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.

Some taxi drivers often like to chat with passengers to kill time when the taxis are caught 【小题1】 traffic jams. The other day，I went home by taxi. Knowing I was a student，the driver told me that he was once a student twenty years ago. 【小题2】（fortunate），his family could not afford the school fees，so he dropped out of school at 【小题3】 early age. He encouraged me 【小题4】（work）hard and go to a good college. I 【小题5】 (move) by his kindness, but what really impressed me next was his honesty. After arriving home, I soon realized that I 【小题6】 (leave) my cell phone in the taxi. Greatly worried,I immediately called my number, 【小题7】 (pray) the driver would answer. Then came the driver's voice from the other end. He told me he had been expecting my call and that he would gladly return my phone 【小题8】 he dropped me off 【小题9】 (early) that day. Thanks to the driver, I got my phone back. I believe honesty is one of the greatest 【小题10】 (quality)a person should have.

   I was attending a party one night given in Sir Ross's honor. During the dinner, the man sitting next to me told a humorous story and spoke of the quotation:“There's a divinity（神）that shapes our ends, /Rough-hew them how we will. ”

The storyteller mentioned that the quotation was from the Bible. He was wrong. I knew that； I knew it positively. There couldn't be the slightest doubt about it. And so, to get a feeling of importance and show my high quality, I chose myself as an unwelcome person to correct him. He stuck to his guns. “What? From Shakespeare? Impossible! Absurd ! That quotation was from the Bible. ”

The storyteller was sitting at my right hand, and Frank Gammond, an old friend of mine, was seated at my left hand. Mr. Gammond had devoted years to the study of Shakespeare, so the storyteller and I agreed to leave the question to Mr. Gammond. Mr. Gammond listened, kicked me under the table, and then said ,“Dale, you are wrong. The gentleman is right. It is from the Bible. ”

On our way home that night, I said to Mr. Gammond,“Frank, you knew that quotation was from Shakespeare. ”

“Yes, of course,”he replied. “Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2. But we were guests on a festive occasion, my dear Dale. Why prove to a man he is wrong? Is that going to make him like you? Why not let him save his face? He didn't ask for your opinion. He didn't want it. Why argue with him?”The man who said that taught me a lesson I would never forget. I not only had made the storyteller uncomfortable, but had put my friend in an embarrassing situation. How much better it would have been if I hadn't become argumentative.

Nine times out of ten, an argument ends with each of the contestants（竞争者）more firmly convinced than ever that he is absolutely right. You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it； and if you win it, you lose it.

Having lost my job, I was feeling a little blue. While walking on the street one day, I heard piano music and singing 【小题1】 ( rise) above the noise of the people. I walked up the street to find out 【小题2】 it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love, having 【小题3】 (confident) and keeping on trying,【小题4】 made me a little comfortable. I stood there 【小题5】 ( quiet), watching her playing at such a crowded square. I thought she must be brave enough 【小题6】 ( perform) before so many people. I walked over and told her how good her music sounded. “ I’ve gone through a hard time recently, but you’ve made me 【小题7】 ( hope) again. Thank you,” I said to her. She replied, “ I’m glad that I could help you. I’ve seen lots of unhappy people around and I wish to cheer 【小题8】 (they) up by playing music. You should smile more and lift your head up.” She added, “ Opportunity 【小题9】 (come) in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it.”

I smiled at her, realizing that no difficulties could keep me 【小题10】 going on.

   I am a social worker. I wanted to tell everyone about my very dear friend who passed away a few months ago. I met him many years ago while doing my internship（实习期的工作）in the county prison. He was _________a program he had designed to help prisoners with drug and alcohol problems. He was always _________ new ways to bring hope and help to these men and their _________.One of his favorite _________was the Toy Drive he would run every Christmas for the children of the prisoners. He did this for twenty years _________his sudden death. As Christmas _________，I decided that this tradition had to be _________，for the children as well as the _________ of my friend.

But the file where he kept the names of the people who had helped him over the years had gone _________.I had to start anew（重新）and with very little __________！I started making phone calls，explaining about the project and my __________.I prayed every night that the event would，__________，be worthy of my friend. To my great __________，individuals，organizations and businesses began to come on board and，__________，I had enough toys to give to all the children of the prisoners with some left over for the local community __________！

When Christmas Eve finally arrived，I felt very happy，thinking I had done all I could do and reflecting（认真思考）on what a（n）__________it had been for me. I was bagging up the remaining toys __________ if there was anyone left who might like them. Then my phone rang.

It was my daughter. She __________to explain about a woman she knew in Kentucky who had five children，one seriously ill，no husband，no heating in the home，no toys！Ohh —how could we not help her？

My daughter and I drove all night，from New York to Kentucky，and those children woke up in a nice warm house with plenty of __________！My friend's __________of kindness lived on that year，reaching all the way to Kentucky！