Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas．I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend．While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas．
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car．I stopped and wondered what I should do．A car pulled up behind me．It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station．They said they would take me to my friend's．We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card．
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me．Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them．Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful．
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning．In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead．Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door．I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom．
"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble．They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it．They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks．I received a letter back from one of the salesmen．No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said．
"Thank you" - two powerful words．They're easy to say and mean so much．
[写作内容]
(1) 以约30个词概括短文的要点；
(2) 然后以120个词就“向别人道谢的重要性”这个主题发表你的看法, 并包括如下要点：
a) 叙述你向别人道谢的一次真实或虚构的经历；
b) 你是如何认识到向别人道谢的重要性的；
c) 向别人道谢对你和对方都带来了什么影响。
[写作要求] 可以使用实例或其它论述方法支持你的论点, 也可以参照阅读材料的内容, 但不得直接引用原文中的句子
In this passage, the writer mainly tells us two of his experiences of being helped by strangers．After he wrote them thank-you notes, he realized that saying “thank you” to others meant so much．
I have a similar experience．Once when I was about to go home after school, it was raining so heavily that I had to wait for the rain to stop．But after half an hour it was still raining．Seeing this, the guard at the gate offered to lend me his umbrella．I accepted at once．Thanks to his help, I got home on time without getting wet．The next morning, when I returned the umbrella to the guard, I said thank you to him and left him a note expressing my gratitude sincerely．To my surprise, he said no one had ever written him to say thank you. What’s more, some students who borrowed umbrella from him never returned it. “What you did really means a lot to me.” said he.
From then on, I realized the importance of saying thank you. I never forgot to show my appreciation to anyone who helped me.
In my opinion, saying thank you to others is not only easy but also meaningful to the person who says it and the receiver!
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