In the United States a voluntary organization called Musician Corps is making a difference in people's lives. Five years ago，Kiff Gallagher，the founder of the organization，realized that music and public services could be used together to help Americans in need. Recognizing that music has a positive effect on Alzheimer's disease and autism（自闭症），he had the idea of creating Musician Corps.

Musician Corps looks for musicians and trains them as teachers. Then the musicians provide these services in city schools，children's hospitals，and assisted-living homes for older adults. They also help organize community concerts. Anyone can play music at these community activities.

Kiff Gallagher says what makes Musician Corps different from other charity organizations is that everybody can take part. It provides a place for people to get involved. He remembers a Musician Corps event at a hospital. Afterwards，he says，the patients are less depressed.

David Meletiche, one of 200 musicians in Musician Corps, teaches an after-school guitar class in a high-crime neighborhood. He is excited that the group gives him not only a job in a difficult economy but also the chance to use the team-building skills he gained in college.

There are 12 high school students in his class. Selena Makwan, one of them who are learning to play the guitar, says the program keeps her busy.“It definitely keeps me off the streets, because without this program I probably would be wandering around right now and I would not know what to do. And it also gives me an opportunity to learn something I've never done before.”

Musician Corps has established programs in California and North Carolina. Kiff Gallagher hopes Musician Corps will continue to expand across America.

   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.

With the improvement of living standards, there has been a tendency that people begin to turn to cars.

So why not ride bicycles and lead a low-carbon life?

   In the town of Whitesburg, Kentucky, Mick Polly, who lives with his teenage daughter Carolina in a white house, is known as the bike man. Over the past five years, Mick has built hundreds of _______ for needy kids.

One day, a 13-year-old boy with a(n) _______ bike walked by Mick’s house. “When I was working in my _______, he approached me, saying he had an accident, and asked if I could _______ it, “says Mick. The boy left his bike to Mick who asked friends _______ the Internet if they had the missing _______. The town’s former police chief saw the _______ and donated two used bicycles. Mick took parts from each to _______ a new set of wheels for the boy.

Soon after, Mick, who owns a toy business, repaired a bike for the boy’s brother and assembled（组装）one for his sister. _______ spread, and within the year, he had fixed up dozens of bikes for local kids whose parents couldn’t ________ to buy new ones. “People were always dropping off bikes day and night,” says Mick.

Mick ________ these bikes and bike parts in his garage. “I ________ the good tires or the handlebars or the seat and use them, “he says. So far, the bike man has repaired hundreds of bicycles and ________ nearly 700 newly constructed bikes. They’re ________, but the kids must agree to two things: They’ve got to “remember who is ________ them”, and they’ve got to try in school. If a kid’s grades are ________, Mick willrequire a teacher’s ________ “saying that you're doing your best”.

Mick also ________ the bikes will get kids off the sofa. “When I was growing up, we all ________ our bikes, “he says. ”________ these kids can get some exercise. ”