One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind. Please help me.” There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote something on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning? May I know what you wrote?” The man said, “I only wrote the truth, I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was a blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. It reminded you to be thankful for what you have. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1,000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling.
【小题1】We can learn from the text that the man helped the blind boy by __________.

I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was social study. The last project of the term was called “Smile”. The last class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
Soon after we were given the project, my husband, my youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one cold March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back way. I turned around and found there standing behind me were two poor homeless men with a horrible “dirty body” smell. The short gentleman, close to me, was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of light as he searched for acceptance. The second man played with his hands uneasily as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation (救赎). The short man just asked for a coffee because that was all they could afford.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the men’s table. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you”.
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That’s why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.”
On the last evening of class, I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and we all knew that we need to heal people and to be healed.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. “LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS---NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.”
【小题1】 Why did the people around the author back away?

One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind. Please help me.” There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote something on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning? May I know what you wrote?” The man said, “I only wrote the truth, I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was a blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. It reminded you to be thankful for what you have. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1,000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling.

1. 1.

   We can learn from the text that the man helped the blind boy by __________.

   1. A.
      sitting together with him
   2. B.
      rewriting the sign
   3. C.
      teaching him some principles
   4. D.
      raising money for him
2. 2.

   Why did the man come back that afternoon?

   1. A.
      To bring some food to the boy.
   2. B.
      To explain to the boy why he had left.
   3. C.
      To make sure the boy was still there.
   4. D.
      To check if there were some changes.
3. 3.

   It can be inferred that the boy was ________ after he found out what the man had written.

   1. A.
      moved
   2. B.
      amazed
   3. C.
      excited
   4. D.
      worried
4. 4.

   What is the main idea of the text?

   1. A.
      We should help those who are in trouble.
   2. B.
      We should value what we have in life.
   3. C.
      We should respect people with disabilities.
   4. D.
      We should use a wise way when helping others

For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
My friend had mentioned that her father had a lot of children’s toys that he was looking to give away. She knew I had a three-year-old daughter so she thought of me first. I told her I would 36   it if I could get some nice things for my daughter, which I wouldn’t otherwise have been able
to  37 .
When I met her father, he began to explain that he was 38  once too and that he would hate to  39  things that could be very 40 . At first, he thought of taking everything to the Salvation Army but then he  41 to see if anyone he knew could use them first.
When he was  42 me around, I saw a bed, a slide(滑板)，a kitchen set and many other things that made me surprised. As my eyes were wide and beginning to tear up a bit, he told me not to feel guilty. He said I was  43 him by getting rid of them.
As I was looking around, I did feel guilty, but I tried to remain more grateful than guilty because he told me to. Every time I tried to  44 him for giving my daughter all these  45 things, he would thank me right back and was grateful that these toys would be put to good use.
So, sometimes when we are helped by others, the others that helped us are helped as a side –effect. In the  46 of charity , it makes sense to feel grateful, but guilt is just as normal, I know we could have lived without a slide, which is why I do feel guilty, but I am grateful all the same because my daughter  47 enjoys all these nice things!