晨读英语美文100篇六级Kindness of Strangers

[ti:] [ar:] [al:] [by:] [00:02.55]Passage 66 Kindness of Strangers [00:08.57]Our son Owen was born just as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast. [00:14.80]Two days later, as Katrina neared landfall, Owen began suffering seizures; he'd had a stroke. [00:23.78]I didn't follow the catastrophe on the Gulf Coast as closely as I might have, [00:30.56]but those weeks taught me some things about catastrophe and about the kindness of strangers. [00:37.89]All catastrophes are personal. [00:40.18]Some in the Gulf Coast sought survival; some sought to help others. [00:46.64]Some prayed; some prayed upon others. [00:50.69]At the hospital, we watched our son Owen sleep. [00:55.39]Despite the tubes dripping and the monitors beeping, he still slept his baby sleep. [01:03.06]My wife asked for the pastor; I asked for the doctor. [01:08.19]She prayed for him. I held the CAT scan up to the light and searched for answers. [01:15.20]No one can know what you will feel or fear in a time of need, [01:20.67]but I learned that in this, the most difficult time of my life, [01:25.37]the people our family depended upon most were people we had never met, [01:31.07]people who we would likely never see again—strangers. [01:37.40]We depended upon strangers, strangers who knew their duty was to help others. [01:43.65]We depended upon the nurses who cared so well for our son, [01:48.68]who cooed to him and caressed him, who watched me hold him through the night [01:55.90]and never seemed to notice how ugly a man is when he cries. [02:01.04]We depended upon the hostel that gave us a place to stay near the hospital, [02:06.95]upon the members of my union who believe caring for our child's health should not ruin us, [02:14.50]upon the doctors and clerks and ambulance drivers. [02:19.53]We depended upon a commitment made to helping others. [02:23.80]This commitment is a web that holds us together in times of need. [02:30.25]By the time we took Owen home, the worst effects of Katrina were evident. [02:36.60]I watched the images from the Gulf Coast, images of communities, [02:43.05]lives and families whose fabric had been torn apart. [02:47.76]I thought of that web of strangers that had embraced my family in our time of need, [02:54.54]and that it is the most fortunate among us who are served best by it. [03:00.56]I can only hope this web will be strong enough, that it will be spun wide, [03:07.13]that it will hold and care for many, [03:10.19]that we can all depend upon the kindness of strangers.

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