March 5 is “Lei Feng Day”. It started fifty years ago. Now half a century has passed. Is the spirit of Lei Feng outdated（过时的）? Some people have shown us that it’s not. But people also changed the ways in which they help others.

Zhao has been a volunteer for 18 years. She still remembers her     20     at a nursing home several years ago. An old man held her hand and said: “You don’t need to do anything for us. Seeing young people here is all we need.”

Those words made Zhao think: in what     21     can we better help people? “Every person does what they can, no matter     22     small it is, to give out positive energy（正能量）. And before we lend a helping hand, we should     23     what they want.” Zhao said to Qilu Evening News.

As well as Zhao, other people have shown their understanding of the spirit of Lei Feng.

This past January, beginning with an online post, “noodle fever” swept Zhengzhou, Henan Province. One     24     man, Li Gang, 42, said in his post that he had a serious illness and needed a lot of money for an operation to fight it. However, what he     25       wasn’t charity, but for more people to come to eat noodles at his restaurant.

Li’s post spread     26    . Soon his restaurant was filled with customers every day and Li was able to     27     to have his operation on February 2.

In this way people could help Li without hurting his dignity（自尊）.

In China, there are 24 solar terms（节气）in a year. And there are six of them in winter. The six terms are beginning of winter, light snow, heavy snow, winter solstice（冬至）, lesser cold（小寒）and greater cold.

Beginning of winter usually falls on November 7^th or 8^th. After beginning of winter, most parts of the country can start to expect cold weather. On this day, after a year of hard work, people are happy to have a rest and spend time with family. The northern China celebrates beginning of winter as the “Small Spring Festival”. People usually have dumplings and mutton soup on that day.

Light snow usually falls on November 22^nd or 23^rd and heavy snow usually falls on December 7^th or 8^th. When winter solstice comes, it brings the shortest days of the year and the longest nights. Many places of the country can expect the coldest weather yet. Winter solstice in 2021 is on December 21^th. People often start counting “nine cold periods” starting from winter solstice. Every cold period has nine days. People believe that after 81 cold days, spring will come.

Greater cold comes after lesser cold. The field is covered with snow. And all Chinese are ready to welcome the Spring Festival after it. Of course, a new round of solar terms will start.

Although I didn’t have any interest in being a school bus driver, I became one. Many years later, I was still working on the school bus. There are so many good reasons. Firstly, the talk brought me different kinds of information. I also got to hear all the family secrets of the newcomers. I have a toy bear who was a great comforter（安慰者）for the little ones. The kids got to look after him on the trip to school and he waited for them patiently to get on for the trip home.

Our bus would often pass a place where we could see some alpacas （羊驼）in front of a farm house. Little Michael would cry excitedly from the seat, “Look, Miss! Look at the camels!” He used to put his head out of the bus window. When I warned him that a little insect would come into his nose if he wasn’t careful, he smartly gave up the habit.

I remember a little girl got on the bus one morning 5 years ago and sobbed （抽泣）all the way to school. We arrived at the school gate. As she waited to get down the bus, she threw her arms around my neck and cried that her grandfather had died the night before.

A school bus driver needs to keep one eye on the road, and the other on the mirror to watch what the little ones are doing down the back.

Now, it’s important to think how many lives I’ve been responsible for, and how many kilometers I’ve driven in order to get my passengers home safely during the 20 years. I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s time to rest and park my school bus.

COVID-19 (新冠病毒) has stopped people from working for several months. In recent days, many people have returned to work.     36     Here is some advice.

When commuting (通勤)

Avoid taking public transport.     37     If you have to take public transport, you shall wear a face mask (口罩) through the ride and try to avoid touching objects in the vehicles (车辆) with your hands.

Entering the workplace

Wear a face mask and receive body temperature check before entering the office building. You must pass the body temperature check before being allowed in. Wash hands in time. If you have signs such as fever, please go to the fever office of a hospital at once.

Using a lift

Avoid using a lift if you are going to or leaving lower floors. Use the stairs instead. Stand clear of lift doors (离电梯门远一点) while waiting.     38    

In offices

    39     Do it three times a day for 15 minutes to half an hour each time. You can only get infected (感染的) if the virus builds up in large numbers. Fresh air can stop the virus from building up.

Keep healthy habits such as eating a healthy diet, exercising and getting enough sleep. They can improve your immunity (免疫力).

On June 9th, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. The next day, a headline in The New York Times read: “Death of the Great Novelist ... Will Be Remembered by the People ...”

The headline was not overstating (夸大) the popularity of Dickens. Even today, the British novelist     53     (love) by readers all over the world. Dickens     54     (create) some unforgettable characters. You must have heard of or even read some of his novels: Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities     55     (sell) more than 200 million copies so far. Since 1897, there have been more than 300 films and TV adaptations (改编剧本) of Dickens’ works. A Christmas Carol alone has had nearly 50.

Natalie Mcknight is a literature professor (文学教授) who     56     (study) Dickens and his works. She explains why the novelist has remained so popular. One important reason, she says, is that Dickens wrote from his heart. He     57     (try) hard to produce emotional effects (情感效果) among his readers. In his works, he paid special attention to the “little man” at the bottom of society in the UK, which deeply mirrored the social reality at that time. A Christmas Carol, for example, was written to make every reader think about how they could make a difference to their society. People always enjoy works that make them     58     (laugh), cry and think. Many other 19th-century novelists wrote entertaining (娱乐的) works. However, few of them worked as hard as Dickens to touch the readers deeply.

Dickens wrote about situations and emotions that still interest people today. He used his pen to fight social inequality (不平等) and gave voice to the poor. His works led to many important social changes. Readers always enjoy     59     (see) poor people rise and succeed.

Will you read or re-read some of his famous works?

Animals are our friends. Sometimes they make trouble, but sometimes they can help us. And they hope to live a happy life, too. Here are two real stories from our readers.

The first story is from Ray. “My cat, Tiger, hates it when I use my iPad because it takes my attention away from him. One year, I had a fall at home and was on the floor for sixteen hours. During this time I was unable to move and couldn’t get to the phone to call for help. Tiger stayed by my side until he disappeared under my bed. ‘What’s he up to?’ I wondered. To my surprise, he started to push something towards me. It was my iPad which I didn’t realize had fallen off the bed and onto the floor. He probably didn’t know what it was, but he knew that it made me happy. Thanks to Tiger I was able to communicate with my friend Becky who then told my doctor.”

The second story is from Colin. “Years ago, my friend Julius saved a bird—a wild ‘Mom’ cockatoo(鹦鹉) from the side of the road and kept it as pet in a big cage(笼子). It lost one of her wings. So she was unable to return to the wild. Soon, two wild cockatoos came visiting and one ‘Dad’ bird wanted to find his way into the cage. The ‘Mom’ cockatoo in the cage was soon expecting. But as she couldn’t fly, ‘Dad’ cockatoo built a home in the tree, keeping off everyone who got close to ‘Mom’ cockatoo. ‘Baby’ cockatoo would spend his days flying off with his dad, leaving his mom behind. She would sit and wait until they return home each afternoon. The family stayed together happily.”

After reading the stories. don’t you think we should get along well with animals? No matter they are our pets or live in the wild, they have their feelings. We should respect every life in the world.