7.
阅读理解
Li Ruyan,
13, and his classmates in Shanghai did something special last summer. They
worked in groups with traffic police at different crossroads in the city.
Holding
small red flags, the students helped keep order and stopped people from
jaywalking(乱穿马路).
As part of the school project, Li's school has
encouraged its students to do more community(社区)
work.
After the
half day of exhausting work Li told himself not to jaywalk anymore. "I
think through community work we get to help others and, more importantly, we
grow a sense of responsibility(责任感),
"he said.
Community
service is an important part of education for teenagers around the world. In
the US and Canada, high school students need to finish 40 hours of community
service before graduation. For those Americans who have finished 1, 400 hours
of community work, they can be awarded nearly $ 5, 000.
Chinese
students today do more community work, too. For example, starting from 2010,
Sichuan high school students have been asked to do 10 days of community work.
It will become part of their school grade.
Qian
Lijun, 16, and her classmates in Suzhou, Jiangsu went to a local elder care
home last winter. They put Spring Festival couplets(对联) on the doors and cheered up
the people living there.
Li
Xiaotian, 15, of Anshan said he used to clear flyers(小广告) from telephone poles(电线杆) with his classmates. They
brought tools, towels and buckets and worked for three hours under the summer
sun. "It was tiring, but seeing the clean poles without ugly flyers-we
really felt proud," he said.