Monday morning is an important time at our school. All of the students ________ to the playground. We listen to music, and we ________ the national flag (国旗) go up.

Usually, one student gives a talk on Monday mornings. One Monday last year, a boy gave the talk. He was proud (骄傲的) and ________! When I saw him, I wanted to have a try, too. Can I really do it?

Last week, our teacher ________ our class should give the talk. My teacher told me, “I know you want to have a try. Next Monday, you ________ give the talk. Go and write something down. Get ready ________ it. I’m sure you’ll do well.” “Thank you.” I answered. It was such a ________ chance (机会) for me! When I got home, I wrote two pages for the talk. I read them again and again. When I read, I asked my parents ________.

Monday morning came. I began to feel ________. I had never given a talk to so many people. This was my first time. Could I really do it? Maybe I couldn’t ________ the talk.

When I got to school, we all went out to the playground. I stood in front of the team. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t say ________.

“Take it easy,” I said to ________. Don’t be nervous. You can do it.” Just then, I looked ________ everyone. I saw about 1,000 eyes. They were all looking at me! I looked at their eyes carefully. Their eyes were saying, “You can do it! Don’t be afraid, just talk!”

I took a big breath (呼吸). Then I began to talk. I don’t know ________ I finished my talk. But I did it. I felt so good that day. I ________ myself to everyone.

Jenny was a five-year-old girl. One day, while she was shopping with her mother, she saw a plastic pearl necklace (塑料珍珠项链) and loved it so much. So she asked her mother to buy it for her.

Every night, before Jenny went to bed, her dad would read stories to her. One night, when he finished the story, he asked, “Jenny, do you love me?”

“Dad, you know I love you,” Jenny answered.

“Well, give me your necklace,” Dad said.

“No, Dad. But you can have my favorite doll.”

Several times, when her father asked her to give him the plastic necklace, Jenny would give him something else instead. One evening, after Jenny’s father read her a story, Jenny said, “Here, Dad.” She put her plastic pearl necklace into her father’s hand.

Her father holds the necklace in one hand and opened the other hand. There was a real pearl necklace in it. He had had it for a long time, and waited for Jenny to give up the cheap one so that he could give her the real one.

So, don’t be mean. If we are generous (慷慨的), maybe we will get something better.

74-year-old Yang Weiyun doesn’t sing, dance or sell things on Douyin. She teaches pinyin. And many of her students are adults (成年人).

Yang worked as a Chinese teacher in a primary school for 30 years. Later, she went to work in a kindergarten (幼儿园) and she worked there for 20 years. Several years ago she left the kindergarten. However, she still wanted to do something meaningful. So in May 2021, she began to teach kindergarten kids pinyin on Douyin.

However, she found that many of her students online were adults. Because they are illiterate (不识字的), they feel inferior (自卑的). They feel they are not as good as the others. They are afraid to go to new places and worried that they can’t teach their children. So Yang added special classes to meet their needs.

There are over 37,000,000 illiterate adults in our country. Yang offers an easy and private (个别教授的) way for them to learn to read and write. Now she has about 350,000 students online.

Zhang Mei is one of Yang’s students. She grew up in the countryside and had never been to school. She moved to the city years ago. However, illiteracy made her life very hard. She couldn’t find a job. After taking Yang’s classes, she can read pinyin and knows how to write her name. She has also found a job.

Giving classes online is not an easy thing for Yang, but she tries her best to make her students learn in an easy and interesting way.

What a great teacher!