day 20mission: the volunteer day

mission: the volunteer day

Retell an anecdote and an explainer heard once, prepare for five minutes, read a passage about neighbours aloud, then answer two questions in a row: weigh two views on helping strangers, and plan an event where you live.

words to say

• 社区 shèqū · community, neighbourhood
• 居民 jūmín · residents
• 组织 zǔzhī · to organise; organisation
• 号召 hàozhào · to call on, appeal
• 参与 cānyù · to take part in
• 团结 tuánjié · to unite; united
• 集体 jítǐ · collective, group
• 发起 fāqǐ · to launch, start (an initiative)

a passage to retell

• Every night a man heard a lot of noise from upstairs. After putting up with it for a week, he stuck a note on the door of the flat above. The next day he found a note stuck on his own door too. It said: “Sorry! My son is practising the piano: he’s performing next week.” Under the note was a ticket to the performance. A week later, the person in the audience clapping loudest was him.
• When someone falls over in the street, the more people there are around, the fewer actually help. That’s because each of them thinks that with so many people there, someone else is bound to help. So everyone waits, and nobody moves. So if you need help, don’t shout “Help!” at the crowd. It’s best to point at one person and say: “You, sir, in the red top, please make a phone call for me!”

a passage to read aloud

小时候，我以为家就是爸爸妈妈和自己。长大以后搬了几次家，我才慢慢明白，家还包括住在隔壁的人。是他们在你出差的时候帮你收快递，在你忘带钥匙的时候让你在他们家等一会儿，也是他们在楼道里跟你打招呼，让一个陌生的城市变得熟悉。现在很多人住在高楼里，家家户户都关着门，有人住了好几年，还不知道对门的邻居姓什么。其实，邻居之间不需要多么亲密，一句“你好”、一次帮忙就够了。和谐的社区不是盖好房子就有的，而是住在里面的人慢慢相处的结果。