A Meaningful Gift
Emily was an eight grader. To pass her Civics course（公民课程）,she had to do some volunteer service in a nursing home for a week.
One Monday, Emily went to the nursing home after school. When she arrived, she was told she would1an hour every weekday with an elderly lady, Mrs. Blair. She was then led into a room, where an old lady in a flowery dress was sitting on a sofa.
Emily2awkwardly（别扭地） in front of the lady. She cleared her throat and said,“Good afternoon. I'm Emily.”
“Good afternoon, Emily. Take a seat,please,”Mrs. Blair replied.
Then,3filled the space between them. Emily wondered what to say.
“Tell me about yourself,Emily,”Mrs. Blair said suddenly.
“Well,” Emily started, “I don't have any grandparents, so I can't relate to elderly people much. I love the performing arts. I'm here mainly because I have to 4here to get a good grade for my Civics class.”Mrs. Blair didn't seem to5.Many people, especially teens, don't seem to care about old people like me. Now you're here, and I'm going to change that about you. Ask me anything.”
Emily thought for a moment, and finally decided, “What was your job?”
“I was a Broadway star in the 1950s,”Mrs. Blair answered.
“Cool! Can you tell me about it?” Emily asked, amazed.
Mrs. Blair smiled. “Back then, only the lead actress had the honor to wear a 6bracelet. I was the lead in almost all of the plays, so I always wore the bracelet. Till this day, I still have it.”
Emily smiled along with Mrs. Blair and listened to the other stories, attentively. She had become so interested in Mrs. Blair's7that she decided to come earlier the next day.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday passed by quickly. Then came Friday. As she was leaving, Emily was really8to say goodbye.
“Don't be sad. You can still visit me,” Mrs. Blair comforted her. She then handed a small box to Emily, “It's my gift to you.”
Emily9opened the box and was surprised to see what was inside. “It's the bracelet that you wore. Thank you!” Emily said, with tears in her eyes. “I'm sure to visit you whenever I'm free.”
On her way home, Emily thought of her own love for the performing arts. She touched the bracelet and made a10that she would keep her word to Mrs. Blair.
Indonesia is my mother's homeland and one of my favorite countries. Since I was young, I had learned a lot about the country and become interested in it. For a long time I had wanted to do something for the country and people there, and I thought volunteering（做志愿者） would be a good and fun way to do so.
I received the greatest pleasure from being with the children.
Teaching my first English class in Aceh was exciting, but I was rather nervous. As time went by, I learned how to be a better teacher. Teaching was actually the most enjoyable of my many responsibilities(责任).
Many children were shy at first. But when they relaxed, they would start talking and telling you a lot of funny things. I believed we were helping them build up their confidence.
For the children who are more in need. The Education Program（TEP） will collect donations(募捐) to help them.
As a volunteer, I had to visit the TEP children at home once a month and help them write a thank-you letter to their sponsors. This was a way for the children to communicate with their sponsors. Sometimes the sponsors would write back to the children. Seeing the children's happy faces, I had a great sense of pleasure.
A
We need volunteers!
Boys and girls, the school sports meeting is only a week away.Don't you feel excited?
As you know, our school holds the sports meeting twice a year, in April and in October.This spring, the sports meeting will last for three days, beginning on April 10.We always have a lot of things to do during the sports meeting，so we need your help from 9：30 to 11：00 in the morning and from 2：30 to 4：30 in the afternoon.
We need two boy volunteers and three girl volunteers.If you are interested, please call me at 378－3892 as soon as possible.I'm Jackie Green.You can also call Tony Black at 378－8903.
Do you know the story about Vince? It was a true story. Vince was an English boy and he was eight years old. He didn't like soap or water. Three or four times a day his mother said to him, “Vince, your hands are very dirty again.” Go and wash them. ” But Vince never washed them well. He only put his hands in the water for a few seconds and then took them out again.
Vince's uncle and aunt lived in another city. One day they came to stay with Vince's parents, and they brought their small son, Toby, with them. Toby was seven years old and he didn't like soap or water, either.
The boys sat with their parents for a few minutes and then they went outside. When they were playing, Vince looked at Toby's hands and then went back to Toby's parents and said proudly (骄傲地）， “Toby's hands are dirtier than mine, ”
“Of course they are，”Toby said angrily. “You are one year older than I am, ”
the amount of time, in Africa, happy with, at all, came up with |
Students go hungry for charity（慈善）
Students at New Point School enjoyed their breakfast today, for it broke a 24-hour fast（禁食） for charity. During the fast, they could not eat any food ,and they could only drink water, tea and clear fruit juice. The students all volunteered to go without food for one day to raise money for UN projects to help the poor .
Mr. James Wood, their English teacher, said, “The students the idea themselves after seeing photos of hungry children. They organized the whole thing. I'm very proud of them.”
“Twenty-four hours did not feel like a very long time. Next year, I might even double I spend fasting. Then I can raise twice as much money!” said Jane Austin, a student. “It's so wrong for us to have lots of food while many people in the world are going hungry. We need to give to those in need.”
The students collected about $2 400 from the fast. They were the total amount. “It's amazing! People are so kind, and they want to help others,” said Alan Long, another student.
