Marvin, a friend of mine, was the kind of guy who was always happy and had something positive to say. Being a natural motivator, Marvin was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation whenever he or she was having a bad day.

Several months ago in his restaurant, Marvin was held at gunpoint by four armed robbers. They panicked and shot him. Luckily, Marvin was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local hospital. After 18 hours of the operation and weeks of medical care, Marvin recovered with pieces of the bullets（子弹）still in his body.

It is really a miracle（奇迹）for Marvin's surviving the robbery. When I met Marvin after the terrifying accident, I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. Marvin replied,“As I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices:I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I refused to choose to die. ”Marvin continued,“The nurses kept telling me that I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and from the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses,I read,‘He's a dead man. 'I knew I needed to take action. ”“What did you do?”I asked. “Well,there was a big nurse shouting questions at me ,”said Marvin. “She asked if I was allergic（过敏的）to anything. ‘Yes,’I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled,‘Bullets. ’Over their laughter I told them,‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as  if I am alive,not dead. ?’”

“Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining,I can choose to accept their complaining or to point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life,”Marvin concluded.

   Cancer treatments left 5-year-old Isabella Harvey nearly bald (秃顶的). She felt _____ for not feeling as “beautiful” as her favourite Disney princesses, ______ a magical photo shoot lifted her _____ and moved many of her supporters to tears.

D’ Antoni, who is a member of Gianna Nicole’s Heart of Hope, a foundation that _____ cancer patients and their families, had known the Harvey family for years. She _____ to organize a photo shoot activity in a (n) _____ to cheer up Isabella. The photo shoot was held at the Oakes ide Bloomfield Cultural Center in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Dressed _____ a beautiful princess gown (女裙) , Isabella remained _____ about her bald head, and didn’t want to take off her hat. But all that changed when a famous performer Chelsea Knutson _____ as Cinderella, a Disney princess with a ______ head.

Isabella was excited to see Knutson in character. She took her hat off ______ and said, “ Wow, she looks just like me!” And in a moment she ______ from a shy little girl into a confident and brave princess!

“I didn’t ______ her in advance that Cinderella was going to be bald,” Pina Harvey, her mother said. “I wanted to ______ her. When Knutson came down the stairs as Cinderella, her face ______ She looked very cheerful.” D’ Antoni was equally ______. “When Isabella saw that Cinderella had no hair, she had a ______ from ear to ear. She knew that she wasn’t ______ ,” she said.

Isabella continues to fight cancer, going to the ______ every week. She hopes her fight can help ______ other kids to be brave and feel beautiful, too.

   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！

   Yesterday I was a bit early for an appointment so I stopped in at McDonald's for a coffee. I think they make the best coffee. Two very pleasant young girls were working at the counter and the customer ahead was impossible to please!

The young girl was sweaty and nearly in tears. I only wanted coffee but I liked lots of milk in it. I really didn't want to be difficult so I said,“You go ahead and add lots of milk and if it's not enough, I'll ask for more. ” She smiled. She made a perfect coffee. I left her two pieces of candy as a tip.

I went to her supervisor and let the leader know how well she handled such a difficult customer ahead of me. More of that needs to be done for young people starting out - probably the first job. '

I remember how hard it was. I would have run away crying and quit, if it had been me yesterday serving those customers. I'd still be crying too.

Comments posted by molliecat on July 29

READERS' COMMENTS

FayBaby wrote: Customer service can be one of the most difficult and thankless jobs at times. Your expression of appreciation (感激)probably made her day.

Mish wrote: How dear you were to lend support there, dear molliecat. Love you ! kiwicat wrote: My sons both have dreadful(糟透了的)first job stories of how rude and demanding customers can be. I now always encourage a new cashier or someone to do job training. Thanks for the reminder(提醒物)that we can be more tolerant and thankful to those who offer front-line customer service. mindyjourney wrote: Thank you for helping calm the young worker with your appreciation and thoughtfulness,So many good lessons you have earned are shared. Blessings, dear molliecat.

On February 20, 2003, a fire broke out at the Station Club on Rhode Island. It 【小题1】 (kill) 100 people — mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. But as in any disaster （突难）, heroes were ready 【小题2】 (help).

One of those heroes is a man named James Paolucci. He is the owner of the Cowesett Inn（旅馆）, 【小题3】 is a comfortable place across from the station. On 【小题4】 (hear) the news that the club was on fire, James decided to do something to offer help. The inn turned 【小题5】 a hospital immediately. The injured got 【小题6】 (medicine) attention there, and Rhode Island officials held 【小题7】 (meeting) there. What’s more, the injured people’s family，firefighters, nurses stayed there.

James, efforts 【小题8】 (think) highly of by Governor Don Carcieri. In an article of the Kent County Daily Times, Carcieri stated, “The Cowesett Inn 【小题9】 (certain) helped the lifesaving work a lot that night. ”

James and 【小题10】 inn were all heroes in Rhode Island’s biggest disaster, and they saved a lot of lives.