“It looks mouth-watering!” “The food smells like heaven!” Recently, people lined up to eat at a community canteen (社区食堂), and took out their mobile phones to photograph the delicious and cheap dishes on the table. This community canteen in the Xinhua Road in Guiyang, capital of south China’s Guizhou Province, is one of 23 canteens for the elderly in the city.

There are 827 thousand elderly people registered so far in Guiyang. Cooking a meal at home, ordering food online or dining at a restaurant is not a problem for most people, but it might be a huge challenge for them, especially those who are disabled, widowed or live alone. That is why the elderly are pleased with the emergence of community canteens, which have solved dining headaches and support their health. It is worth mentioning that they can have breakfast, lunch and dinner within a 10-minute walk, or community workers can bring the dishes to them.

“I can have a meat dish, a vegetable dish and a bowl of rice for only 20 yuan—all very healthy. They have a home-cooked taste,” said Fang Wenjing in Hangzhou.

“My son and daughter-in-law are always busy. They worry that I may forget to switch off the gas when cooking,” said 88-year-old Liu Zongyan. “They are relieved because the canteen serves healthy food and the volunteers are friendly.”

“I feel lonely at home,” said an elderly man who has been widowed for over 10 years. “But at the canteen, I have friends.” The canteens not only fill empty stomachs but also empty hearts.

The rise of community canteens couldn’t have happened without the work of governments. They provide subsidies (补贴) for building the canteens as well as the dining cost of the elderly. There are now more than 6,700 community canteens in China, according to Tianyancha, a database company.

“I know we wanted some snow days, but this is too heavy!” Todd looked at the three feet of snow that ________ the front area of his house. He and his friend, Paul, were out with their sleds (雪橇), trying to find something ________ to do. They had been out of school now for two weeks because of the bad weather.

“At first, it was ________ to get up late in the morning and play in the snow. But now,” Paul said, “I’m starting to miss our ________.” Todd nodded in agreement. The two boys kept walking. “Maybe we could do something meaningful ________ we’re off school,” Paul said.

Todd nodded his head. “It would be great for us to ________ a way to make use of our time.” Just then, Todd saw his neighbor Mr. Mundy ________ shoveling (铲除) the snow. He saw how hard the work was for his old neighbor and how he had to stop between each shovel to ________. Then the boys had the same idea of ________ help at the same time.

Two hours later, the driveway was shoveled and they got thanks and ________ from Mr. Mundy. That day, they both got happiness from their boring time by helping others.

Zhang Guimei is a teacher from China who has dedicated (奉献) her life to helping girls get an education. She grew up     1     a poor family and knows how difficult it can be for girls in poor areas to get a good education.

So she decided     2     (do) something about it! With a lot of hard work and determination, Zhang Guimei     3     (set) up a free high school for girls in her village in 2008. She faced many     4     (challenge), like finding money and resources (资源) for the school, but she never gave up. She strongly     5     (believe) that education is the key to changing lives. Zhang Guimei’s students are     6     (deep) thankful to her for giving them the chance to get an education. She has taught them that     7     they work hard, they can achieve anything. The girls at her school are receiving a great education and     8     (dream) of becoming doctors, teachers, and scientists now. Her former (以前的) students have done a great job in many different areas, too. They have hope for a     9     (good) future because of Zhang Guimei.

In a word, Zhang Guimei is     10     inspiration to us all. She has shown us that with courage and determination, we can make a positive influence on the world.

A week after a serious flood hit the city of Zhengzhou, Zhang Yong received a call from the flood control office in Henan asking for help.

Within four days, his team of 2000 ________ helped more than 200, 000 people move to safe places with firefighters and the military. Zhang Yong was a SWAT (特警) officer before. He is ________ the founder of Beijing Blue Sky Rescue (救援).

In 2005, several ________ happened including the death of a hiker without being rescued in time, Zhang founded a rescue team with a group of outdoor lovers. The team ________ outdoor rescue and outdoor skills training. On May 12th, 2008, an 8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan. Zhang and his team discussed ________ they could do to help after watching the news. Zhang and two other members took a flight to Chengdu. On the flight, the three were ________ by a TV reporter. Soon more volunteers, having seen the interview on the news, contacted them, asking to join the group. Many of them later became founders of local Blue Sky Rescue.

________ , when many volunteers showed up at earthquake, they had no idea how to face different kinds of ________ and problems. At that time, China had a professional rescue team of only about 200 members. Without training, volunteers found ________ difficult about what to do. Zhang realized that outdoor rescue experience wasn’t enough.

He came up with the idea of creating a complete emergency response system (系统). Six months ________ the 2008 earthquake, Blue Sky was founded in Beijing which is China’s largest non-profit civil rescue organization (非盈利营救组织).