Compassion(同情) is a wish within us to help others. Only with effort can we turn compassion into real actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true.
I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机) with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash(现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing to eat. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help looking at him seriously. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this old gentleman, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked even poorer. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed, either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits ______.
A. promised to obey the store rules
B. forgot to take any money with him
C. hoped to have the food first and pay later
Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky
B. poor and lonely
C. friendly and helpful
The underlined sentence “I valued my job” means “____________”.
A. I didn’t have enough money for the old gentleman for I was only a part-timer
B. I expected the old gentleman to take something valuable to pay for the food
C. I did want to keep my present part-time job by following the rules
The writer’s action suggested that______.
A. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
B. he was touched and became caring
C. he considered the first old man was not honest
What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else.
B. Helping others is easier said than done.
C. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.