1 . I received a letter recently from a grandmother. She told me about her four-­year-­old granddaughter Skylar. When Skylar learned of Disneyland from TV, she began to ________ her pocket money in a piggy bank. She hoped to visit it someday. Her parents took her there when she was four years old, and didn’t use her savings at all!

When Skylar ________ from Disneyland, it was Christmas time. She decided to buy presents with her savings. But she also learned on TV about a local homeless centre called “The Road House”. She ________ her mother again and again ________ “homeless” meant and why those children needed toys and warm clothes. She couldn’t seem to get the homeless ________ her mind.

Her mother took her to the shop to buy presents. She didn’t buy any presents for ________ or her family, however, she bought a girl’s ________ coat and a pair of socks for the centre.

She was so ________ waiting for Christmas! She was thinking about going to the centre and ________ her carefully­ picked gifts to a homeless child.

On Christmas Eve, she and her family drove to the centre. Skylar gave her Christmas box to a thankful child. She was so filled with ________ at truly helping someone else that her family decided to go to the homeless centre every year.

2 . Team of retired (退休的) women working as “shared grandmas” in Chongqing is getting popular online. They help working parents pick up their children from school and help the kids with their homework.

The team of “shared grandmas” from the Shipingcun Community (社区) is made up of nine grandmas. They look after 25 primary school students in the community. Working parents can’t pick up their kids from school at 3 p.m. The “shared grandmas” can help them look after their kids and make them enjoy themselves.

Deng Lihong, 66, is a member of the team. From Monday to Friday, she picks up the children from school, stays with them in the community room until their parents come to pick them up. “The program started in April. I feel young with the kids. It also makes my retired life meaningful,” Deng said. Many people think the program is great and worth promoting (值得推广) because it’s good for parents, children and the retired grandmas. “We ask the retired women in the community to join in this program. The happiness means (意味着) a lot to them,” Peng Mei, from Shipingcun Community, said.

3 . The Great Wall is one of the wonders (奇迹) of the world. Every year _________ tourists from all over the world come to visit this place of interest in China.

Last Saturday I went to the Great Wall with some of my friends. It was a _________ day. On our way up, we saw many volunteers _________ in the sun. They helped the elders _________ their bags, took photos for some tourists and answered people’s questions. Though (虽然) they were very _________, they didn’t stop _________ a rest. We were deeply moved _________ we saw this.

Just at the moment, we saw a little boy standing alone and crying _________. We went over and asked what happened to him. From his answer we knew that he couldn’t find his mother. We told him not to _________ it. Then we tried to get in touch with his mother with the phone number he gave us. Twenty minutes later his mother showed up. When she saw her son, she was very excited and thanked us with tears (眼泪) in her _________.

4 . 72-year-old Huang Kaihui is from Guiyang, Guizhou. He often swims in the Huaxi River. He has saved over 100 people from drowning (溺水) in his 20 years of swimming.

Huang is a fan of swimming and is really interested in winter swimming. 1. 49年前，当他还是个年轻人的时候，他开始了游泳。Many waters in the city have been his swimming pools.

Huang always leaves home at eight in the morning, taking his swimwear and goggles with him. 2. 他乘坐两个小时的公共汽车到达那条河。Even in winter when the temperature drops below 0℃, he will brave the cold and swim for at least one hour a day.

Besides Huang, many other people visit the Huaxi River all year round. In summer, a lot of people, including students from the college nearby, will come and swim in the river. 3. A person falling into the water is not a surprising thing. However, because of the swimming habits over the twenty years, Huang often has been around when a dangerous thing happens.

“I have been swimming for many years. Most of the time, I can tell who is in danger in the water and come to save him in time. But there were also a few situations where I came late and bad things happened,” Huang said. “4. When I didn’t save people, I felt a sense of guilt (内疚)。”

“I never ask for a reward (回报). The only thing I ask is that the people who almost drown are all safe.” 5. As he is getting older and older, he hopes that more young people could start swimming, build their bodies and do more things for society.

5 . Jim Davidson said reading played a “very, very important role” in his children’s lives as they were growing up. During his twenty years as a writer, the father of four became worried about illiteracy (文盲) in America and decided to do something about it.

Davidson started “Bookcase for Every Child” project (项目) in his hometown of Conway, Arkansas, USA in 2005. The project provides low-income (低收入的) children with bookcases, and a starter set of books to encourage reading.

Davidson’s project is different from other projects. Instead of raising money from the public, he gets many people personally to take part in the project.

“We decided to build 50 bookcases each year and give them to low-income children,” said Davidson. “I can promise you this is the nicest piece of furniture (家具) in most of these low-income children’s homes.”

Today, the project has spread to eight communities (社区) in five states. He said the project’s early success belonged to the community members. “I knew a lot of people all over the community and was able to choose a group of people to do the job,” said Davidson. The group included members such as librarians and a workman.

Davidson’s love for the project grew deeper after his wife died in May, 2013. For him, spreading the bookcase project all over the country is the best way to remember her. And he hopes to have at least one project in every state in his country.

7 . As a teenager, do you feel helpless when having problems with your parents? Chen Zanzao, a 17-year-old boy from Shenzhen, has created a charity community （慈善团体） called Dear Theodosia to offer professional help to families facing similar problems. It now has 2,000 regular participants （参与者）.

Chen’s idea was inspired by the three-child policy （政策）. “My friend Sina and I thought it would bring problems like parental favoritism （父母偏心）,” Chen said. “Most families still don’t know any methods to deal with this.”

They started to research both scientific parenting styles and people’s needs. They read a lot of studies on the topic and surveyed more than 1,000 people. They found that the healthiest family relationships are when parents take an active part in their children’s lives.

They then founded the community to spread the idea. “We hold lectures and discussions as well as go on radio and TV programs to spread useful information,” Chen said.

Chen and his friend Sina would do one-on-one conversations with people who felt self-conscious （难为情的） about sharing their stories. “It’s understandable that at first, they need time to trust us since we are young,” Chen said. “But listening is the key, and slowly they will realize that we are professional.”

“We met many parents saying, ‘I never thought raising a child would be this difficult’, so I think it’s really important that parents think through whether they could take the responsibility （责任） before they rush into anything,” Chen added.

8 . I was in a shopping mall, so I decided to go and get a cup of coffee. As I was making my way to the coffee shop, I noticed an old gentleman, poorly dressed, sitting near the shop. I knew from the first sight that he needed help. He had a little lunch in front of him and was enjoying it. It was clear that he had a problem with his right eye. I then joined the line and waited to be served.

Then it happened — one of the most beautiful gestures I had ever seen in my life. There was a young man in front of me in the line who was also waiting to be served. The next thing I knew was that the young man handed the waitress 20 dollars and requested a glass of juice as a favor. The waitress looked at the young man a little perplexed, not fully understanding the request. That was when the young man asked her to give the juice to the old gentleman eating his lunch outside, as well as the change from the 20 dollars. The young man also told her that he would be watching every second so that she would be completely safe. Then there was a wonderful exchange between the waitress and the old man. I only wished I could take a photo of the smiles on both of their faces.

As I was considering this event later, I wondered why the young man didn’t perform this act of kindness himself. Maybe he was hoping that this act of kindness might inspire others to do something for this old man as well.

Do you enjoy walking? And do you enjoy walking for hours? If your answer is “Yes”, please join us for our Walk for Charity（慈善）. Starting in Central Park, 20 or 30 kilometers.

Last year’s walkers helped to raise a total of 21,000 yuan. The money has already been used to build a children’s playground. The money raised this year will provide support for old people in our town. Please read the information below carefully.