waiting to be served, she smelled a horrible ―dirty body‖ smell . Two poor homeless men were also standing in line. They just wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up , so they only asked for coffee . Obviously, it was all they could afford.
3 Then she was suddenly filled with sympathy . All eyes in the restaurant were set on her, judging her every action . She smiled and bought the two homeless men two breakfast meals .
4 She returned to college, with this story in hand. She turned in her ― project .‖ Her professor read it to the whole class. The whole class was touched . She graduated with one of the biggest lessons she would ever learn —UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE .
Read and Explore
Task One Discovering the Main Ideas
1 Answer the following questions with the information contained in Text A.
1) Why didn‘t the author stop for the hitchhiker?
He thought that someone else would stop for him. And he was afraid of a possible robbery.
2) Did he feel guilty for not helping the young man?
No. He didn‘t. But he was bothered by his easy and quick decision of leaving the young man stranded alone in the desert.
3) Why did the author decide to start his journey across America pennilessly? He wanted to test if a person could still rely solely on the kindness of strangers or the good will of his fellow Americans these days.
4) What did he discover as he travelled?
He found out that others shared his fear. Yet they still stubbornly helped strangers like him.
5) What had happened to the trucker the author met on a rainy day?
He was once robbed at knifepoint by a hitchhiker.
6) What conclusion did the author draw from his experiences mentioned in Paras. 15–18?
He found that people were generally compassionate. And those who had the least to give often gave the most.
7) Why did Carol invite the author to talk to her class about his trip?
She thought the children should be exposed to what else was out there — the good and the bad.
8) What conclusion did the author make about his trip when he talked to the students?