Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.

Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. And just talk.

Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says “Talk to Me”, they attract conversationalists（健谈的人）, who one evening included a psychotic, and men in business suits.

They don’t collect money. They don’t push religion. So what’s the point?

“To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open talks.”

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.

“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything.”

Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.

Marcia had led her husband to catch a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,” she explained.

To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people appeared, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

They will plan more parties or try to attract more people to join in their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something the two say they’ll consider before making a decision.

   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！

   Helen Keller once wrote, “The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” 【小题1】 The UN has set December 5 as International Volunteer Day to give recognition to these people.

Nineteen-year-old Andrew Makhoul was a communications major at the University of Pennsylvania. It was coming up to the spring break, but unlike his classmates, Makhoul wasn’t planning on spending the break relaxing.【小题2】

He traveled to Guatemala. He went to an orphanage (孤儿院) in one of the most violent and poor parts of Guatemala city. 【小题3】 Although he didn’t speak much Spanish, he found communication wasn’t a problem: “You communicated with love.” And what he gave out, he got back: “You could see love when you looked in their eyes.”

Makhoul’s first time as a volunteer only lasted a week, but by the end of that week, he knew he’d be back in the future.

【小题4】 The UN highlighted the case of Palestinian women who are survivors of breast cancer. As part of the UN’s Aid and Hope Programme for Patient Care, the women have been volunteering their time to create low-cost breast prostheses (假体) to be distributed to women for free, among whom Shahd El-Swerki is a brilliant example.【小题5】 By the end of her time there, she admired these women who are “not only survivors but also volunteers”.

About 2,400 years ago, Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “The essence (本质) of life is to serve others and do good.” Volunteers all around the world are making these words come true, each and every day.

   I live in an apartment building in a planned community, including private roads. I have lived in this _______ of mostly professionals and retirees for over three years, but I had met only a few of my _______.

After the _______ had stopped falling, we were left to _______ ourselves because the city and state services didn't work. I went out to the parking lot to dig out my and my girlfriend's _______. I took a large metal piece of my desk to _______ as a shovel. After about 30 minutes of digging, some of the neighbors _______ with snow shovels and told me if I helped them, they would _______ me. I agreed and we dug out each other's cars. The streets were _______ due to a state of emergency declared by the governor, so we had ________ to go.

As I said, I only know my ________ neighbor, one who is elderly. But we all (we were 10 guys, all together, in the beginning) put our heads together and figured out who was too ________ or too ill to dig themselves ________ and went about, as a team, helping them. ________ the day went on, more and more people ________ us, men and women. We became an army of snow ________. Our only motivation was concern for the people who were ________ and our growing friendship.

Everyone was concerned for each other. Someone asked me if I had enough ________ to get by. It was typical of the spirit of the day. I ________ a lot of friends that day and we were planning a party to be held at the club house in spring.

Kindness and ________ for others has countless rewards!