I left England for Sydney in September. It was a career move for my husband, and our 20-year-old daughter was feeling adventurous and decided to come, too. However, just before leaving England, my 79-year-old mother suffered a stroke (中风). Being strong and independent, she continued to live at home with the help of social services. But she couldn’t look after the garden. I thought how wonderful it would be if there was an organization offering volunteer help. Friends asked me what I planned to do in Australia, and I told them I would be looking for a volunteer position with a gardening charitable organization. Imagine my surprise when I found just the organization I had been looking for — Easy Care Gardening (ECG)!

There are several reasons why I volunteer for ECG. Firstly, as a newcomer to Australia I meet many people who, like me, volunteer some of their time. We cover a large age range, but all love gardens and helping others.

Secondly, through working with ECG I have been lucky enough to explore Sydney’s North Shore that I might not have had the opportunity to visit otherwise.

Finally, there are all those wonderful people we call “clients (客户)”, but they are more like friends when we visit them often and tend their gardens. What great people I have met, and the stories they have to tell — the family histories, where they come from and the reasons for immigrating to Australia. I find it a privilege to have access to private gardens which, in many cases, have been the joy of their owners for many years. Each one is individual and reflects the character, needs and the history of each family. Indeed, the gardens reflect the multicultural and historical background of Sydney.

   I grew up in a small town. There was a man named Joe, who was uneducated and couldn’t talk _______. He was good-natured but not very smart, _______ everyone teased him.

One day when I was sitting on the porch, he came walking by. I was about 12 and thought it would make me _______ grown-up to play jokes on him as some _______ did.

He asked what I was doing. I told him that my father had _______ his job and that we were short of money. I could see my friends nearby _______ so I went on with the _______. From his _______ expression, I was convinced that I had fooled him ________

I knew he lived a ________ life with low income, so it was ________ when he asked whether we needed anything. I told him that we didn’t know if we would have enough to ________, and he replied, “You poon thing.”

That night I heard the door ________ softly. I thought it was the wind whipping against the door, so I ________ it. The next morning I found a small box of food outside my house. I knew it was from Joe. I looked into the box of canned food with ________ in my eyes. I felt ashamed of taking advantage of his ________ for me. Later I ________ the whole story to my father and said I wanted to return the box. My father scolded me and ________ that I keep the box; otherwise it would hurt Joe’s feelings.

Although the food was not ________, I knew Joe gave the best he had. I did not ________ the gift.

   Mrs. Green told her pupils to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful. She thought what these little children in a worsening neighborhood had to be _____ for. Most of the _____ drew pictures of turkeys or Thanksgiving tables full of everything _____ to eat. That was what they believed was _____ from them.

What made Mrs. Green _____ was David’s picture. David was so disappointed and _____ in his own world as other students went outside for break. David’s drawing was _____ this: A hand. Whose hand? The class were strongly attracted by his _____. “I think it must be the _____ of the cook ______ our food,” said one student.

“A hand of a ______,” said another, “because he raises the turkeys.”

“It looks more like a policeman’s, and he ______ us.” “I think,” Lucy said ______, “it is ______ to be all the hands that help us, but David could only draw one of them.”

Mrs. Green had almost forgotten David in her ______ of finding the class so responsive (积极的). Having the others working on another project, she bent over his ______ and asked whose hand it was.

David whispered, “It’s yours, Mrs. Green.”

Then Mrs. Green ______ she had taken David by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But what surprised her was that it should have ______ so much to David…

Perhaps, she thought this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving — not the things ______ to people, but the ______ that others give something to people.