Your birthday can be the most exciting day of the year. It’s a _______ full of fun activities and delicious food. However, my 13th birthday was special for a different reason.

On that day, my parents and I took the bus to my grandparents’ home for a big dinner celebration. I was _______ to get a good seat on the bus. At one stop, a woman _______ the bus with a baby in her arms. Unluckily, there were no seats left, so she had to _______ next to me.

Although I wanted to stand up and let her sit down, I was afraid of _______ people say to me, “ Look! That girl should be praised!” My schoolmates once said it to laugh at me. I looked around, and most people were looking out of the _______. Suddenly, a little boy behind me stood up and offered his seat to the _______. She thanked him with a big smile. The boy smiled back _______ and stood next to me. I lowered my head in shame.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it the rest of the day. Finally, I came to understand that everyone’s _______ acts of kindness can make a big difference to the world. I should learn from that little boy and __________ those people in need at once.

The Beijing Winter Olympic Games saw many young players shine on the biggest stage. Let’s take a look at three of them.

Do you know how to cook, clean or grow plants? If not, you will soon. These will be part of labor（劳动） education starting this autumn.

A new standard for labor education recently came out. Students in primary and middle school will have at least one labor education class a week. They will try and experience different kinds of labor and learn different life skills and even job skills. The standard includes different tasks for each grade. For example, students in Grade 5 and Grade 6 will learn to cook two or three common dishes, like fried eggs or egg soup with tomatoes.

Labor education can enrich Chinese students’ life. Chinese school education didn’t pay enough attention to this in the past. According to a 2019 report, Chinese kids only do 12 minutes of practical activity each day.

The new standard also calls on families to take part in students’ labor education. They will make housework lists to help students be more independent.

Besides housework skills, students will have a chance to try new technologies like 3D printing. They will also learn to make traditional handicrafts （手工艺品）.

In ancient China, willow branches（柳枝）were often used as a gift to friends and family members who would leave. Do you know why willow branches are a symbol of saying goodbye?

One reason is that willow trees are strong. They can live in any soil, wet or dry, north or south. Because of this special feature, when saying goodbye to loved ones, giving a willow branch is a way to tell them you hope they will easily get used to their new living environment.

Another reason is that, in Chinese, the pronunciation for the willow tree “柳” is similar to the character “留”. So giving a willow branch in ancient China was like asking the others to stay, even though you know that they must leave.

It’s said that this custom became popular during the Han Dynasty. At that time, Baqiao, a bridge in Chang’an, today’s Xi’an, was a common place to say goodbye. People often stopped there and handed willow branches to people who were going to depart.

Willow branches, as a symbol of saying goodbye, were often mentioned in poems, especially at the time of the Tang and Song dynasties.

On March 20, 2016, Molly was born at the Kunming Zoo in Yunnan. Everyone liked her. They called her Little Princess. When she turned 1 year old, the zoo held a big birthday party. The baby elephant got her name and a big cake.

But in 2018, the zoo took Molly away from her mom. They sent Molly to Swan Lake Ecology Park in Xinyang, Henan in exchange （交换） for another elephant. Life got hard for Little Princess. She had to do tricks and carry tourists on her back. Her body was badly hurt.

Seeing that, people took action to save her. They posted pictures and articles of Molly online. They asked to send her back home. And they also asked not to let elephant perform in China. Even some famous people joined in the activities to save Molly.

With their help, Molly finally left the ecology park in Henan. She went back to the Kunming Zoo on May 16. There, her family waited for her. Later, the doctors gave her a check-up. Little Princess will be loved again!