One of my favorite actions is doing good deeds. When other people receive my help, it makes me happy. However, some people look at you strangely when you want to do that. Once I asked a gas station operator if I could pay for the car behind me, but I got a blank stare. After a short explanation, he hesitantly agreed, but then said it was so unbelievable when I pleasantly made this double payment.
So, it’s nice when people “get it”. It seems that people do me a favor too if they receive my favor. At a barbershop recently, after getting my hair cut, I went to the counter to pay. My barber said, “That’ll be twenty dollars please.”
I found that in my wallet I had exactly forty-two dollars. “OK, tell me if you think this is crazy—I’d like to pay for someone else’s haircut as well.”
She hardly hesitated, “Yeah, you can do that.”
Wow it seemed that she was used to this. How cool! She opened her appointment book and asked, “Who do you want to pay for?”
“You pick.”
A pause. “Oh, you mean someone you don’t know?”
“Yeah, is that crazy? What do you think?”
“No, that’s great! I mean sure, why not?”
She agreed to pick an upcoming appointment of hers. I told her I was sorry I only had two dollars left for her trip, but that I would come back later with more. “No, no, this is enough,” she said with a smile, as she quickly wrote down a note. It was as if this idea was so pleasantly natural that she was being introduced to something familiar.
I don’t know who got my help at last, which isn’t important. The process is often just as satisfying, if not more that the result.
【小题1】Why did the operator at the gas station blankly stare at the author?| A．He thought the author was an idiot. | B．He wondered if the author had enough money. |
| C．He couldn’t believe what the author said. | D．He didn’t hear what the author said. |
| A．She showed no interest in the author. | B．She misunderstood the author at first. |
| C．She always helps others like the author. | D．She always helps the author like others. |
| A．Forty-two dollars. | B．Twenty-two dollars. | C．Two dollars. | D．None. |
| A．rather satisfying | B．difficult to accept | C．less exciting | D．very boring |
| A．Serious and stone-hearted. | B．Popular and crazy. |
| C．Happy and selfish. | D．Kind and generous. |
