Ann，a mother of 3 children, is a warm-hearted social worker and she has done a lot to help people 1 ．The family's dinner conversation often turns to local poor families, and she 2 tries her best to seek help for them．This year, Ann 3 that Santa Claus would make a special 4 to a young unemployed mother named Ashley, who was 5 two sons by herself．
One Sunday morning, the family were joyfully having breakfast 6 the phone rang, saying that the aid she had requested for Ashley had 7 ．No Santa Claus, no presents, nothing．On hearing the news, Ann noticed the 8 disappear from her children's faces．Kinzie, the youngest one, 9 down from her chair and ran out of the kitchen room．In a matter of 10 , she returned carrying her piggy bank and began to 11 the coins over and over again, ＄3.30 in total．“Mom,” she shook her head 12 , “I know it's not much．But maybe this will buy a 13 for the children．” Then suddenly everyone was reaching into their pockets and 14 their purses．Immediately the money-coins and bills 15 on the table．On Christmas Eve, Ann as well as Kinzie drove to Ashley's house．After Ann wished the 16 woman a merry Christmas, she began to unload the gifts from the car, 17 them to Ashley one by one and told her the whole story．
Ashley was moved to tears 18 the words：Kinzie opened not only her piggy bank but also her 19 , and my children as well as I myself would be able to do something 20 for someone else in need．
I went to a group activity, “Sensitivity Sunday”, which was to make us more 1 the problems faced by disabled people．We were asked to “ 2 a disability” for several hours one Sunday．Some members, 3 , chose to use wheelchairs．Others wore sound-blocking earplugs(耳塞)or blindfolds(眼罩)．
Just sitting in the wheelchair was a 4 experience．I had never considered before how 5 it would be to use one．As soon as I sat down, my 6 made the chair begin to roll．Its wheels were not 7 ．Then I wondered where to put my 8 ．It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into 9 ．I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10 for several hours．For disabled people, “adopting a wheelchair” is not a temporary(临时的) 11 ．
I tried to find a 12 position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be 14 around for a while．Looking around, I 15 I would have to handle the thing myself? My hands started to ache as I 16 the heavy metal wheels．I came to know that controlling the 17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a(n) 18 task．
My wheelchair experiment was soon 19 ．It made a deep impression on me．A few hours of “disability” gave me only a taste of the 20 , both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome．
For some time I’ve had a church member provide me with a rose to pin on my suit every Sunday．1 I always got a flower on Sunday morning, I really did not 2 much of it．It was a nice gesture that became 3 ．One Sunday, however, what I considered 4 became very special．
As I was leaving the Sunday service a little boy 5 and said, “Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?”“Do you 6 this?” I said, pointing to the rose pinned to my coat．
He said, “Yes sir．I would like it if you are 7 going to throw it away．” The little boy said, “Sir, I’m going to give it to my granny．My mother and father got 8 last year．I was living with my mother, but I could not 9 , so she sent me to live with my grandmother．She has been so good to me that I want to give that pretty flower to her for 10 me．”
When the little boy finished I could hardly 11 ．My eyes filled with tears and I knew I had been touched in the 12 of my soul．I reached up and 13 my flower．With the flower in my hand, I looked at the boy and said, “Son, that is the 14 thing I have ever heard, but you can’t have this flower because it’s not 15 ．If you’ll look in front of the platform, you’ll see a big 16 of flowers．Different families buy them for the 17 each week．Please take those flowers to your granny because she 18 the very best．”
I hadn’t been 19 enough before, he made the last statement which I will always treasure(珍惜)．He said, “What a 20 day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet．”
I went to a group activity, “Sensitivity Sunday”, which was to make us more 1 the problems faced by disabled people．We were asked to “ 2 a disability” for several hours one Sunday．Some members, 3 , chose to use wheelchairs．Others wore sound-blocking earplugs(耳塞)or blindfolds(眼罩)．
Just sitting in the wheelchair was a 4 experience．I had never considered before how 5 it would be to use one．As soon as I sat down, my 6 made the chair begin to roll．Its wheels were not 7 ．Then I wondered where to put my 8 ．It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into 9 ．I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10 for several hours．For disabled people, “adopting a wheelchair” is not a temporary(临时的) 11 ．
I tried to find a 12 position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be 14 around for a while．Looking around, I 15 I would have to handle the thing myself? My hands started to ache as I 16 the heavy metal wheels．I came to know that controlling the 17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a(n) 18 task．
My wheelchair experiment was soon 19 ．It made a deep impression on me．A few hours of “disability” gave me only a taste of the 20 , both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome．
The Part of the environmental movement that draws my firm’s attention is the design of cities, buildings and products．When we designed America’s first so-called“green”office building in New York two decades ago, we felt very alone．But today, thousands of people come to green building conferences, and the 1 that buildings can be good for people and the environment will be increasingly influential in years to 2 ．
Back in 1984, we discovered that most manufactured products for decoration weren’t designed for 3 use．The“energy-efficient”sealed commercial buildings constructed after the 1970s energy crisis 4 indoor air quality problems caused by materials such as paint, wall covering and carpet．So far 20 years, we’ve been focusing on these materials down to the molecules(分子), looking for ways to make them 5 for people and the planet．
Home builders can now use materials-such as paints that release significantly reduced amounts of organic(有机物的)compounds-that don’t 6 the quality of the air, water, or soil．Ultimately(最终), however, our basic design strategy is focused not simply on being ‘less bad’ but on creating 7 healthful materials that can be either safely returned to the soil 8 reused by industry again and again．As a matter of 9 , the world’s largest carpet manufacturer has already 10 a carpet that is fully and safely recyclable．
Look at it this way：No one 11 out to create a building that destroys the planet．But our current industrial systems are 12 causing these conditions, whether we like it or not．So 13 of simply trying to reduce the derange, we are 14 a positive approach．We’re giving people high-quality, healthful products and an opportunity to make choices that has a 15 effect on the world．It’s not just the building industry, either．Entire cities are taking these environmentally positive approaches to design, planning and building．Portland, Seattle and Boston have said they want to be green cities．Chicago wants to be the greenest city in the world．