4 . Every Thursday morning, the 89-year-old grandma Wu Pinxian, plays beautiful piano music for people to relieve (缓解) their stress at the outpatient department (门诊大厅) of Panyu Central Hospital in Guangzhou, CCTV News reported.

Wu has been a volunteer piano performer since the end of 2023. The hospital holds a piano performance every Thursday to create a relaxing environment and reduce patients’ worries.

Wu’s music is helpful. Many patients and their relatives sing along with her piano and some have even become her fans. Until now, Wu has been performing there every Thursday for one and a half hours with just a short break for almost four months.

Though Wu comforts others through her music, she herself is suffering from the pain of losing her husband, who passed away in December. ▲ Working as a volunteer in the hospital not only brings back the memories of youth, but also brings warmth to others and increases the value of life.

Wu spends three to four hours practicing the piano every day. After picking up the piano as a hobby, she wants to realize her dream even if she is already 89.

“I believe playing the piano allows the patients to listen to music. This brings them pleasure. Although I had not played the piano for a long time, it is good to play for others. I will do my best,” Wu wrote down in her diary.

Marta: What kind of volunteer job do you have?

Haru: I work at a nature museum. I teach children’s groups about animals, birds and plants. Last month,I helped some students write a report about the birds they didn’t know.

Marta: That’s interesting. Where did you hear about this job?

Haru: I found it through United We Serve. It’s a great website for us to volunteer in our own communities. You can find it on www.serve.gov.

Marta: Is it just for young people?

Haru: No, it isn’t. There are chances for everyone!

Marta: I have an idea for a volunteer project. What should I do?

Haru: Before you start, you should put your idea on the site and ask for volunteers. Many people are volunteering these days. And more people are going to volunteer in the future. In America, there is a law in which student volunteers can get money for their education. Besides, the number of older people goes up. That means we are going to have more older volunteers, too.

Marta: Fine. What do you want to say to other young men?

Haru: ________

Marta: A good call! Hope more young people can join you! Thank you for your time, Haru.

Haru: My pleasure.

Ann loves reading books very much. She     1     to be very shy. She was afraid of     2     to others. So she began to read books. Last year, Ann’s dad got a serious     3    . Ann was very sad. And then books became the best comfort (安慰) for her.

Some months later, Ann’s dad got much     4    . Then Ann came up with a plan to help others.

Ann started a book drive in her hometown. She collected lots of books and took them to the children in hospitals. So far, Ann has     5     more than 10,000 books.

Ann and her father are very close. When her father knew about     6     plans for the book drive, he wasn’t surprised. “Ann is always interested in books,” he said. “And she always wants to do things for the neighborhood.” Ann ran the book drive well with her     7     help. And she was very happy to do something     8     for others.

Ann still runs the book drive now. She often says, “It’s a wonderful thing for me to make a     9     to our society. And helping others     10     always a cool thing. I think I want to do this type of work forever.”

9 . Glacier National Park is a popular tourist attraction and many tourists went there for a trip every year. Patti lives near the park. One day, she noticed that there were a lot of speeding cars running on the road. “Drivers always forget to slow down. Many people in my community are unhappy with the traffic. They can’t walk or ride a bike on the road,” said Patti.

Worried about the safety of her grandchildren and the community, Patti decided to take matters into her own hands. She sat alone on the side of the road with a hair-dryer (吹风机) in her hand. The hair-dryer looked very much like a speed measuring radar gun (测速雷达枪). By holding this special “gun”, Patti tried to act as a traffic police officer doing a speed check.

What Patti did worked. The drivers began to slow down. They thought it was strange and funny to see a grandma sitting there with a hair-dryer. One day, her son took a picture of her while she was “at work” and shared it online. Soon, the grandmother with a hair-dryer became the hot topic of the town. More and more people started paying attention to the traffic problem there.

Later, her effort even caught the attention of the local government. An officer named Noah Pesola gave his heartfelt thanks to her for her creative effort to make the road safer.

No one could have imagined that Patti’s simple act would have such an influence.

“Rescue (救援) has no borders. Chinese rescue teams will keep going to     1     people,” said Chen Jiahuan, a 28-year-old member of China’s Blue Sky Rescue Team. On February 6th, 2023, a big earthquake happened in Turkey, and it caused tens of     2     of casualties (伤亡).

Chen arrived in Turkey together with many other     3     of the Blue Sky Rescue Team. “When we landed at the Istanbul airport, a local person said, ’China     4     a great country. Thanks for     5     support and kind actions. You must keep safe while working in the fallen buildings,’” Chen recalled.

According to Chen, nearly 300 people from the Blue Sky Rescue Team joined the rescue efforts. “From Thursday to Saturday, we     6     searched 25 buildings and 133 workplaces. Much to our joy, we saved 28 people. However, only two of them were     7     to survive (存活),” said Chen.

The members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team were     8     by what the local people did. “They lit a fire for our rescue team by the roadside. And they shared their bread with us, though they didn’t have enough food to eat.” said Chen.

“As the old saying goes, ‘Many hands make light     9    .’ One person’s power is weak, but the power of a group is strong,” Chen added.

In late February, the Blue Sky Rescue Team returned to China. During the stay in Turkey, they saved 8 survivors and     10     137 victims (遇难者) in total. How great they were!