All of my friends had jobs but I didn’t. That’s because they had a “hook up”. At times, I wished I had a hook up! If I did, I wouldn’t have to go through all those nervous interviews, or waste my ink on those applications that probably got thrown.

One day I asked my grandmother, “Why does no one want to hire me?” She said it was because I didn’t have any experience. How was I supposed to have experience when I’d never had a job before? Even McDonald’s wouldn’t hire me. I applied there so many times. It was a shame.

The Gap was one of the hardest places to apply. Once you filled out an application, the managers would interview you right on the spot. It made me so nervous that I couldn’t talk right. The first question they asked was, “Why do you want to work for the Gap?” Your mind was telling you to say, “For the money.” But you didn’t want to say that because you didn’t want to make yourself sound greedy, even if it’s the truth. So I said, “Because I’m familiar with what the company does, which is selling clothes.”

However, not for long there was another question that always seemed to get me every time, “What can you bring to this company?” I didn’t know, maybe more customers? By the time I got ready to pick it up, I heard them say, “If we don’t contact you in 24 hours, you don’t get the job.”

But if I was asked that question now, I would say, “I’m a hard worker and a very reliable person, and with these kinds of abilities I cannot only do a good job, but I can influence other employees to do so too.”

Despite all the bad luck I seemed to have, I didn’t give up. Eventually, I finally found a summer job.

   I am a mom of two young children whom we homeschool. This _____ that they are with me almost all the time. Whenever possible I will _____ random acts of kindness—_____ things like paying for the order behind me in the drive-thru lane, holding doors, etc. So, they are very _____ with the concept and are, of course, also _____ to do "nice" things for others.

Just a few days ago we _____ our local grocery store to pick up a few things which quickly turned into an entire cartload of stuff. We got into one of the two open checkout lanes and waited our _____. While we were waiting, a young man came up behind us with only a few _____ in his basket. I told him to go ahead of us as we were in no _____.

He seemed very pleasantly surprised and ______. As he began putting his items on the belt the cashier began to ______ her till tape（出纳机纸带）so we had a fairly long ______ in line. My kids were very ______ behaved but they were still children；they asked questions, they talked ______, they moved around and they were generally very entertaining.

I could see the young man watching and listening with a smile on his face.

We were putting our groceries on the ______ when the cashier finished with his order. What I didn't know was that he had heard my kids ______ bubble gum. I had agreed they could have some. So he ______ a pack of bubble gum and asked the cashier to ring it through twice ______ putting it back. He then told my kids that he bought their gum because their mom was ______ enough to let him go ahead in the queue.

The experience really showed the ______ that good begets（引发）good to my lovely little kids.

It isn't hard for everyone to grow up into a responsible members of society.

I can well remember an accident that happens on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I was on my way to bookstore and was waiting for the green light at a crossing when a girl of about ten was knocked down by a passing car, what drove off quickly. A man immediately rushed to the girl to give him first aid and I joined in without hesitation. Lucky she was not badly injured but we sent her to the nearest hospital. Comparing with the escaped driver, I am pride of what I did.

As a member of society, I am aware of that being responsible is what it takes to make a better society.

   Trekking (徒步旅行) 500 miles across Spain is no easy task for anyone, but for the wheelchair user Justin Skeesuck, achieving the dream seemed nearly impossible. However, Skeesuck’s lifelong best friend, Patrick Gray, simply didn’t accept that idea. He said, “We’ve done everything together so far. Why don’t we have one more adventure?”

That’s exactly what he did — pushing Skeesuck across northern Spain’s Camino de Santiago. Though Skeesuck has a muscle disease similar to ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化) and high blood pressure, he first got the idea to go on the journey after he watched a travel show about the trail. He said, “I knew immediately since my heart was just telling me, ‘You need to do this.’”

With Gray on board and the blessings of their family, the two best friends from Idaho set off to make Skeesuck’s dream of going for the journey a reality. However, neither Gray nor Skeesuck realized how physically and emotionally arduous the trip would be. Not only did they have a strict time limit — about six weeks to get from start to finish, but they also faced extremely difficult obstacles (障碍). With Gray pushing Skeesuck in a three-wheel wheelchair, the pair crossed mountains, rivers and a desert. “I’ve never been that physically exhausted in my entire life,” Gray said. The pair came across countless kind people during their trip who were eager to help them finish their journey, but they refused their help with gentle words. 34 days later, the two best friends finished their journey, realizing a dream that helped them learn about themselves and others. “The adventure has taught me for sure that when you do something with faith, and never give up, amazing things can really happen,” Skeesuck said.

Gray recorded their incredible trip in a book — “I’ll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends and One Wheelchair”, which would be published soon. Skeesuck and Gray are also working on a children’s book that will tell the story of their adventure. They hope that the book will give kids strength when they deal with difficulties.