Volunteer Day
What better way is there to enjoy your own hobbies while helping others at the same time? Come to Volunteer Day and choose which activity you'd like to join in for the day. See below for a schedule of events on Volunteer Day.
Volunteer Day schedule:
7: 30 a.m.: Meet at the Community Center for juice and bagels (百吉饼).
8: 00 a. m. —8: 30 a. m.: Choose which activity you'd like to help with for the day.
8: 30 a. m.: Board the bus to your activity site.
9: 00 a. m. —3: 30 p.m.: Work as a volunteer.
3: 30 p. m.: Board the bus that will take you back to the Community Center.
See below for a list of volunteer opportunities for Volunteer Day so you can begin thinking about which activity you might want to join in.
A list of volunteer activities:
Paint houses: Do you enjoy making art? If so, this volunteer opportunity might be just right for you! Happy Homes is a local organization that provides home repairs for needy people in the form of painting. For elderly or physically disabled people who cannot do repairs to their homes, Happy Homes provides volunteer painters with opportunities to repaint old homes, outside or in. Happy Homes also provides painters with opportunities to create beautiful wall paintings inside schools or community centers.
Plant flowers: Do you enjoy being outside in nature? City Parks Association has many great opportunities for people who love to be outdoors. Help plant flowers and bushes in city parks; help lay paths at Cave Springs Park, or help pick up rubbish around the river banks. These activities are very active, so remember to be prepared with plenty of drinking water!
Read to children: Do you enjoy working with young children? Do you like books? Love and Learning is an organization that provides volunteers with an opportunity to help children with learning disabilities. Read books out loud to groups of children four to six years old, or read one-on-one with struggling readers seven to eight years old.
Play with animals: Do you love animals? Lovely Friends is an organization that visits local animal shelters and provides volunteers to spend time with the animals while their cages are being cleaned. Play with puppies, snuggle (依偎)with cats, or hand-feed rabbits.
Dr. Kwane Stewart has been working overtime. When his workday ends, the San Diego-based veterinarian does not stop caring for animals. Stewart, who has been a vet for over 20 years, has developed a passion for helping the homeless and their pets. And a few years ago, he found himself stopping to treat pets living on the street.
As he walked on the streets of San Diego, Stewart would stop to give free check-ups to homeless people's pets. "A quick check-up, maybe some medicine or food... it isn't a lot but sometimes giving a little can make all the difference," says Stewart.
Word about his mission to help animals spread, and he ended up getting his own reality TV show, which follows him to other cities in California, where he provides free treatment for the pets he sees on the streets.
With his show, the Street Vet, which is shown on Canada's Cottage TV, Stewart hopes to "raise awareness and encourage others to give a little back, too." But despite the widespread attention, his mission does face some challenges.
"Some of the pets I come across need treatment (life-saving in some cases) that can be very costly and it's hard to ever say no to a pet that is suffering," Stewart explains on GoFundMe page he created to help raise money for these animals.
The money raised could go to minor treatments, like ear infections, which can be around US$100, or more serious cases like a tumor (肿瘤) removal, which can be up to US$1, 500. "All donations will go to the care of these pets and will surely make a difference in the owners' lives as well," Stewart writes.
He started a story about one dog he treats named Dinker, who has a rare condition that will require surgery. Stewart and the pup's owner, Walter, are trying to make the procedure happen, but it's very expensive. With over US$ 60, 000 raised so far, Stewart hopes to soon help Dinker and other homeless pets just like him get the treatment they need.
"Working on the streets, I've experienced some of the most genuine stories of love, compassion, struggle and hope," he says. "It's been life-changing and truly inspiring."
Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, explores a range of fascinating subjects in her new book. Gino's new book also highlights the science of gratitude.
In two of the gratitude experiments, Gino worked with Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton School. They first asked 57 students to give feedback to a fictitious (虚构的) student, Eric, regarding his cover letter for a job. Half were emailed a brief confirmation without gratitude. The other half received gratitude: "I received your feedback on my cover letter. I am really grateful."
When Gino and Grant measured the students' sense of self-worth afterwards, 25 percent of the group that received just an acknowledgement felt higher level of self-worth, compared with 55 percent of the group that received thanks.
In a follow-up experiment, participants received a message from another fictitious student Steven, asking for feedback on his cover letter. Would participants who had received thanks from Eric be more likely to help Steven? Indeed, more than half of the students in the gratitude group (66 percent) helped Steven, compared with just 32 percent of those in the no-gratitude group.
"Receiving expression of gratitude makes us feel a heightened (增强的) sense of self-worth," Gino said.
Gino built on the research in a field study that looked at 41 fundraisers (募捐人) at a university, all receiving a fixed salary. The director visited half of the fundraisers in person, telling them, "I am very grateful for your hard work." The second group received no such expression of gratitude. Gino said that "the expression of gratitude increased the number of calls made by that group of fundraisers by more than 50 percent" for the week, while fundraisers who received no thanks made about the same number of calls as the previous week.
By missing chances to express gratitude, organizations and leaders lose relatively cost-free opportunities to motivate their employees, Gino said.
"The work behind my book really makes me think more carefully every time I am the one expressing gratitude to others. I don't want to miss opportunities. I have learned from my own research and now try to say ‘thank you' much more often", Gino added.
①People's sense of self-worth can make them work more efficiently.
②People who receive only an acknowledgement tend to feel embarrassed.
③Receiving thanks makes a difference to a person's sense of self-worth.
④The sense of self-worth can encourage people to have other helpful behaviors.
For fresh students entering Yunnan University this autumn semester, failing to pass the physical fitness tests including running, pull-up and jumping will mean no diploma. According to the new rule, which is regarded as the "strictest school rule on physical education in history", PE classes must be offered to all students as compulsory courses, and students need to complete a total of 200 class hours in PE if they want to graduate.
This new requirement is nothing new. In 2007, the Ministry of Education issued a regulation, which asked schools to include physical fitness as a key criterion (标准) in assessing students' performance, and those failing to acquire 50 points in the tests should not be allowed to graduate.
But the regulation has never been fully implemented. Many schools, fearing a strict enforcement (执行) would lead to too many students' failing to graduate, turned a blind eye to their poor performance in PE tests.
Though Chinese people's livelihoods have improved over the last few decades thanks to the economic boom (繁荣), the physical fitness of students has been on the decline.
A survey of college students, aged 19 to 22 years old, made by the Ministry of Education, showed that in 2019 the scores of students in many sports events such as standing long jump, 50-meter running, and push-up fell compared with the 2014 levels. For instance, the performance of 1, 000-meter running for male students declined by 12. 37 seconds and that of 800-meter running for female students dropped by 9. 56 seconds.
The worsening physical health of students can be attributed to a lack of exercise and unhealthy lifestyles. As Chinese students face a fierce competition in the all-important college entrance exam, or gaokao, academic performance is given a top priority in schools. PE classes often take a back seat to academic subjects which are considered more important. Burdened with heavy academic workloads，students of primary and secondary schools lead a largely sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle. And with the Internet becoming a big part of their lives, many adolescents would rather spend their spare time playing video games rather than doing outdoor activities.
Due to this reason, the new rule of Yunnan University becomes significant.
A school girl writes to me and says that a girl named Jane just transferred (转学) to their class and became her deskmate. But Lucy and she have been friends for a long time, and they enjoy doing things together. She asks me what she should do. The following is what I say to her:
This is quite a compliment (祝贺).
Imagine if you were new in a class and hadn't made friends yet. I knew I would be very nervous and a bit shy to reach out. This is why when I was younger and there was a new student in my school or my class, my friends and I would introduce ourselves and get to know him or her. It's important to put yourself in the other person's shoes.
It's really nice that she felt comfortable enough to ask you to be a friend. Are you worried that Lucy will be upset or that being friends with the new girl in class will take away the time you spend with her?
You can introduce the new girl to Lucy as well. If you are worried this might change things between you and Lucy, I don't think it has to be a bad thing.
While sometimes adding another person to your circle of friends can change the dynamic (活力), chances are that you all get along really well. In fact, it's important to always try to make new friends.
Reaching out to someone when they are in an uncomfortable situation is also a sign of kindness and empathy (同感). And you never know-you just might make a lifelong friend.
A. Being the new kid can be tough.
B. You can't agree on everything.
C. If so, I don't think you should worry.
D. Having a new friend doesn't mean you lose your old one.
E. You will have a positive influence on your other classmates.
F. You should have a heart-to-heart talk with your old friend.
G. Jane doesn't have friends in the class and wants to make friends with her.
On Christmas Day in 2012, when I was fourteen, I didn't get a single Christmas present. That wasn't a 1. It was what I had 2. A week before Christmas, I decided that 3 presents, I wanted donations to buy presents for the children in the local orphanage (孤儿院).
When I told my family and friends about my plan, there were a lot of 4 but also support. However, it was only on Christmas Day that the reality hit me. When my baby sisters jumped out of bed, singing carols and opening presents, I lay there feeling 5 and making a list of all the things I really wanted for Christmas that year. I realized I had made a huge mistake.
As I 6 on the door of the orphanage that morning, I felt 7 because I realized how unprepared I was for what was 8. I even had the 9 of dropping the bags of presents outside the orphanage and10. I almost did, but then a kind woman opened the door and smiled when she 11 me in. I was taken to a room full of children, and was 12 angry at how empty it felt. I wanted the room to be filled with 13instead of fear. I wanted to make these children smile but I was 14.
But then something happened. As the workers in the orphanage 15 presents, the 16 in the room changed. I could see the 17 in the eyes of the children and their bodies filled with hope. I 18 feeling so powerless. A little girl, Diana, ran up to me and 19 my legs. I didn't know I was crying 20 she asked me, "Auntie, why are you crying?" This only made me cry more.
The 2021 Yangtze River Culture and Art Festival kicked off in Zhangjiagang, East China's Jiangsu province, on Nov 14 to celebrate the evolutionary history and growth along the Yangtze River through folk music performances and relic displays.
To get more people (involve), festival organizers are holding some events online, such as an online call out for music praising the Yangtze River.
The festival has won an innovation award from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and is listed one of the three cultural (brand) with local characteristics cultivated by Jiangsu province
Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Zhangjiagang is the city carries the responsibilities of promoting Yangtze River culture.
In recent years, the city has established a national first-class (associate) studying Yangtze River culture and the nation's first museum promoting Yangtze River culture.
great number of Yangtze River-related events feature in the city's cultural calendar, such as art competitions, photo contests, drama festivals, a folk culture art festival and high-level forum on Yangtze River culture.
(be) a high-quality platform for cultural exchanges and cooperation among cities along the Yangtze River, now the festival (play) a special role as a bridge to boost (economy) and social development.
Han Wei, Party secretary of Zhangjiagang, said, "We have upgraded the Yangtze River Culture and Art Festival by now and we take this as a new starting point to further shoulder the missions of protecting, inheriting and promoting Yangtze River culture."
"We will study Yangtze River culture (thorough), encourage traditional cultures to innovate, and bring greater dynamism into the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt."
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Every time I think of the funny experience several months ago, I can't help laughing.
On the night before the history exam, I stayed up all night, goes over the lessons. Therefore, during the exam, I was such sleepy and tired that I fell asleep. I dreamed about having an important exam. The site when we were having the exam was the dining hall. In my dream, the questions in the exam paper was all beyond my ability. I got more and more anxiously. And finally I woke up, am terrified to find that I was really having an exam! What's worse, there were only five minutes left for me finish the paper!
This funny experience also taught me the lesson. From then on, I dare not stay up late after exams. Instead, I tried to be well prepared as early as possible and make sure of enough sleep.
1）携带笔和笔记本以便做好记录；
2）现场可以提问你感兴趣的问题；
3）提前到场，不要迟到。
注意：1）词数100左右，可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2）参考词汇：报告厅 lecture hall。
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