http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/international/20130727/35179897/GivingBirthdaysAway

Giving Birthdays Away 給自己一個最棒的生日禮物

Most people are pleased by material possessions. Now, some are looking to enrich their lives by trying to make a difference. Robyn Bomar did just that for her 38th birthday.

Instead of looking forward to the gifts she would get, she decided to complete 38 random acts of kindness,one for every year of her life. After writing about each individual act on her blog, she received an overwhelming number of comments, emails,and more. In response, she created The Birthday Project.

The Birthday Project encourages people to think differently about their birthdays. Its mission is to provide ideas and suggestions on how to celebrate birthdays in a more giving way. As your next birthday draws near, think about sharing some kindness instead of expecting presents.

中譯

大多數人都喜歡有形的財物。如今，有些人想嘗試做點改變來充實他們的生活。羅蘋‧波瑪在她三十八歲的生日當天就這麼做了。

她不但沒有等著收禮，反而決定要完成三十八件隨機的善行，這當中每一件善行都分別代表她活在世上的每一年。在部落格記錄下每件善行後，她收到了有如排山倒海而來的評論、電子郵件以及其他更多東西。因此，她便創立了生日計劃來回應大家。

生日計劃鼓勵人們用不同的角度去思考自己的生日，該計劃旨在提供一些想法與建議，讓人們知道如何以更慷慨的方式慶生。當您下次生日快到時，不妨考慮一下向其他人分享一些善意，而別只是期待收到禮物喔。

生活必備字詞：

1. be looking to do sth. 想做某事物

The government will be looking to reduce inflation by a further two percent this year. 政府力求今年把通貨膨脹率再減低百分之二。

2. Instead of Ving…代替(沒有…)

Instead of punishing Tom, he gave him a job.

他沒有處罰湯姆, 反而給了他工作。

3. overwhelming  a. 壓倒性的；招架不住的

An overwhelming majority of the employees were against the company’s new policy.

4. in response (to...)　　作為（對……的）回應

Gina smiled in response to the customer’s compliment about her good service.

5. giving   a. 慷慨善良的

Larry is very giving because he donates all his free time to charity.

donate  vt. 捐獻, 捐贈[(+to)]

charity  n. 慈善團體, 慈善事業[C]

6. draw near　（時間、空間）接近，來臨   draw-drew-drawn-drawing

Monica began to clean up her apartment as Chinese New Year drew near.