It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries (食品杂货), saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity (人性) as a whole. And it has influenced (影响) us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

   Amanda Clement was sixteen years old. She sat _______ in the grandstand（大看台）with her mother but she _______ herself right out there on the baseball diamond（棒球场）with the players. Back home in Hudson, South Dakota, her brother Hank and his friends often _______ her to umpire（给……当裁判）games.

Mandy, as she was called, could only sit and watch Hank play. The year was 1904, and girls were not _______ to take part in the sport. But when the umpire for the preliminary（预赛）between two local teams didn't arrive, Hank asked Mandy to make the calls.

Mrs. Clement didn't _______ her daughter to umpire a public event, but at last Hank and Mandy persuaded her to agree. Mandy _______ took her position.

She did so _______ that the players for the big game asked her to umpire for them-with pay！Mrs. Clement was _______ at that idea. But Mandy finally persuaded her _______ to allow her to do it. Amanda Clement became the first ________ woman baseball umpire on record and could live a better life.

Mandy's fame ________ quickly. Before long, she was umpiring games in other states. Flyers（传单）, sent out to announce upcoming ________, called Mandy the "World Champion Woman Umpire". Her uniform was a long blue skirt, a black necktie, ________ a white blouse with UMPS marked across the front. Mandy ________ her long dark hair inside a cap.

Mandy's earnings for her work ________ an umpire came in especially handy. She put ________ through college and ________ a teacher and coach. Mandy died in 1971. People who knew her ________ her for her work as an umpire, teacher, and coach, and ________ she loved helping people ________ she loved the sport career.

   A young Los Angeles actor in need of a second job to pay his bills has come up with a brilliant way to supplement his income — people walking.

Chuck McCarthy originally considered becoming a dog walker to earn some extra cash, but soon realized that the job requires more than walking dogs on a leash. However, walking people doesn’t require much when they are out on walks. Chuck realized there would be money to be made if he walks people around Los Angeles instead.

It might sound like a joke, but The People Walker, as he calls himself, is very serious about his new job. For $7 per mile, he offers to walk with clients around L. A., listening to their problems or simply making conversations and offering them a sense of security. At 6 feet, 2 inches, and with a bulky figure and bushy beard, Chuck doesn’t look like the kind of guy you’d want to mess with.

Chuck’s services are aimed at people who need a motivational boost to go walking, those who don’t feel safe walking alone in some areas, and those who are afraid that people might see them walking by themselves and think that they have no friends. “I wear my The People Walker shirt upon request and on the first walk with a new client, so he can be 100% sure it’s me,” McCarthy says. However, he admits some people are a bit uncomfortable with this policy, as they don’t necessarily want everyone to know that they’re being walked.

So far, Chuck McCarthy has already had another five people walkers employed, covering various areas, like downtown L. A., Hollywood, Eagle Rock, or Fairfax County. Once he posted signs around the city, his phone started ringing and clients began rolling in. And with all the free publicity he has been getting in the press lately, more requests are coming.

While he hopes that his acting career will take off soon, Chuck is very happy with his people walking business. After all, it’s literally a walk in the park and it pays the bills.

   When I saw Pamela tonight, she smiled and I smiled back to her. She was looking more _____ than before.

Pamela _____ at the express checkouts (快速结账台) in a busy supermarket. She helps when the selfserve checkout comes across a (n) _____ like no price on products. Usually she has hardly _____ one before another is created.

When I shopped there, _____ there weren’t any problems with the checkout, I called Pamela to the checkout I was _____. My concern was about Pamela. She looked _____ and was under great stress as she _____ moved from one checkout to the next.

I told Pamela that she needed to _____ I told her that it was ______ for her to put herself under such pressure and that we could wait. I ______ her that our expectations as ______ weren’t as severe as the ones she had set for herself. Pamela said she felt ______ because I not only ______ her stress but also talked to her about it. I gently told her things had to ______ I told her I’d be looking out for her in future to see if she’d take my ______.

Well, Pamela has taken it. Tonight, she was still doing her job but there was a ______ . She looked cool and calm. She told me that she shared what I said with her ______ As I walked away from Pamela, I was ______ of myself. Not only have I caused Pamela to think about her stress but also she has ______ her coworkers to do so.

   When I first arrived in Australia at the age of 16 to go to high school for one year and live with a host family，I was completely over the moon about everything. I had been planning for many months. And，even though we exchange students participated in a one-day preparatory meeting，culture shock couldn't be avoided.

Those first weeks are so-called "honeymoon phase I" where you are happy to be in that culture.

However，this feeling didn't last forever. After about two months，differences became more evident. I started missing my friends and family more and more. Frustrating thoughts increasingly occupied my head—Nobody really understands me，and my English is not good enough. I wish people would just be able to speak German for one day！I wish public transportation would work the same way as at home！And so on. I knew it was "honeymoon phase Ⅱ".

Over the next few months，though，I slowly and unknowingly entered the "adjustment（适应）phase". I developed my own little routine，learned to adapt to stress through various techniques，and made many new friends. My English improved dramatically！

I understood Australian culture better and better. That was a major breakthrough for me personally. Every day I felt more and more comfortable with my new home. I adopted many new traits（特征）while also keeping earlier ones from my home country. I would often refer to myself as "having a second nationality". This process which happened over my last few months abroad is called the "mastery phase". My happiest moment was when my dear friend one day said during a conversation，"You are Australian now，Jude！You sound just like us！"

I want to point out that the effects of culture shock are different for everyone and can result in different behavior and feelings. The timing of the different phases also varies a lot from person to person. One thing is for sure though —Culture shock is unavoidable and acceptance is the first step towards adjusting better to a foreign culture.