3 . Have you ever done or thought about volunteering before? Volunteering means spending time and effort helping somebody or something. In my case, I’ve volunteered at an animal shelter (收容所) to help feed and walk dogs.

Back in 2021, some friends and I went to an animal shelter outside of Beijing. There, I was able to give food to the animals. There were not only dogs at the shelter, such as foxes and chickens. Our main goal was to help the dogs by giving them walks. Many of the dogs were kept in big cages (笼子) along with other dogs and ate from a big bowl together. I felt a bit sad for the dogs since many of them looked old and needed a bath.

However, I made sure to give one of the dogs a good walk. I remember it was a big black dog with curly hair. The dog was very gentle, but it did not want to walk very far. It was also a bit shy and just wanted to look at the other dogs. Still, when I took out a tennis ball to play fetch (捡球), it really enjoyed it. I liked watching the dog run through a group of ducks trying to get the ball back.

Volunteering for the dog shelter is helpful for both the workers and the dogs. I really enjoyed my time there. I highly recommend it!

6 . Can middle school students be “teachers”? How will they teach? Li Ziqi, a l3-year-old boy from Chengdu Xichuan Middle School, Sichuan. Volunteered to teach primary school students in a village.

Li joined a teaching activity in Xichang county, Sichuan, last summer. “I read the news that teachers were not enough in the village, so I wanted to give some classes to the kids there,” said Li. His parents helped him get in touch with the school.

“My third-grade students have subjects like Chinese and English every day, so I wanted to teach them chess,” Li said.

Li carefully gave 10 chess lessons with rules and real games. “Chess can help with kids’ logical thinking. They love the chess class very much,” said Li. “They now know that there are many ways of learning, not just learning from books. I feel so proud!”

Before leaving, Li Ziqi visited his students’ homes. One father went to town to buy tea drinks for him. “I was so moved by these people when I saw the drinks. I know it is a kind of luxury for the family,” Li told us.

Li also learned important life lessons. “The kids there live a hard life, but they are hopeful about the future. That helps me get over hard things in life,” Li said.

7 . When we hear the word “volunteering”, what do you think of it? You may think volunteering is to help others without money. But the experience of helping others can be more meaningful than ________.

A few months ago, I learned that the city food bank needed some volunteers. I used to be the organizer in my group of friends. So, I sent letters to 10 friends. I’d like to ________ a group and it would volunteer to make and serve dinner for the disabled people. I wanted to ________ my friends to be part of the group. To my joy, almost all of my friends ________.

One day, several of my friends brought some food and helped prepare the meal. “I felt good when I saw the ________ people get the food!” said one friend. Later, another friend made a list (清单) about serving, ________ we could do quickly and easily. Now each month there are new volunteers being in the group. One woman ________ invited another group of her friends to serve.

It’s hard to imagine that simple words asking friends to help have made a big ________. At first, I just wanted to be an organizer. Now, I ________ my idea. I also love to work ________ a volunteer, because I can get more joy from the happy faces of the disabled people.

So, volunteering is a good way to make the world better.

When I was 24 years old, I worked in a volunteer fire company. I ________ remember my first experience of fighting fire. It was midnight, and an old woman’s house was on fire. I was the second volunteer to arrive there. The captain (队长) was talking with the homeowner. She was surely having one of the ________ days of her life. At midnight, she was standing outside in the pouring rain, under an umbrella. She wore nothing on ________ feet.

The other volunteer, who had arrived just ________ me, was asked to go inside and save the homeowner’s dog. The captain then waved me over. He said, “James, I need you to go upstairs, and get this woman a pair of ________.” “What? I came here to fight fire, not to do such a meaningless thing!” I shouted in my mind. It was not what I wanted to do, but I just went upstairs, saying nothing. I walked past the “real” firefighters, who had almost ________ the fire. Then I got into the bedroom to get a pair.

I ________ it downstairs and I saw the other volunteer with the dog he had saved. “He came just a little earlier than me, but what he has done was much bigger than what I have done.” I murmured (呢喃). We took what we had got outside to the homeowner. With no doubt, the dog got much more attention.

A few weeks later, the company received a letter from the homeowner. In the letter, she thanked us for saving her home. To my ________, she wrote that someone had even got her a pair of shoes in such a dangerous situation, and she was very thankful for that. At that moment, I felt that what I had done was ________.

Not every day is going to offer us a chance to save somebody’s life, ________ every day offers us a chance to affect one. So, don’t wait. If we have something to give, give it now.