Steve visits the nursing home near his house two afternoons each week. On one of those days, he reads to his friend Martin. On the other afternoon, he plays cards and talks with Mrs. Johnson. Steve enjoys spending his extra time this way. He is a volunteer. A volunteer is a person who helps another person or has a job for which he or she does not get paid. A volunteer donates his or her time for free.

    Everyone else in Steve's family is also a volunteer. Steve's mother Mary volunteers one afternoon each week at the local hospital. She talks to patients, delivers flowers, and helps the nurses with odd jobs. Steve's sister Gina volunteers two afternoons at the museum. She welcomes visitors and answers their questions. Steve's father David also is a volunteer. He is a volunteer fire fighter for the town in which they live.

    Steve's family thinks volunteering is very important. Steve's parents think being a volunteer helps to teach values. Steve and his sister learn how to be kind and respect other people.

    Steve's family does volunteer work to give something back to the community. They want to help people who are not as fortunate as they are.

    A family of volunteers

(  B  )

    Jia Meng used to keep a diary in Chinese. But one year ago, the 14-year-old girl from Heilongjiang Province began to write her diary in English, because Jia found her mother was reading her diary secretly. She changed the language because her mother can't read English. “It's like killing two birds with one stone.” said Jia, “My private things become safe and my English improves a lot.”

    Jia's mother is not the only mom who reads her child's diary. Recently, Renmin University of China had a survey among over 23,000 parents. The results show that 40% of parents read their children's sectects. That's why many teenagers try to find ways to protect their privacy(隐私).

    Wu Lei, 15, of Shanxi, keeps a diary, too. But he doesn't write it on paper. He writes online which he thinks is perfectly safe because his parents know nothing about the Internet.

    Lu Huan, 13, of Guangdong, said her parents always secretly listened to the talk between her friends and her on the telephone in their room. To solve this problem, Lu asked her parents to buy her a mobile phone.

    “Parents want to know what is going on in their children's lives,” said Shao Xiazhen, a teenage expert in Beijing. “But sometimes they go about it the wrong way.” Shao suggested to teenagers that instead of hiding their secrets, talking to parents should be a better solution. “If your parents know that you are safe, they'll let you keep your secrets.”

Information Card

    Jazz is a type of music, is one of the art forms. It started in the United States. Black Americans, who sang and played the music of their homeland, created jazz.

    Jazz is a mixture of African music, work songs, slave songs and religious(宗教的)music. Improvisation(即兴表演)is an important part of jazz. This's why a jazz song might sound a little different every time it is played.

    Many jazz bands appeared in the late 1800s.They played jazz in bars and clubs in many towns and cities, especially in New Orlean& New Orleans is an international city and people from all over the world come to New Orleans to enjoy jazz.

    Jazz became more and more popular. By the 1920s, jazz was popular all over the United States. By the 1940s, you could listen to jazz not only in clubs and bars, but in concert halls. Today, people from all over the world play jazz.

    Parents do a lot of work around the house to keep things clean and tidy. If you want to pay them back, try to help out with the chores around the house.

    Always clean your room.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Make sure to put the rubbish in the right place. Make your bed and fold your clothes to keep them tidy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Get them off the floor and find some places to put them away.

    Help around the house. Before the meal, help your parents to set the table. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Be careful not to hurt yourself when doing the chores. Cleaning the floor is also important after a meal. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Take care of the pet in your family. Sometimes your parents might keep a pet. It's a good idea to help them to care for it. Like you, a pet needs to eat well every day. So make sure to feed it on time. And remember to clean the pet's room often. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. If possible, take the pet' for a walk sometimes.

A. Pick up books and toys in your room, too.

B. Finally, don't forget about an easy chore-taking out the rubbish.

C. In fact, there are lots of things to do in your own room.

D. The pet is part of your family, so spend some time playing with it.

E. After the meal, do the dishes and then make sure to put them away.

    Lily is from New York, the U.S.A. She is twelve. She is in Shanghai NO.3 Junior High School. She is in Class Eight, Grade One. Her phone number is 66786019. Dongdong is from Kunming. His English name is Tom. He is eleven .He is in Class Seven, Grade One. His telephone number is 24524233. They are not in the same class. They are good friends.