possessed a talent we humans lacked. On first meeting she would either wag the tip of her tail a couple of times to indicate that the visitor was acceptable, or slightly curl her top lip, exposing her sharp teeth which told you to be alert. Always accurate, her gift was never more obvious than on this night.

The doorbell rang. I decided not to answer it. It rang again, much longer this time. Whoever was there was not going away. Still I hesitated. On the fourth ring, with Lassie by my side, I finally answered the door. My heart beat fast and my mouth went dry, for there, stood the monster himself. A twisted body under a heavy overcoat, one shoulder bumped higher than the other and his head leaned slightly forward and to one side.

“May I use your phone?” The voice came from somewhere back in his throat and, although the request was polite, his tone was rude.

Reaching in his pocket and producing a piece of paper, he handed it to me. I refused to take it. Believing he might try and force his way in, I looked at Lassie to see if she was ready to defend the home.

Surprisingly, she sat by my side, the tip of her tail wagging.

Last year I graduated from college and landed a job in the local company. I was lucky because the economy was declining and a lot of companies went out of business. There were many unemployed graduates. That was a difficult time for everyone. I cherished my precious job and worked so hard. One day, I walked on the street after finishing my work. I saw many beautiful decorations, such as colorful lights, the familiar song and so on. I suddenly realized Christmas was coming. I had promised my nephew that when I found a job, I would send him a Christmas gift. Fortunately I still had a little time to buy one for him. And on that very day I witnessed how people cared for each other,

I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was looking through the teddy bears beside her father when she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokemon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand. However, it looked no more than five dollars at most. He was with his father as well, and kept picking up the Pokemon video games. Each time he showed one to his father, his father shook his head, “No”.

Rather disappointed, the boy gave up the video games and chose a book of stickers instead. After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokemon video games. She excitedly picked up one lying on top of the others, and raced down toward the checkout. I picked up my purchases and followed the girl and her father.

Then, much to the little girl's delight, the little boy and his father got in line behind her and me.

The boy could only stare in disbelief.

5 . There was a time I had to count every single penny I spent. I had to keep a _______ in my head while shopping. I would stand there and _______ things up over and over again. It was during the holidays when I was _______ at Trader Joe’s because it had the most gluten-free (无麸质的) food and I had a little child _______ diagnosed with celiac disease (脂泻病). I stood in the frozen food area adding everything up.

The total was too _______. I couldn’t buy everything. I didn’t want my credit card to be _______ . I looked through everything trying to _______ what to put back. I _______ everything everyone else loved, but put back the one thing I loved, which was a simple frozen _______ of chicken meat. But it was what put the total over __________.

I __________ the feeling of not being able to __________ that $3.29 package of chicken. But that was life and I __________ and forgot about it. It was what I had to do.

That night our __________ rang. It was __________ because it was extremely cold and late. I went to the door, opened it, and on my front steps were bags of __________ On the top of the first bag, I saw the chicken meat, the __________ kind I had put back hours ago.

I still have no idea who put all of that food on my doorstep. I cannot describe the feeling of realizing that even in __________ I wasn’t alone. My kids were so __________ about all the delicious food. My heart was filled with the feeling of __________. At that moment I knew I was not alone.

Alice had just been appointed in the multinational bank. After one month of severe training, today was her first day to go to work.

She got up a bit earlier than usual, and decided to skip her gym workout as she did not want to risk being tired or getting late to her office on her first day. She went through her morning routine and spent a lot of time in selecting what to wear. None of her dresses seemed to appeal to her—they were either a little too casual or too dull and she definitely wanted to make an impression right from the start. Finally she settled on the white embroidered (刺绣的) dress.

She waved bye to her mom and set off cheerfully towards the bus stop. But she saw a bus leaving the stop just as she crossed the street. Now she would have to wait for a good 15 minutes. 15 minutes passed and then 30 minutes and there was no sign of the bus. “It must be stuck in heavy traffic”, a kind lady who was also waiting for the bus told her. Hearing that, Alice got anxious. She had to reach her office on time. Then she saw a taxi approaching but when she tried to stop it, the taxi driver sped by without even taking a glance at her. Alice was wondering what she could do.

It was then that a car stopped near her and a man waved to her. The driver asked her where she was going and after Alice told him that she was going to the bank at Nariman Point, the man said “Oh, my office is in the nearby building. Can I give you a lift?” Alice hesitated for a moment and got into the car. They exchanged names and began to talk for a while. Then the driver switched on the radio and was absorbed in the song. Alice looked out of the window and imagined her first day at work, worrying whether she was capable of the new job, and if she could get along well with her colleagues. After about ten minutes, Alice realized they were not on the familiar route to her office.

She began to worry that she might get into the car of a bad man.

Then the car turned around a corner and Alice saw the tall building where her office was unexpectedly.