Every year many young people leave school for a few weeks or months and enjoy an unusual type of educational program. They learn new skills by living in a different country and doing unusual jobs. There are several organizations. They help students to find the experience they are looking for. The table below shows a few possibilities for students.
Country | Job | Time | Description |
India | Teaching young children | One month | ·Teaching music and dance ·Helping children learn how to communicate |
Ghana | Health care work | Two months | ·Seeing how doctors work in a less developed country ·Helping care for patients |
Thailand | Saving elephants | Three weeks | ·Cleaning elephants ·Helping train elephants |
New Zealand | Teaching Chinese | Six weeks | ·Helping adults learn Chinese ·Spreading Chinese culture |
One interesting possibility is helping elephants in Thailand. Most people think of elephants as animals in zoos. In fact, many elephants in Thailand are no longer kept in cages. Now, hundreds of them are homeless. They don’t have owners to care for them. Although they may look well, they are often in poor health and don’t have enough to eat.
One center in Thailand cares for these elephants. It gives them a safe and natural living space. When they are at the center, they stay in a building but are free to walk around. Students come from all over the world to help here. The student helpers work with the elephant keepers. These keepers train the students in caring for the elephants. In the morning, they go to the forest together and lead the elephants to the center. They clean them and give them food. In the afternoon. They take the animals back into the forest for the night. Helping at the center is interesting and the young people learn a lot.
1.Which country can you choose if you want to prepare yourself for a medical career?
A. India. B. Ghana. C. Thailand.
2.Which job might be suitable for the students who love children and arts?
A. Teaching young children B. Health care work C. Saving elephants
3.What does the underlined word “they” in the last paragraph probably refer to?
A. The keepers. B. The doctors . C. The elephants.
4.What does the writer think of the unusual educational program?
A. It is amazing. B. It is boring. C. It is helpful.
I am walking through the winter park where the trees stand cold and bare (光秃秃的). The yellow leaves have fallen to the ground. Now, a group of women gather at the sides of a path. In the cold winter, they’re moving their arms and legs to a rhythm (节奏). They are, of course, the dancing aunties.
It seems that if you go to any public space around China, you’re likely to see these dancing aunties. When I first came to China, it was one of the first things that annoyed me. That’s because in Britain dancing in public is not a cultural habit. You won’t see any age group swinging their arms and tapping their feet in a park. Usually, they just take a walk for exercise.
Now and again the dancing aunties have hit the headlines (头条新闻). Some people find them annoying. But others respect their right to dance in public. Most of them are middle-aged. They finally have some free time to do whatever they like. There is no more work, and their kids have left.
All in all, I like seeing these women enjoying themselves. They remind us of the importance of exercise as we get older. Besides, most of them have raised the whole families. Now it is their time to have fun and enjoy some peace.
The Dancing Aunties in the Cold Winter | |
What can you see in the cold winter? | The 1.are bare and the2. are on the ground. |
A group of women gather together | They’re 3. and legs. |
What can you see in any public space in China? | The 4. . |
The writer’s opinion about it. | They remind us exercise is 5. . |