Every year, on the International Volunteers Day, the world thinks highly of the work of millions of people who give their time to help others. The work they are doing is important. As Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations said“…each contribution—no matter how small—can help make a difference.” Lu Hao and Meng Yu are just two examples of the 13.5 million young Chinese Volunteers who want to make a contribution to society.

Lu Hao is a middle school student, who joined the “1 helps 1” scheme1 of the Youth Volunteer Community Development Project last year. Every Tuesday and Friday he visits an elderly gentleman who lives alone. “Mr. Zhao is weak and cannot do much for himself, so I help with shopping, do jobs in the house, or read the newspaper to him. With his help, Mr. Zhao’s health has improved, and he feels more energetic. Lu Hao has also found their relationship beneficial2. In the past history was his weakest subject, but it is one which greatly interests Mr. Zhao and they often discuss it. Mr. Zhao has encourages Lu Hao to study history lessons harder and his grades have improved a great deal.

Meng Yu is studying for her master’s degree in Canada. She has a busy timetable, but still finds time for voluntary activities during the weekends. “Last month I took part in an event to help starving children in some of the least developed countries. Twenty-two of us went without food for 30 hours! It was a challenge. We wanted to improve awareness3 of hunger because every day children are dying of starvation. It was a great success. The local newspaper and TV reported it and we received many money.” Meng Yu and her classmates organized this activity to raise money for a good cause, and in the process she formed strong friendships.

Lu Hao and Meng Yu are helping to make other people’s lives better, and they also make great friends, gain new skills and increase their chances of getting the job of their dreams. Would you like to make a difference by becoming a volunteer?

  阅读短文，回答问题。

According to the text, what is the reason why young people choose to do voluntary work?

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Lu Hao has chosen to volunteer on two evenings every week . How has Meng Yu chosen to give her time? Why has she made a different choice?

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What benefits has his voluntary work brought Lu Hao?

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What benefits did MengYu’s voluntary work bring the starving children?

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After a 15-year ban on the sale of fireworks in Beijing, Kang Guoliang, 51, was able to start his old trade again yesterday．

As a salesman in Xinhui store in Dongcheng District, he is happy about the increasing number of buying fireworks wrapped in red paper — a color standing for happiness and good luck．

“Fireworks are available for the first time in town for more than a decade,” Kang said happily．“People will buy them．”

The store has 300 boxes of fireworks piled up and is open 24 hours at the moment．Residents are buying the fireworks and firecrackers for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on February 18．

Citywide, 2,116 registered stores and retailers, 585 in the centre and 1,600 on the outskirts are trading fireworks in the Chinese capital．Sales of fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road started yesterday and will last until March 4, Xinhua reported．Among the stores, 117 stores are permitted to operate 24 hours．About 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth more than 100 million yuan have been carried to registered stores．

The Chinese capital began a ban in 1993 to reduce fireworks-related deaths and fires during the holiday season．Last September the ban was removed in response to residents’ fondness for fireworks when celebrating Spring Festival．

According to new rules, Beijing residents are allowed to set off fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road all day on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s day, from 7 a．m．to midnight every day from February 19 to March 4．

“Spring Festival without fireworks is not Spring Festival,” said Sheng Hefei, who was buying fireworks in the store．“It was fun to light the firecrackers when I was little,” he said．“The sound and view of fireworks make a real holiday．” However, not all residents welcome the return of firecrackers because of injuries, pollution and noise．“My child is scared of the sudden sound of firecrackers, and it is annoying to hear it all night long,” complained Lu Jun, a local resident．

（China Daily02/11/2008）

1.The passage is likely to belong to a（n）__________?

2.What’s the main idea of the passage?

3.We can learn from the passage that ____________．

4.What is the writer’s attitude towards the sales of fireworks in Beijing?

WHAT’S ON

Great Wall Xmas BBQ
Beijing Hikers are organizing a three-hour hike on a rarely visited part of the Great Wall and will celebrate Christmas afterwards with a Christmas barbecue dinner in a small hotel at the foot of the Great Wall . Meet at 8:30 am. Dec. 25 in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn , Jiangtai Lu. Please write to info@beijinghikers.com or 139-100-25516.
Pingyao tour
High Club will guide a weekend trip to Pingyao , an ancient walled town near Taiyuan , capital city of Shanxi Province . The town is one of the best-preserved(保护) featuring courtyard buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) . Among them is the Qiao family courtyard house, the shooting location of Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern （《大红灯笼高高挂》）. Leave on Friday (December 23) night by train and back to Beijing on Sunday morning . For sign-up and more information , contact Lucy at lucy@highclub.cn or 8580-5080,130-11171326.
New Year Harbin trip
The Chinese Culture Club is running a new year trip to Harbin , to catch a fresh view of its yearly ice and snow lantern festival .
As the temperature is expected to fall between minus 20 to 30℃, visitors are warned to prepare well with jackets , masks , fur gloves and boots. The trip sets out by train at night on December 31 and gets back on the morning January 2. The cost is 2,300 yuan (US$ 284) . Reservation(预订) is required at 8457-2772.
【小题1】One who is interested in life of ancient Chinese is more likely to contact ______.

When talking with young Swedish students, Mo Yan showed respect for Chinese authors that he learned writing from, particularly Shen Congwen, who was twice nominated（提名）for the Nobel Prize.
“Lu Xun, Lao She, Mao Dun and Shen Congwen, they are more qualified（有资格的）for the Nobel Prize than me,” he said,. Among the writers he learned from, he said he especially felt close to Shen Congwen, as they have similar life experiences.
Both of them left school early and did not get formal education. Shen quit after high school and Mo only finished the fifth grade. They both joined the army after school. “ We both learned from the book of life,” said Mo.
The themes of their writing are also similar. Both writers have their hometown as the theme and root of their writings. Shen’works are mostly about his hometown, Xiangxi, and most of Mo’s stories are set in his hometown, Gaomi, in Shandong Province.
Mo said he also learned from Shen how to deal with characters in a fiction. Unlike most Chinese writers, Shen has a humanistic（人文主义的） touch towards all of his characters. Said Mo, “In his works, there are no particularly bad person or good person. Even gangsters（匪徒） and thieves have their humane（仁慈的）side,” he said.
“I try to use the same approach in my writing. It shows the ability of a novelist when he treats all the characters as humans,” he said.
Mo said he also learned Lu Xun’s depth and Lao She’s humor. “They are all my teachers, and I am the student,” he said. “I feel ashamed from my heart that teachers did not get the prize, but the student got it.”
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the similarity between Mo Yan and Shen Congwen?