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

    On June 2, 1886, a German captain threw a message in a bottle into the water while his ship crossed the Indian Ocean. Around 132 years later in January, the bottle was found on the Australian coast{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The bottle was thrown into the water to track ocean currents (洋流). Between 1864 and 1933, German sailors threw thousands of bottles into the sea.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    But throwing messages in bottles into the ocean is not just for scientists. People send out such messages for many reasons. Some people write information about themselves in the hopes of finding a pen pal{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And still other people just write down some jokes, song lyrics or anything else they think might be fun.

    There are even online messages in bottles. People can send the messages through WeChat or QQ.

    The reasons and ways might be different, but the goal is always the same: to reach out and try to connect with someone{#blank#}4{#/blank#} In 1988, the British band The Police wrote a song called Message in A Bottle that describes this feeling.

    As the song's lyrics say, we are “a hundred billion castaways(被抛弃者) looking for a home”. When will you feel relieved (释然的) ? “A hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Others write down secrets, hoping that the waves will wash them away.

B. This kind of shared feeling might be why this tradition has remained popular for so long.

C. making it the oldest-known message in a bottle in the world.

D. Seems I'm not alone at being alone.

E. Some 663 of those messages were found later.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Betty has a six-year-old daughter. She wants her to be a musician when she grows up, so she is looking for a famous music school for her.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Sara's son is 10 years old. He is interested in water sports. He said that he hoped to be a sailor in the future.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Alice learned to dance when she was young. Now she is a successful dancer. She wants her little daughter to follow her steps.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Mary is always worried about her daughter, who is poor at math and English at school, so she is looking for a training centre to help her daughter.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Gina has a son who is a football fan. He knows about almost all the well-known football players. He wishes to be a football star.

    Have you ever counted the number of digits (数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. Why is that?

    The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service company it is. For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications

    Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered (注册). And the last four digits are random (随机的).

    The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999. Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China.

    And mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service company will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.

    Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.

    People believed for a long time that the heart was the center of a person s emotions(情感，情绪). That is why the word" heart" is used in so many expressions about notional situations.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When that happens, you have fallen in love. But if the person who "won your heart" does not love you, then you are sure to have a "broken heart". In your pain and sadness, you may decide that the person you loved is" hard-hearted", and in fact, has a "heart of stone".

    You may decide to "pour out your heart" to a friend. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If your friend does not seem to understand how painful your broken heart is, you may ask her to "have a heart". {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Your friend" has her heart in the right place" if she says she is sorry, and shoes great concern(关心)for how you feel. Your friend may, however, warn you not to" wear your heart on your sleeve袖子), In other words, do not let everyone see how ",lovesick you are. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If your friend says "my heart bleeds for you", she means opposite. She is a cold-hearted person who does not really care about your situation.

    When you are frightened or concerned, your "heart is your mouth". You might say, for example, that your heart was in your mouth when you asked a bank to lend you some money to pay for a new house. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Be "strong-hearted". Sit down with the banker and have a" heart to heart" talk: Be open and honest about your situation. The bank may have a" change of heart"——it may agree to lend you the money. Then you could stop worrying and" put your heart at rest".

A. Telling someone about your personal problems can often make you feel better.

B. If that bank says no to you, do not "lose heart".

C. When your heart is on your sleeve, you are showing your deepest emotions.

D. One such expression is to "lose your heart".

E. You are asking your friend to show some sympathy (同情) for your situation.