读者文摘1-5月文章选编

1、2016年1月读者文摘国际版A Slice of GoodnessTHE HAJJ IS A PILGRIMAGE that every able Muslim should perform once in a lifetime by travelling to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. At the time we went, my family was living in Al Khobar, another Saudi Arabian city. Although the pilgrimage takes place over just fiv

2、e days, it involves a number of physically demanding rituals, such as praying, going round the ancient black building known as the Kaaba, and walking between two nearby hills seven times. Therefore, my parents decided to perform the Hajj while they were still energetic. I was five years old at the t

3、ime and wefound a camp in Mina, a town 5km outside Mecca, sharing a tent with another family who we didnt know. The pilgrimage was going well until my parents had to perform the Tawaf-e-Wida, the final circumambulation of the Kaaba (believed by Muslims to be the symbolic house of God). After telling

4、 me not to leave the tent, they set off at about 7pm, expecting to return within three hours. Unfortunately, my parents had underestimated just how long it would all take. On the way back their bus got stuckfor several hours in a terrible traffic jam. And when they finally arrived back in Mina, they

5、 couldnt find our tent. As millions of Muslims from different countries arrivefor the Hajj each year, one large tent can contain multiple families, and tens of thousands of tents are clustered together. It took them 12 hours to find me. As the hours plodded by, my stomach started to rumble. While I

6、wasnt particularly scared, I wasconfused. Since I wasnt accustomed to speaking to strangers, I didnt ask anyone for food. Several hours later, a family carrying two crimson boxes entered the tent, and the other family who was sharing our tent enthusiastically rose to meet them. I recognised the logo

7、 immediately Pizza Hut. As the families ate, my mouth watered. I tried to restrain myself, but at that point my hunger became unbearable. I ran over to the short black-haired old woman who had been carrying the boxes and asked, “Aunty, do you think I could have some pizza? My parents are away.”“Oh,

8、you poor thing,” she replied, before promptly giving me a slice on a plate. I gobbled it up, and instantlymy hunger was gone. Soon after, she returned with two more slices for me. I was overjoyed at her sharing such a delicious meal. Sometime later, my mother burst into the tent crying and wrapped m

9、e in a hug. I told my parents what the kind woman had done and they thanked her. I will never forget that simple act of sharing the generosity of a woman who fed a hungry young boy.2016年2月读者文摘Everyday HeroesThe Preteen TranslatorON A COLD AFTERNOON in January 2015, Yesenia Diosdado, 11, got off a sc

10、hool bus in Lenexa, Kansas, near the apartment building where she lives with her family.When the bus pulled away, Yesenia saw police and emergency workers attending to victims of a three-car accident that had occurred at a busy intersection nearby. Yesenia joined a small crowd of onlookers across th

11、e street. She noticed that an injured woman was trying to communicate with an EMS worker using sign language, but he couldnt understand her. “I heard him ask for an interpreter,” Yesenia says. She ran over to the paramedic to helpher mother, a former sign language interpreter, had taught her and her

12、 siblings how to sign (no one in the family is hearing impaired).“She said, I sign. Can I help? ”says EMS captain Chris Winger.“I was floored.” Yesenia was able to relay to the emergency personnel that the womans neck was injured and tell them the name of the local hospital she preferred. “She looke

13、d really hurt,” says Yesenia. “Im proud that I got to do something to help.” When her mother, Susan Milidore, 36, heard about Yesenias heroics, she wasnt surprised. “Its in her nature to help,” says Susan. “I was impressed that she recognized the seriousness of the situation and took charge. Most ad

14、ults wouldnt have done that.”A few weeks later, paramedics presented Yesenia with a gold coin and a certificate of appreciation at her elementary school. “My mom always says that you never know when sign language might come in handy,” says Yesenia.“That day, it did.”2016年3月读者文摘Everyday HeroesThe Bir

15、thday Party ProjectON A FLIGHT from Dallas, Texas, to Cincinnati, Ohio, to visit a friend in 2008, event planner Paige Chenault daydreamed about the elaborate birthday parties shed throw for her daughter one day. (Paige was five months pregnant at the time.) Then, flipping through a magazine, she sa

16、w a photo of an impoverished Haitian boy, his belly bloated. “I thought, This kid has nothing,” Paige says. The image stayed with her, and she resolved to do something to help.“I decided I would use my talents to throw birthday parties for homeless kids,” Paige says. For the next four years, Paige a

17、nd her husband, Colin, took time out from parenthood to visit shelters to determine how best to pull off the parties. Finally, in January 2012, Paige launched the Birthday Party Project, a nonprofit organization, and recruited friends and family to help decorate Dallass 75-occupant Family Gateway Sh

18、elter with balloons and streamers, celebrating the birthdays of 11 boys and girls, with 60 more homeless kids in attendance. “That first party was better than I could have ever imagined,” says Paige. Now Paige and her staff of three paid employees work with regional volunteers, aka “birthday enthusi

19、asts,” to plan monthly themed parties at 15 shelters across the country, some of which house abused or abandoned kids. Each child celebrating a birthday that month gets a $30 gift, a decorative place mat, and an individual cake or cupcake. One of Paiges favorite parts of each party is when the kids

20、make a wish and blow out the candles.“They rarely get a chance to dream big,” says Paige. Her daughter, Lizzie, now seven, often helps out at the parties. Paige says, “The one thing Ive always wanted is for my kid to be generous.”2016年4月国际版读者文摘Smart AnimalsA Natural HighEMMA MARRISONA number of year

21、s ago, during a holiday to East London, South Africa, my family and I were exploring a river on stand-up paddleboards. Our exploring took us past many campsites and open fields. As we approached a campsite, we spotted a large giraffe poking its head out from behind a tall tree. I was so delighted at

22、 the thought of meeting a giraffe in such an unexpected place that I paddled towards the fence in front of this glorious creature. As I stepped down into the swampy bank of the river and walked towards the fence, the giraffe noticed me and calmly loped over. It stood in front of me, batting its long

23、 black eyelashes. I fed this gentle giant which was relatively tame some grass out of my hand for a while before heading back to my stand-up board andcontinuing down the river. Then, later in the day, as our family headed back past the campsite, she was once again there to greet us. She clearly reme

24、mbered us and started to escort us along the edge of the river for a little while.KINDNESS OF STRANGERSAncestry SearchIN MAY 1999, my new Englishborn naturalised Australian husband of seven months and I decided to take a delayed honeymoon to England to meet his family. This workedwell for me as it a

25、lso gave me a great opportunity to continue with researching my ancestry in Yorkshire. Boarding our flight to London, we soon settled into our centre row seats ready for the long journey ahead. Some hours into our flight, boredom settled in so I started chatting with the couple seated next to us. Th

26、e woman was a teacher,who, as luck would have it, had taught at a school in a small market town in Yorkshire.As Yorkshire was to be an important part of our visit, I asked her the name of the town and was completely taken aback when she replied “Howden”, as that was whereI was heading to complete my

27、 family history research. Later during the flight, she asked if I would deliver a note to her former headmistress, whose home was easy to find.I agreed and we parted company at Heathrow Airport, both smiling at our chance meeting. Two weeks later my husband and I caught a train from London to Howden

28、 and booked into a hotel. With time to spare before dinner, we decided to take a stroll and deliver the teachers note.When we reached the house, we knocked on the front door instead of dropping the letter into the letterbox. After we had introduced ourselves to the elderly former headmistressand exp

29、lained why we were on her doorstep, she invited us for morning tea the following day. We returned the next day to find she had also invited an elderly malefriend, who listened with interest as I spoke of my ancestry search. A local historian, he then offered to drive us to the Goole Library, about 8

30、 km away, to go through the microfiche on ancestors. When we arrived, he took over and, thanks to his skill, we made great progress in piecing together some of the mystery of my family tree. Once we had finished, he drove us to our hotel, stopping briefly at his home to pick up a book he had researc

31、hed and published on the history of Howden. He then gave us the book as a parting gift. We felt as though we had been on a wonderful adventure and all due to the goodwill of the people we had met.2016年5月国际版Smart AnimalsBetter than a Bear HugNICHOLAS ORDINANSIn the 1970s, I worked as the carnivore ke

32、eper for a large UK zoo where one of the earliest successful breedings of a polar bear in captivity took place. The mother and her male cub were left undisturbed for three months following the cubs arrival. However, by the time the pair was finally released into the outside enclosure, their swimming

33、 pool had been drained of water. The pool had been filled with a thick protective layer of straw as a crowd of VIPs and reporters gathered to witness the cubs first public appearance. As soon as the pair emerged, the fluffy cub began exploring his surroundings and waddled up a ramp that led to a div

34、ing platform that projected five metres out over the pool. Suddenly, the layer of straw seemed inadequate. Everyone held their breath as the cub peered down at the long drop below. In my minds eye I saw a slow tumbling fall, ending with a sickening crunch as the cubs fragile young bones smashed into

35、 the concrete. He leaned even further forwards and lost his balance, somehow managing to dangle helplessly by his forepaws from the edge of the platform.Cameras clattered as the drama was captured for the morning newspapers and, realising his predicament, the cub let out an anguished howl. His mothe

36、r had been exploring thefar side of the enclosure, completely oblivious to her newborns predicament. At the sound of his distress, she raced across, jumped down into the pool, raised herself onher hind legs directly beneath him and stretched out her front paws. The cub released his hold on the ledge

37、 and dropped onto his mothers waiting forelegs. She lowered himgently onto the layer of straw and then cuffed him around the ear before returning to her exploration of the enclosure.Kindness of strangersCrash RescueKatherine Styman is a 39-year-old mother of three from South Australia. She works in

38、the hospitality industry and has just become the proud grandmother of a beautiful little boy.IT WAS 3AM, a cold and wet night, on August 21, 2010. I had just left a local club to travel the ten kilometres home, when I lost control of my car on Grand Junction Road in Hope Valley, which is on the outs

39、kirts of Adelaide. I crashed into a stationary car, then hit a tree. The car was parked at the front of a house, about three metres away fromthe tree in the corner of the yard. The force of the impact was such that it shunted the parked car several metres forwards. I was knocked out cold, and totall

40、y oblivious to my injuries. Worse still, I had no idea that a fire had started under the bonnet of my car. It then set the tree on fire. Driving in the car behind me was a young man, who I later found out was called Jared. He saw the accident occur, and stopped to help me out of the blazing car wrec

41、k. He put his own life in danger when he got into the back seatto try to undo my seat belt. This wasnt easy because Id hit the stationary car on my drivers side and my seat belt was crushed into the console. With my seat belt undone, Jared then smashed open the drivers window to drag me out as I had

42、 still not regainedconsciousness. He bravely did this while my car and the tree were burning. Woken by the crash, the homeowners came out to investigate. Jared told them to ring emergencyservices while he continued to help me from the car. Once he got me out and away from the blaze, he laid me on th

43、e ground. All the while, I was unconscious. I owe my life to Jared and I consider him a friend due to the special bond created the night he dragged me to safety. I was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital in a serious condition, having sustained five pelvic fractures, internal bleeding, smoke inhalatio

44、n and, of course, the head injury that had rendered me unconscious. I eventually woke up in the intensive care unit a day later. I spent a few weeks in hospital, during which time Jared visited me to see how I was recovering. He also continued to keep in contact after I was discharged. He says that although the events of that night initially shocked him, he neveronce hesitated to help. In addition, he doesnt believe that he did anything special. On that, I totally disagree with him and am so very glad that he didnt get hurt in the process.Today, nearly six ye