Getting around the city when you are six months pregnant and have a two-year-old girl can be really challenging. One spring afternoon，we went to one of the grocery 【小题1】（store）nearby to buy some food for dinner. There was no sign of rain，and the store was just around the corner，【小题2】 we went there without an umbrella. However，we were about 【小题3】（leave）the store when the rain came in full force. It seemed that the streets would be flooded 【小题4】 water within minutes.

I noticed a young Chinese couple staring at 【小题5】（we）when we came to a crossroad and were waiting for the light to change. I figured they were 【小题6】（probable）wondering why a pregnant foreigner was dragging her little kid out through the rain. But as we crossed the street，【小题7】 woman offered me her umbrella. I told her I couldn't take it because it was clearly starting to storm. She insisted and handed it to me as she 【小题8】（hurry）off with her husband.

Though 【小题9】（catch）in the rain unexpectedly，we still treasured the memory and will always recall the 【小题10】（warm）and kindness of the Chinese couple.

   Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”

The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.” The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.

“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”

When I was in high school, most of my friends had bicycle. I hoped I could also have it. One day I saw a second-hand bicycle, that was only one hundred yuan. I asked my father the money, and he said he could only give me half of the money. I should earn the other half by myself. So I went to sell newspapers after the school. My father was pleasing when I showed him the money a month late. He gave me the other fifty. You can imagine how happily I felt when I ride to school on my own bicycle.

   It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries (食品杂货), saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity (人性) as a whole. And it has influenced (影响) us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

   A couple of years ago I graduated from art school. After graduation I was unsure of what to do with my degree. I had majored in Illustration（插画专业）and loved it，but didn't really feel interested in doing illustrations for any companies. This left me with few options other than freelance（自由职业的）jobs and nannying.

I spent two years working as a nanny doing freelance illustrations on the side. It just wasn't quite enough to pay rent, but I loved it, so I worked well over 50 hours a week, trying to keep up with both.

Just under a year ago I went to a friend's wedding. I couldn't think of a gift for them and really didn't have a lot of money to spare so I used my talents to create a portrait for them. It wasn't much, but I hoped it would be a good gift. When I handed the portrait to them and they unwrapped it, the looks on their faces were something I did not expect. There were joyful tears in their eyes as they cried, "That's us! This is so beautiful!"

It's funny because when I was in art school portraits were always my least favourite assignment. I hated drawing people and was always so much more interested in drawing little furry creatures. Once I saw the looks on my friends' faces after giving them their portrait, it was all over. I suddenly loved portraits and wanted to do more.

I now take portraits to every wedding I go to and have given them as gifts to the families I nannied for. Every time the reaction makes all of the hard work and time I put into them so worth it.

I' ve just started offering couple, family and pet portraits as an item on my Etsy shop.