Since 2017, Jiading, Shanghai has been building community libraries under the “Home Study” program, to encourage more reading among its 1.6 million local people.

Community libraries got help from local people and companies. Sometimes, local companies provide space for free, leaving local government to pay for the decoration (装修). Community volunteers also often provide help for the local libraries.

If you enter the community library in Nanxiang Old Town, you will find it is of strong Chinese style. Of all community libraries in Jiading, the one in Nanxiang Old Town is the most special. Because it is next to the famous Tanyuan Garden, which was the private garden of Li Liufang, a scholar (学者) in the Ming Dynasty. The library is on the first floor of a building in the ancient Chinese style. It has 4,100 Chinese picture books.

Zhang Bo works with volunteers to provide more books for their readers of all age groups. Some time ago, Zhang noticed that a girl often came to the library after school by herself. The girl did her homework at the library, but she never talked to anyone. Zhang leaned that she came from a family of divorced (离婚的) parents. She had trouble communicating with others. So Zhang and other volunteers made friends with her. They became her “family away from home”.

“That,” Zhang said, “is true community spirit.”

上海社区图书馆成立以后，吸引了不少外国友人的参观，社区图书馆需要一批英语口语流利的志愿者。假设你是李华，你想当图书馆志愿者，请你用英文写一封申请信。

Yours,

Li Hua

The 2024 Wuxi Marathon began on March 24 in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. About 33, 000 runners from 48 countries and regions took part in the event.

Several records were broken in this year’s marathon. He Jie broke the Chinese men’s marathon record in 2: 06: 57, Tadu Abate Dedm from Ethiopia won the men’s race with a time of 2: 06: 18, and Veronicah Njeri Maina from Kenya won the women’s race in 2: 24: 46, 3, 423 runners completed the Wuxi Marathon in under three hours, breaking the Chinese record.

The marathon route passed by landmarks such as Lihu Lake and Yuantouzhu and showed the city’s wonderful springtime scenery.

Luo Ruichun, a 58-year-old runner from Shanghai, achieved his personal best with a time of 3: 05: 11 and gave a thumbs-up for the event. “It has been five years since I achieved my previous personal best. The flat (平坦的) course, beautiful scenery along the route, and the support from volunteers all played an important role in my success.” said Luo.

The marathon organizers provided excellent services to make sure all runners could have a perfect and unforgettable experience. Starting one month before the race, runners received more than 20 messages from the organizers. The messages offered all kinds of details, including transportation, route information and weather reports. Over 6, 500 volunteers and 4, 100 security persons also contributed to the smooth running of the event.

Our school hiking trip to the forest is coming! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Students' Union

Animal are natural resources(资源) that people have wasted all through our history.

Animal have been killed by people for food, cloth and sport. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.

Why should people care about animals? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more. Animals are more than just beautiful or interesting. They are more than just a food for people to eat. Animals are part of nature. So when we are protecting animals, we are protecting nature. Killing one kind of animal can create many problems. For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks(鹰), the farmers’ stores of corn were eaten by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks are the enemy of rats and mice. With no hawks to cut down their numbers, rats and mice will be a danger.

Luckily, many students are joining in the volunteer group and they are working hard to help save the animals. Some of them raise money to let people know about the problem. Some others try to get the governments to pass laws in order to protect animals in danger. Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws stop people from killing any animal or plant on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.

请根据要求完成短文写作。志愿服务是现代社会文明进步的重要标志，是加强和促进精神文明建设的重要载体，是大力弘扬社会主义核心价值观的生动实践，是新时代文明实践的主要方式。假如你叫李明，想成为国际动物救护中心 “International Animal Helpers” （IAH）的一名志愿者，请你用英语写一封自荐信。

I’m a middle school student. I want to help out as a volunteer at your center____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Li Ming