Everyone Deserves Our Respect

王秀凤

生活中，每个人都值得我们去尊重。你尊重人，也会因此获得他人的尊重。

One day， a friend invited us to help serve dinner at Tent City. A number of tents were set up for the homeless in the area. I took my two boys with me. They were 9 and 5 at the time. They had a lot of questions about how poor people lived in the world.

We talked through the reasons people end up in this type of situation and the importance of creating a safety net for them. I explained that oftentimes， the only safety net is other people who are willing to share some of their time and resources（資源）.

The people we served were in age from the young to the elderly. Many of them were missing teeth or had dirty clothes. To my surprise， they were quite thankful that I had brought the boys. Many said how fun it was to have active， joyful children around.

After dinner， I saw my older son sitting together with several elderly gentlemen who were talking about sports in front of a small television set. He was having a great time sharing and hearing stories.

As some people returned to their tents， I heard him tell them， “Thanks so much for coming to dinner with us.” I could see through their facial expressions（表情） that his simple words touched them greatly. I hugged him a little tighter（紧紧地） as we left to go home because it touched me too.

It was a great reminder of how treating（对待） people with respect， no matter who they are， can lift all of us up.

精彩译文

每个人都值得我们尊重

一天，一个朋友邀请我们去帐篷城帮忙做晚餐。在这个地区为无家可归者搭建了许多帐篷，我带着我的两个儿子一起去了。那时他们一个9岁，一个5岁。他们有很多关于穷人如何生活的问题。

我们讨论了人们陷入这种境地的原因，以及为他们建立安全网的重要性。我解释说，通常情况下，唯一的安全网是那些愿意分享时间和资源的人。

我们服务的对象从年轻人到老年人。他们中的很多人都掉了牙，或者穿着脏衣服。令我惊讶的是，他们很感激我带来了孩子们。许多人说，有一群活跃、快乐的孩子在身边是多么有趣。

晚饭后，我看到我的大儿子和几位老先生坐在一起，他们在一台小电视机前谈论体育运动。他很享受分享和聆听故事的过程。

当一些人回到他们的帐篷时，我听到大儿子对他们说，“非常感谢你们能和我们共进晚餐。”我能从他们的面部表情看出，儿子简单的话语深深地打动了他们。我们离开回家的时候，我紧紧地拥抱了儿子，因为这也触动了我。

这很好地提醒了我们，尊重别人，不管他们是谁，都能让我们振作起来。

跟踪练习

1. Before the dinner， the boys couldn’t understand .

A. why some kids ate in the tents

B. why they should go to the tents

C. why the homeless were not happy

D. why poor people lived that way

2. What did the older boy do with the homeless？

A. He helped them clean their teeth.

B. He helped them wash their dirty clothes.

C. He fixed their television set.

D. He listened to their stories.

3. After hearing the boy say “Thanks so much for coming to dinner with us”， the homeless felt very___________.

A. excited              B. moved   C. nervous           D. annoyed

4. Which best describes the story’s main point？

A. Be ready to serve anyone.

B. Don’t be afraid of difficulties.

C. Meet all kinds of people.

D. Treat everyone with respect.