Zhao Yafu is an old agricultural (农业的) researcher in Jiangsu Province. He spends most of the year working     1     the fields.

Born in 1941, Zhao’s childhood dream was to become     2     news reporter. When he was at college, Zhao saw how hard lives were in the countryside,     3     he decided to do something to help. He     4     (begin) to teach agricultural science to the farmers in a primary school in the village. “The villagers needed someone to help     5     (they) change their minds and learn new techniques (技术),” Zhao said.

Zhao kept on     6     (encourage) the farmers to use the new techniques and to plant new kinds of rice, which brought in a lot of money. As time went by, villagers     7     (build) more new houses and roads by themselves with the money. And they came to understand that Zhao     8     (real) wanted to help them.

Zhao and his team were also active in western China     9     they were working in Jiangsu. Since 2013, they have helped many farmers in western China become rich.

“I saw how poor villagers used to be, and I also see how they     10     (change) for the past few years. I will continue with my work if my health is not too bad,” said Zhao.

Most of us never thought about making an educational toy (益智玩具) by ourselves. If we need an educational toy, we will go to the nearest store to buy it. But things are not so easy in the third world countries. Some families even have no food to put on the table, so it is not possible for them to buy educational toys.

Then how to get these kids interested in science? The Indian engineer Arvind Gupta thought about this question for a long time. While still an engineering student at college, he helped to teach the children who were too poor to go to school. It took him five years to design cars at India’s Tata Motors after he finished school.

But he didn’t want to do that for the rest of his life. He took a year’s course and joined the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Project. Mr Gupta found the whole project so helpful, so he decided to leave his high-paying job and started designing educational toys to help the poor children.

When the Internet became a popular learning tool, Mr Gupta started a website (网站) called Toys from Waste, and now it includes more than 260 videos. About 50,000 children and teachers visit the website every day to learn from the videos. It has helped some young children win very important science competitions.

5 .

“On your way home from the high mountains, you will be with the eagles (鹰) flying home.” Dancing to beautiful Yi ethnic group music, over 500 people enjoyed the Buma Music Festival. Buma means “knowledge” in Yi language. The lovely song is from a band called Wild Sounds, Buma is no typical music festival. Starting in 2021, it’s held every year in Chengdu, Sichuan. The money it makes goes to Yi teenagers so that they can enjoy higher education. The Yi-style band Wild Sounds started the festival.

During a trip to Liangshan to collect Yi songs in 2018, the band met a local (当地的) boy. “His clothes were old and dirty, but his eyes were so innocent,” said Chisha, 28, who started the band. “I could see from his eyes that he wants to see the world outside the mountains.” But sadly, Chisha said that many local children didn’t have the money to get out of the mountains for higher education. “Growing up in the mountains in Liangshan, I’m lucky that I could go to college and learn what I like. I want them to see a bigger world too,” said Chisha.

____★____ That’s how they started the Buma Music Festival. Chisha and his team turned their hobby into a career (事业). “Through the festival. Liangshan is helping its kids by sharing its music,” said Chisha. “Music helps make the world a better place.” According to Chisha, Buma has helped over 30 Liangshan teenagers go to universities. This year, at least another 10 Yi teenagers will get help.

7 . Erin was born and grew up in New York. She studied at a business college for a year, and then she went to California.

In 1990, when she was thirty years old, she had a car accident. A law firm (律师事务所) helped her deal with it, so she decided to work for them later.

One day, while working, Erin realized that there were lots of very sick people in a town called Hinkley. It was so unusual that she started to look for more information about the town.

Erin worked very hard for five years. She visited lots of sick people in Hinkley and listened to their stories. All the sick people lived near a big factory. Then she found out that there was something called chromium (铬) in the water they drank. It was from the factory and Erin believed that the cause of their sickness was the chromium in their drinking water. She planned to do something for them.

Erin started a law case (诉讼) against the factory. It wasn’t happy about this. They didn’t agree that the people were ill because of the water—but in 1996 the judge (法官) ordered the factory to pay the people in Hinkley $500,000 each.

In 2000, there was a film about Erin Julia Roberts played Erin and the film was very successful. Now Erin is famous—she has her own company and she gives talks all over the world.

8 . China is developing rapidly, with its people living a peaceful and happy life. While developing itself, China never fails to offer a helping hand to its friends.

On the Road to Peace

China has now been part of the UN peacekeeping missions (任务) for more than 30 years. UN peacekeeping missions provide different services including protecting civilians (平民).

In April 2023, the Chinese peacekeepers carried out an important task in Sudan. They successfully sent more than 1,100 people to safe places.

Into the Disaster Area (灾区)

In disaster areas, uniforms with “China Rescue (救援)” on the back offer a sign of hope and love. The Chinese rescue team is known for its quick and well-organized search and rescue work.

When earthquakes happened in Afghanistan and Nepal in October 2023, “China Rescue” quickly took action to transport things needed to the disaster areas.

Railway of Friendship

There are many high mountains between China and its neighboring country, Laos. The China-Laos Railway has broken through those barriers. This amazing achievement was made possible by the Lao workers and a large number of Chinese workers. They traveled far from their homes to build 1,035 kilometers of railway lines, including 301 bridges and 167 tunnels (隧道).

The peacekeepers, “China Rescue” and railway workers, are just some of the many thousands of Chinese who have spent all of their time and energy helping others around the world. Their selfless actions and tireless efforts bring honor to their homeland and help to build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.

9 . My name is Feng Guixiang. I want to tell you about the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund (CCTF) and     1     it helped me.

One of the CCTF’s special     2     (activity) is the Spring Bud Project. In 1989, 4.8 million children in the country, aged from seven to fourteen, were     3     (able) to attend school. Eighty-three percent of them     4     (be) girls. Because of this, the CCTF launched the Spring Bud Project to help them. Since then, the project     5     (help) millions of girls return to school. It has also built a lot of schools.

The very     6     (one) Spring Bud class was here in Guangxi in 1989. The Spring Bud Project paid for me to attend that class. It also rented a room close     7     the school for me.

Before the project started, I stayed at home     8     helped my mother with the housework. Going to school changed     9     (I) life. I learnt to read and write and do many other things.

Now I work as a teacher at a Spring Bud school here in Guangxi. I wish     10     (help) other girls the way the Spring Bud Project helped me.

10 . Liu Ming did not know what to expect when he volunteered for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, back in October 2007.     1     “It’s fantastic to work as a volunteer!” he says.

The Special Olympics World Games give children and adults with intellectual disabilities a chance to show their skills to the world.     2    

Over 40,000 people gave up their spare time for the 2007 Special Olympics World Games.     3     Then they provided support for the athletes and helped make the event a great success.

“I was the swimming coach for a young boy from North China called Li Hai,” says Liu Ming. “He was born with intellectual disabilities.     4     To Li Hai, the most important thing is not to win a gold or a silver, but to take part. Li Hai tried his best and finished fourth. He feels more confident now because of the Special Olympics World Games.”

    5     Athletes and volunteers from different backgrounds feel like part of one big family. “It’s great for us to work closely with these special athletes. You get to help them achieve their dreams,” says Liu Ming.