The Spirit of Giving
Terry Crossman is an American who lives in Beijing now. He is 64 years old and he is retired (退休). He has lived in Beijing for 24 years. Now he spends some of his time volunteering to help tourists find their way around the beautiful area of Xicheng District in Beijing. He can even give people directions in fluent (流利的) Chinese.
Things were not easy for him when he started volunteering in March 2017, since he was unfamiliar (不熟悉) with the neighborhood. At first, he walked around for a long time until he could give right directions. And he worked harder to study Chinese every night.
Being a foreigner speaking fluent Chinese and the only male in the volunteer group called “Aunties from Xicheng District”, Terry has been famous on the Internet. He has attracted many tourists who come just to take a photo with him. Some people ask him for directions, and a lot of time he is asked to take photos.
He says. “The spirit of volunteering is you get more than what you give in a way. I love volunteering because I love doing things for people. I also want to make people happy.” He thinks it’s like throwing a stone into the river and then you have little waves. Then happiness can be given to other people.
Volunteering is a sure sign of an advanced and civilized society. According to a survey, there are over 129,000 community voluntary groups, 10.72 million volunteers like Crossman. They have volunteered for 23.88 million hours. Volunteers are serving the world beyond borders (国界).
1. Can Terry help tourists find the way in Chinese?2. When did Terry start volunteering?
3. What’s the spirit of volunteering?
4. Why does he love volunteering?
5. What do you think of volunteering?
I and many other people in Britain love charity (慈善) shops because we can find them on every street. The charity shops sell all kinds of things and they are very cheap.
Oxfam opened the first charity shop in 1947. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favorite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross Shop. There I always find children’s books, all 10 to 20 pence (便士) each. They are really cheap.
Most of the shop workers in charity shops are volunteers, although each shop has a manager and he gets some money. Every morning you see bags of things outside the shops. Some people bring and put them there without waiting for thanks. In fact, over 90% of the things in charity shops are from kind people.
All the money the shops get goes to charity work. Charity shops raise more than 110 million pounds every year. The money is for sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and many others. In a charity shop you can get cheap but nice things. You might even feel special while shopping.
If possible, let’s do something for charity together.
1. What do the charity shops sell? (no more than 6 words)2. Why is the writer’s favorite charity shop in his hometown the Red Cross Shop? (no more than 12 words)
3. How much do charity shops raise every year? (no more than 9 words)
4. 请将文中画线的句子翻译成汉语。
5. 请给短文拟一个适当的英文题目。
3 . I was at the shop last night and saw a homeless woman with a trolley (手推车) full of her belongings. She was sitting inside the shop to keep warm. I went up to her and tried to give her money for something to eat, but she refused. She explained that if she had too much money on her, other homeless people might steal it while she was sleeping.
I explained that I just wanted to help her and asked if I could buy her something warm. Again, she said no. She thanked me and said how thankful she was that I could offer help. We introduced ourselves, and she said that when I saw her the next time, she would accept help. What an amazing woman! The lady taught me an important lesson: Not all homeless people accept money or help if they believe they’ve received enough that day. I look forward to meeting her again.
Walking out into the cold night, I met a homeless man who was freezing. I gave the money to him. He appeared to have had a drinking problem, but I was glad that he accepted my help.
I left with a special feeling. I always try to understand what it’s like to be in a homeless person’s shoes or to imagine if they were my children facing such difficulties. I learned how lucky I am and how thankful I should be for what I have.
Answer the following questions according to the passage.
1. Why didn’t the homeless woman accept the writer’s money?2. What lesson did the writer learn from the homeless woman?
3. When would the woman accept the writer’s help?
4. Did the homeless man accept the writer’s money?
5. What does the writer want to tell us with her experiences?
Each country has many good people who help to take care of others. For example, some high school and college students in the United States often spend many hours as volunteers in hospitals, orphanages (孤儿院) or homes for the aged. They read books to the people in these places, or they just visit them and play games with them or listen to their problems.
Other young volunteers go and work in the homes of people who are sick or old. They paint, clean up, or repair their houses or do their shopping. For boys who no longer have fathers, there is an organization (组织) called Big Brothers. College students and other men take these boys to play baseball games or on fishing and help them to get to know things that boys usually learn from their fathers. Each city has a number of clubs where boys and girls can go to play games or learn skills. Some of these clubs show movies or organize short trips to the mountains, the beaches, museums or other places of interest. Most of these clubs use a lot of high school and college students as volunteers because they are young enough to remember the problems of younger boys and girls. Volunteers believe that some of the happiest people in the world are those who help to bring happiness to others.
1. The passage mainly tells us that2. We can find volunteers in the United States in
3. Some clubs use many high school and college students as volunteers because they
4. What is Big Brothers?
5. What do the volunteers believe?
5 . In the heart of a small town lived a boy named Tom. He was known among his neighbors for his kindness and helpful nature. One day, while he was on his way home from school, Tom noticed an old woman. She was trying to water her garden, but it seemed a bit hard for her. Seeing that, Tom decided to help her every day after school.
Tom kept his promise and watered the garden as if it had been his own. Over time, the plants grew up. One summer, a serious drought (干旱) hit the town, and many plants died. However, the old woman’s garden remained green and full of life. People were amazed by the garden’s beauty and asked the old woman how she managed to keep her plants alive.
The woman told them about Tom’s daily efforts and how his kindness had saved her garden. The story spread throughout the town, and Tom became known as the boy who could make anything grow.
Years later, Tom became a famous botanist (植物学家). He never forgot the lesson he learned from the old woman and continued to spread kindness wherever he went. Kindness is like water to a plant. It can grow and bring out the best in everything around us.
1. What was Tom famous for?（不超过5个词）2. How was the old woman’s garden after a serious drought in the summer? （不超过 10个词）
3. What does the story want to tell us?（不超过10个词）
6 . Zhou Jingyi is a second-year postgraduate student from Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics, and 2024 marks her third year working as a railway volunteer, as well as her third experience with the Spring Festival travel rush.
As a local, she serves at Wanzhou North Station during the winter vacation. She began to participate in volunteer activities in 2019. According to Zhou, she was influenced by her mother to become a railway volunteer, “My mother works for public good, which leads me to get involved in volunteer activities.”
Wanzhou North Station operates 124 trains per day on average, with an estimated (估计) daily departure of 18, 000 passengers and an arrival of 19, 000 passengers during this year’s travel rush.
There are only six railway youth volunteers, like Zhou, working in the station, helping passengers after pre-job training. During the travel rush, she gets up at 6:30 am and arrives at work by 7:50 am every day. At the station, she provides passengers with services like helping them buy tickets and board the train, keeping order, answering questions, and dealing with the transfer. Zhou has to repeat to answer the same question from different people hundreds of times, but she never loses patience.
“It might cause my legs to ache and my throat to become uncomfortable, but the volunteer activities warm the people on their journey and paint my vacation colorful, as well as improve my ability in communication and expression,” she added.
The most unforgettable experience for Zhou was that she met a grandmother with a lot of luggage. “I helped her carry the bags from the entrance to the ticket gates. She kept saying ‘Thank you’ and gave me two oranges, telling me that ‘you look so much like my granddaughter’,” she recalled.
She said those were the sweetest oranges she had ever had. “This proves that warmth can produce warmth, strengthening my mind to be a volunteer.”
1. Who influenced Zhou Jingyi to become a railway volunteer?2. What services can Zhou Jingyi provide for passengers?
3. Why did the grandmother give Zhou Jingyi two oranges?
4. Do you want to work as a volunteer? Why or why not? (Please give two reasons.)
International Volunteer Day is a day to celebrate the efforts of people who create a positive change in their communities and work selflessly to bring about peace and development for the world. On International Volunteer Day, volunteers share their experiences with volunteering and talk about its influence on their personal lives.
Sharon first started volunteering at the age of 16. It was the summer before her junior year of high school, and she hadn’t really understood the meaning behind doing something for others until that day.
Sharon was going with a group to the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Dallas, Texas. RMH is a “home-away-from-home” for families so they can stay close by their hospitalized child at little or no cost.
Sharon recalls her first time walking into RMH-nervous and afraid of messing up or saying the wrong thing. After only 5 minutes, she began connecting with families. “That day, I played with kids, laughed with the adults, and heard countless stories-you name it!” says Sharon.
Now a 20-year-old student at the University of North Texas, Sharon has volunteered with RMH ever since. “I have met so many people there that have changed my life.”
In January 2012, Sharon met her soon-to-be hero: Dan. Dan was a car passenger, riding with a group of friends, when the driver thought it would be cool to show off and drive fast.
The car turned over, both the driver and one of the passengers were thrown out of from the car. Dan tried to get out of the car and then began searching for others quickly. One of the passengers was still caught in her seat. Without hesitation, Dan climbed back in to save her.
In doing so, he somehow managed to get himself stuck and caught fire. Although he was able to rescue himself, his skin was so badly burned that he had to take lots of surgeries (手术). Sharon helped care for Dan during his stay at RMH, helping him get better through stories, laughter, and companionship (陪伴). Sharon still keeps in touch with Dan today.
“Nothing brightens my day more than to be able to make someone who’s going through something beyond my understanding smile,” says Sharon. “I feel like I’ve become more of a caring and selfless person since I started volunteering. I look for joy in the joy I provide to others and focus less on myself. After a few months of volunteering, RMH brought out a more real version of myself-exactly who I want to be in life.”
1. When did Sharon first start volunteering?2. How did Sharon feel when she walked into RMH the first time?
3. What did Sharon do to help Dan get better?
4. Would you like to do volunteer work? Why? (Please give two reasons.)
Helen is making some
1. Where’s Helen going to work this summer?
2. What is Helen doing?
3. What did Tom do to help the old people?
4. Why do Tom and Helen think that they should listen to and care for the old people?
5. What does Helen think of Tom’s volunteer work in the old people’s home?
Jiang Danni is a volunteer from East China. She has ever volunteered in schools in Lebanon (黎巴嫩) and countries in Africa. Her videos about her experience have drawn many people’s attention.
After graduating (毕业) from university in 2020, Danni chose to work in Africa for a year and then she traveled to seven countries. Then she worked in a primary school in Uganda. She taught children in Grades One to Four. Danni set up different kinds of classes for her students, including labour, cooking and crafts (手工艺).
In 2022, Danni arrived in Lebanon in Asia and became a volunteer teacher at a school. This time she taught arts and crafts to her students. She taught them how to make paper cuttings (剪纸) and paper ice-cream in class. Her students all worked hard and enjoyed the creative activities.
Danni got on very well with her students. Every time Danni arrived at the school, they would run to give her a hug or small gifts such as a candy. And after school, they would invite her to their homes.
“I enjoyed spending beautiful moments (美好的时光) with them. Their smiling faces gave me energy and encouraged me to do more volunteer work in different places,” Danni said.
1~2 题完成句子； 3~5 题简略回答问题。1. Jiang Danni has ever volunteered in
2. Jiang Danni taught her students how to make
3. When did Jiang Danni graduate from university?
4. How did Jiang Danni get on with her students?
5. Do you like doing volunteer work? Why or why not?
