Lena is an animal rescuer in Shanghai, and she works with a group of other rescuers to help dogs and cats which walk alone. The group is called the SCAA, which stands for “Second Chance Animal Aid”. All of the     1     try to give homeless animals their “second chance”. “Say ‘hello’ to Jake and Rufus,” says Lena, holding up a pair of cute puppies.” Someone left these puppies in a box in the rain, only a few days after they were born. We had to     2     them with a bottle every three hours. Now, they’re     3    . They like to chew on their blanket and go for walks.” She shows another picture. “This is Jack and Jill. They were     4     in a litter bin where some unkind people had left them. We had to take them to the vet many times to make them healthy.”

Another volunteer, Emma, shows a picture of some kittens in a basket. “There were six of them in a box by the road, only three weeks old,” she says. “We look after them     5     until they were old enough to find new homes.”

Animal rescuers don’t just help animals. They also try to teach people about preventing for cruelty (残忍)to animals and often give out booklets with     6     about animal care. “It’s important to be kind!” says Lena. “These little animals can’t     7     help like we can.”

Animals are our friends. People rescue and help them. They can be     8     for people, too. For example, dogs can help the police catch the thieves and find missing people. They can also help the blind across the road safely.

John Brown, an office worker, lives in Washington, and he inherited(继承)＄1,000,000 when he was 23. He didn’t feel happy at all. His college friends were looking for their first jobs, but he didn’t have to. John decided to keep living a simple life like everyone else. He didn’t tell any of his friends and gave＄100,000 of his money to a charity(慈善团体) that helped poor children to live better lives. Today he is 36. He still wears cheap shoes and clothes and owns a small car only, but he is much happier. Up to now John has helped 15 children from poor countries all over the world, $200 a month for each. The child does not receive the money in cash(现金). The money pays for the child’s school expenses, food, medical care and clothing. John receives a report each year on the child’s progress.

They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English. When John first heard about these children, he wanted to help them. “It was not anything special,” he said, “Until I had the chance to go to these countries and meet the children I was helping, I did not know any thing about the type of life they had.”

Once John went to meet a little girl in Africa. He said that the meeting was very exciting. “When I met her, I felt very very happy,” he said, “I saw that the money was used for a very good plan. It brought me closer to the child in a way that giving money alone cannot.” “I want to do everything I can. I will go on helping those children in need.” he added.

7 . Zhang Heyun was a Chinese reporter. He lived in a city in Russia in 2018. One day, an old woman living nearby visited him. The woman introduced herself as Ivanova. She asked Zhang if he could help her find her Chinese penfriend who she lost contact with 56 years ago.

Her penfriend was named Duan Chunxiu. Ivanova and Duan were both middle school student when they started writing letters to each other in Russia. They mostly wrote about their school lives. Ivanova sent three letters to Duan and received two back. However, the two girls lost contact with each other later.

Most people think it was impossible to find a person after so many years, but Zhang agreed to help. He posted an old photo of Duan on Weibo. He hoped that someone would see the photo and know the girl in it. Soon, a woman contacted Zhang. She said she was a former classmates of Duan and was still in contact with her.

With the help of Zhang and the old classmate, Ivanova and Duan finally got in touch again. They wrote emails to each other. Both of them were very happy to hear from a childhood friend after such a long time.

Who says kids can’t make a difference? In Missouri, a group of students are c    1     lives around the world! How are they doing this? They’re buying farm animals.

Millions of people live with little food and money, so the gift of an animal can a    2     save lives. More than 10 years ago, the second-graders at Forsyth School learned about how Heifer International helps people. They decided that they wanted to help, too.

Heifer is an organization that has been “turning hunger and poverty into h    3    ” for almost 70 years. It does this by giving farm animals to poor people and teaching them how to use the animals to improve their lives. The logo(徽标) of Heifer is a young cow, and it has become a symbol of Heifer’s work. That’s because families with a cow can p    4     milk that they can drink and trade other things they need.

Animals save lives in o    5     ways, too. Strong animals, such as water buffaloes (水牛), can plow land (犁地). Families with a water buffalo can grow more food to eat and sell. Heifer also gives such animals as goats, sheep, camels and even bees to families in need.

Each second-grade class at the school decides which animals to buy and how much to give to special projects. B    6    , the students raise money by recycling cans and making jewelries. A water buffalo costs $250. That needs a lot of recycled cans!

Kids can do many things to help others. Your class might want to raise money for Heifer, too. You might a    7     want to give away your money or your time to a group in your community that helps people. Why not talk with your classmates about how your school can help others?

9 . In April this year, lots of bags full of small change（零钱）were seen at bus stops in Tianjin. They were made for passengers to turn their notes into small change. And such an idea came from four students from Zhongbei Middle School, Tianjin.

“People will surely feel worried when they take a bus without coins. We just want to do something to help them,” said Wang Yongcun, 15, one of the four students.

The four boys spent their whole weekend making the change bags. After that they went to see the number of the passengers at each bus stop near their school, and then chose the top six stops to put the bags.

Many people think that the four boys have really done a good job. But, things didn’t go as the boys thought. Two days later, they found that the money was gone, and that even the bags were taken. It really made them sad but they would not give up. Their classmates and teachers came to help them in time. They put their pocket money in bags again. And the teachers also taught them to make better change bags. They tried their best to do it.

The four boys feel very happy because they have done something good for the passengers. Their warm hearts are moving. More and more people are beginning to join in the activity.

Every three minutes, a child is born with a clef lip. Children with these conditions^[1] have terrible problems with eating, drinking and speaking and one in ten of them die before their first birthday. The luckier ones live, but they are often rejected by friends and sometimes even by their own family.

In rich countries, simple surgeries^[3] can correct most of these mouth problems and allow children to live normal lives. But in poorer countries, the operations are too expensive for ordinary people and there are not enough doctors who can do them.

In 1982, American doctor Bill Magee and his wife Kathy, a nurse, went to the Philippines to do some cleft lip surgeries. But it was a short trip and there was no time to help all the children who needed surgery. They felt terribly guilty. When they got home, they started a new charity. They called it Operation Smile.

Now Operation Smile works in more than sixty countries. Five thousand volunteers give their time and skills to provide free mouth surgery to the children who need it most. The charity also provides medical equipment and trains local doctors to do the surgery themselves. In this way, the results of an Operation Smile visit continue long into the future.

When an international group of doctors and nurses travels to a country, two secondary school students go, too. The students are usually people who have done a lot of fundraising^[4] in their local area and told a lot of people about the work of Operation Smile. Their trip is a fantastic way to experience a completely different culture and help to change lives forever.