1 . We journalists live in a new age of storytelling, with many new multimedia tools. Many young people don’t even realize it’s new. For them, it’s just normal.

This hit home for me as I was sitting with my 2-year-old grandson on a sofa over the Spring Festival holiday. I had brought a children’s book to read. It had simple words and colorful pictures — a perfect match for his age.

Picture this: my grandson sitting on my lap as I hold the book in front so he can see the pictures. As I read, he reaches out and pokes (戳) the page with his finger.

What’s up with that? He just likes the pictures, I thought. Then I turned the page and continued. He poked the page even harder. I nearly dropped the book. I was confused: Is there something wrong with this kid?

Then I realized what was happening. He was actually a stranger to books. His father frequently amused the boy with a tablet computer which was loaded with colorful pictures that come alive when you poke them. He thought my storybook was like that.

Sorry, kid. This book is not part of your high-tech world. It’s an outdated, lifeless thing. An antique, like your grandfather. Well, I may be old, but I’m not hopelessly challenged, digitally speaking. I edit video and produce audio. I use mobile payment. I’ve even built websites.

There’s one notable gap in my new-media experience, however: I’ve spent little time in front of a camera, since I have a face made for radio. But that didn’t stop China Daily from asking me last week to share a personal story for a video project about the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

Anyway, grandpa is now an internet star — two minutes of fame! I promise not to let it go to my head. But I will make sure my 2-year-old grandson sees it on his tablet.

3 . It was a week after my mom had passed away and I didn’t know how to go on with life. So when I received an email from a friend about a race benefiting cancer research, I ignored it. It seemed to prick my heart, as cancer was the disease that had taken my mother away from me.

But something about my friend’s words—“I can help organize the whole thing”—stuck with me. I felt obliged（有义务的）to agree. In the weeks to come, I managed to re-enter the world of the living. I checked our team’s website daily, feeling proud each time a donation ticked up our total. I knew my mom would have wanted it that way. She was the type who never got defeated. It was this very spirit that helped me get by.

When the race ended, I noticed the runners all had one thing in common: There were big smiles on their faces. They made it look so rewarding and effortless. I wanted in.

So I enrolled in another race two months later. Considering I could barely run a mile, it was ambitious. But my friend and I made a training plan so I wouldn’t come in last. I followed it religiously and didn’t let anything get in my way.

Running up and down the city’s hills, I was flooded with memories. I had lived there after college and my mother had visited often. I passed Bloomingdale’s, recalling the time she and I had gotten into a screaming argument there.

I was about to beat myself up when I remembered what Mom had said after her diagnosis of cancer. “I don’t want you to feel guilty about anything.” Her paper-thin hands had held me tightly. A weight lifted from my shoulders.

When the race day arrived, I gave it my all for my mom and for all she had taught me and continued to teach me. As I ran, whenever I felt like slowing down, I pictured her cheering me on.

4 . My mother spent at least 12 hours every day rolling country cigarettes to support our family. One day she showed me her wage book, _________ me how much money she had earned. She has never been to school-she knows nothing about calculating and she uses her thumbprints to _________ a record of her earning. At the moment, I wanted to _________ her how to hold a pen to write things.

As I watched her finally _________ to write her name correctly, and her hands trembling with _________, I had a dream that I wanted to receive better education and make a _________ to this world. But my _________might be too big for a girl in a poor village, because in rural India, girls are generally considered _________and to live a life of no voice and no choice.

When I was 13, I read the autobiography of Helen Keller. I _________ her spirit and I wanted to have a college degree like her. So I fought with my father and my relatives to be sent to __________, and it worked five years later. I __________ to join in a fellowship(奖学金)program in Delhi University. After many rounds of interviews, I got into the __________ with a full scholarship. I was going to __________ of my village for the first time to study in the capital! By the time my fellowship program ended, my life had __________. Not only had I traced my lost voice, but also had a choice to make myself __________.

At the age of 22, I came back to my village to set up an institution that __________ rural youth by providing them with education, life skills and career opportunities. My work involved working with families and communities to help them understand why getting __________ is useful for everyone.

Of course, to change people’s mind is challenging. The quickest way to __________ them is by doing. When they see their kids getting a real education, getting a real __________ , they begin to change. The best example is what happened at my home -__________ education has helped me to find my voice, my self-worth and my freedom.

7 . At Bookmark, we want every child to read. According to a survey, 8 children in the average class in the UK are ________ to read well when they leave primary school. We need more reading volunteers to help us change this. Volunteering is a great outlet for self-improvement while ________ others, and with Bookmark, everyone can truly make a ________ to the futures of the primary school students.

Sally joined Bookmark as a volunteer in 2019. As a freelance writer and editor, she wanted to share her love of books with children who may have not discovered ________. Before volunteering with Bookmark, she had ________ worked with children, so beginning the sessions was truly a step out of her comfort zone. Sally began ________ with Zach in person at a local school. At the beginning of their program, Zach asked Sally about the ________ why people need to read. Seeing this as an opportunity, she highlighted to him that reading makes one’s life meaningful and interesting. She told Zach that there were books out there on all his favorite hobbies and encouraged him to see reading as ________.

As their ________ continued, Sally noticed a ________ on Zach. When packing up in their final session, Zach spotted a book that was a more ________ level than those he’d been reading, but he exclaimed that he was happy and confident to give it a go ________. At this moment, Sally felt a real connection to Bookmark’s mission and knew the challenge would ________.

Sally’s experience as a Bookmark volunteer taught her more than she had ________ “Volunteering has made me feel more content. I feel I am helpful. I get huge ________ from engaging with children via Bookmark and making them laugh as we read in funny voices and play games.” she said, “All the ________ I have read with so far have been eager to learn and their ________ has been contagious (有感染力的).”

As well as finding pleasure in her time as a reading volunteer, Sally tells us that through her experience she ________ the true extent of the importance of literacy-being able to read is a fundamental life ________ and not being able to read can have far reaching consequences. Literacy is important for everyone. Literacy can help ________ inequality and lead to empowerment.

9 . Once we reach the age of 60 or 65, we all look forward to retirement and living a/an ______life. But that is not the plan for David Flucker from Scotland’s Edinburgh, who is 100-year-old. He______works three days a week at the St. Columba’s Hospice Care shop.

David ______ his 100 birthday this June, but went to work the next day______at the shop. David______ four hours traveling roundtrip to the shop, which he does______the weather. David started working in the ______ shop after he was______ with cancer and it took him two weeks to be cared for by the Hospice. He just wanted to pay it forward for the kindness he ______. “It is a ______feeling to be doing something, ” said the ______, who lives in Balgreen, Edinburgh.

“It is two buses and a 20-minute walk to get to the shop, ______two hours. I work three days a week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which are the ______days.” The grandfather-of-seven says the shop in Occan Terminal gets a lot of donations such as toys, books, jigsaw puzzles, and he has to ______them all to sce if they’re OK. But what he loves the most is the ______aspect of his work-when people come in just to chat.

On 22 June, when the senior ______100, the store held a window display on his birthday showing a few glimpses of his life. The store______ a post on the official page of the store where David’s workspace ______. The post shows how David has become an/a ______ for many around the world. Shared on Facebook, the post got many likes and______ and left social media users amazed.

10 . I frowned at myself in the dressing-room mirror. I was wearing white tights, a white leotard, and a white swim cap that hid most of my hair. I was one of 10 snowflakes in my dance school's Winter Wonderland show.

“Grandma, I really don't feel like being in the show,” I said. Grandma Lani looked up from what she was sewing. “Why, mo'opuna?” Mo'opuna means “grandchild” in Hawaiian. Grandma Lani has always lived in Hawai'i. “You love to dance.” I used to love to dance. Then Ms. Tuttle gave the part of the Snow Queen to Christine Abrams. Christine got to wear a blue leotard and a feathery skirt that drifted out like a cloud every time she twirled. And she got to do a dance onstage all by herself. The snowflakes just had to run and spin to look like a snowstorm. I sighed. “I don't like our dance. And no one would notice if I wasn't there. There are so many of us.” “I would notice. So would your parents.”

As Christine walked toward us, Grandma paused and smiled at her. “What a beautiful costume!” Christine glided away, her skirt waving behind her. I hung my head. Grandma took my hand. “What's bothering my Avery?” “And you won't be able to tell me apart from the other snowflakes,” I whispered.

Grandma was about to speak. Then something outside the window caught her eye. She grabbed my hand and my coat and pulled me out of the dressing room and through the doors to the outside. It was snowing. Grandma held her breath and I suddenly thought of something. “Grandma, have you ever seen snow before?” “No, mo'opuna. In Hawaii, it snows only on the very tops of mountains.”

I had seen snow lots of times, but now I tried to see it differently. Like it was new. I saw snowflakes twisting through the air in different directions, sparkling and shining at us. So many snowflakes coming together to create something magical. “Aloha,” Grandma whispered to the sky. Aloha can mean many things, including “love,” “hello,” and “good-bye.” “I don't know when I'll see something like that again.” “I do,” I said. I took Grandma Lani's hand and pulled her back inside.

When the stage lights came up and the music started, I spun and ran with all of the other snowflakes. I didn't care if Grandma Lani could see me. I was helping her see a snowstorm.