Like most students on international exchange programs, Shavia Westmoreland experienced culture shock (文化冲击) in Beijing, China.
Instead of hiding herself from the outside, Westmoreland overcame (克服) her culture shock by doing an activity she enjoys — volunteering.
“A friend brought me to an orphanage (孤儿院) to help me overcome culture shock,” she said, “He knew that I loved volunteering and language teaching, so he told me the orphanage would be a great place to ‘develop a feeling of home’ in a different culture and improve my language skills.”
Westmoreland enjoyed the visit so much that she started volunteering at the orphanage. She visited once a week to teach English. She also did several “non-purpose” visits on the weekends, just to spend time with the children.
Working with the children, staff and other volunteers taught her more about Chinese culture and gave her chances to practice Chinese. “I had a better understanding of Chinese culture by working with the staff and volunteers. At the end of all conversations, I found that there were more similarities between us than there were differences,” she said.
Volunteering also gave Westmoreland a sense of achievements and the courage (勇气) to hang out around Beijing on her own. “The experience developed my courage to hang out and learn more about Beijing on my own, giving me more chances to practice Chinese outside my class lessons,” Westmoreland said. “The feeling of independence is an achievement for an exchange student, and I believe my volunteering was helpful to my study in China and was also a huge help to my personal growth.”
【小题1】Why did Westmoreland’s friend bring her to an orphanage?【小题2】How often did Westmoreland teach English at the orphanage?
【小题3】How did Westmoreland have a better understanding of Chinese culture?
【小题4】Did volunteering help Westmoreland hang out around Beijing on her own?
【小题5】What do you think of Westmoreland’s volunteering?
第二节 书面表达
【小题6】为了鼓励人们积极向他人传递关爱，某青少年英文网站 “The Link of Love”(爱的链接)专栏开展征文活动。请你结合以下图示，写一篇短文投稿。
要求:
(1) 短文必须包含图示中的所有要点，可适当发挥；
(2) 80词左右（标题和开头已给出，不计入总词数）；
(3) 文中不得出现真实人名和校名。
We are growing up in love and care from people around. It is important to love and care for others.
