Pass Love on to Others If You Are Grateful
心怀感恩，让爱传递

现实中确实有很多人不够善良，但很多时候我们过分放大了别人的恶意，甚至认为所有人都自私自利，唯利是图。事实上，这个世界上还是有很多人愿意助人为乐，并不计回报的。他们像是黑暗里的一盏灯，给赶路的人带来希望和光明。我们有很多种方式去对他人表示感谢，其中有一种尤为可贵，那就是将爱传递下去。

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. He said, “I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

有一天，一位男士看到一位上了年纪的女士一筹莫展地站在马路边，虽然光线不好，但是他也能看出来她需要帮助。所以他把车停到了女士那辆梅赛德斯牌汽车的前面，并下了车。在他走近她的时候，他的那辆旁蒂克还在发出噼噼啪啪的声响。

即使他面带笑容，她也还是很担心。过去一个小时左右的时间里，没有一个人停下来帮她。他会伤害她吗？他看起来并不像是一个好人，他看上去很穷、很饿。她站在车外面很冷，他能看出来她很害怕。他知道她是怎么想的。那是一种因为害怕才会感觉到的寒冷。于是他说道：“我是来帮您的，夫人。不然您到车里等吧？车里暖和。顺便说一下，我的名字叫布莱恩·安德森。”

她的问题其实就是轮胎漏气了，但是对于一位上了年纪的女士来说，已经够糟糕了。为了找个地方放置千斤顶，布莱恩爬到了女士的汽车下面，有一两处指关节还磨破了。不久之后，他就可以换轮胎了，但是这肯定会把他身上弄得很脏，而且手也会受伤。

当他在旋紧螺母的时候，她摇下了车窗开始和他说话。她跟他说她来自圣路易斯，只是路过这里。对于他的帮助，她感到不胜感激。

布莱恩只是微笑着关上了她的后备箱。女士问他说她应该给他多少钱，多少钱都没问题。她想过如果他没有停下来帮忙，将会发生些什么可怕的事情。布莱恩根本没有细想过要收她的钱。对于他来说，这不是工作。这是在帮助需要帮助的人。他一辈子都是这么做的，从来没有想过要采取其他的做法。

他告诉她说，如果她真的想要回报他，那么等她下次看到谁需要帮助的时候，可以给予那个人帮助。然后布莱恩补充说：“在那个时候，想到我就可以了。”

他一直等到她发动汽车并开车走远。那一天很冷，让人感觉很压抑，但是在他驾车行驶在回家的路上并消失在暮色之中时，他感觉好极了。

巧记词汇

strand [strænd] v. 陷入困境

【拓】get into trouble 陷入困境

dim [dɪm] a. 昏暗的

【拓】bright [braɪt] a. 明亮的

sputter [ˈspʌtə(r)] v. 发噼啪声

【拓】make noise 发出噪音

jack [dʒæk] n. 千斤顶

【拓】jacket [ˈdʒækɪt] n. 夹克，短上衣

knuckle [ˈnʌkl] n. 指关节

【拓】joint [dʒɔɪnt] n. 关节

nut [nʌt] n. 螺母，螺帽

【拓】lug nut 轮爪螺母

depressing [dɪˈpresɪŋ] a. 令人沮丧的

【拓】pleasant [ˈpleznt] a. 令人愉快的

twilight [ˈtwaɪlaɪt] n. 暮色；暮年

【拓】dawn [dɔːn] n. 黎明

趣学短语

think twice about (doing) sth. 仔细考虑后再决定（做）某事

【例】Most people will think twice about interrupting you if you are wearing headphones, even if you don't have any music playing. 大多数人看见你戴着耳机都会慎重考虑是否要打扰你，即便是你并没有播放任何音乐。