Question

Emily was an eighth grader. To pass her Civics course (公民課程), she had to do some volunteer service in a nursing home for a week.

One Monday, Emily went to the nursing home after school. When she arrived, she was told she would spend an hour every weekday with an elderly lady, Mrs. Blair. She was then led into a room, where an old lady in a flowery dress was sitting on a sofa. Emily stood nervously in front of the lady. She cleared her throat and said, “Good afternoon. I’m Emily.” “Good afternoon, Emily. Take a seat, please.” Mrs. Blair replied. Then, silence filled the space. Emily wondered what to say. “Tell me about yourself, Emily,” Mrs. Blair said suddenly. “Well,” Emily started, “I am not good at talking with the elderly people. I love the performing arts. I’m here mainly because I have to volunteer here to get a good grade for my Civics class.”

Mrs. Blair didn’t seem to mind. “Many people especially teens, don’t seem to care about people like me. Now you are here and I’m going to change that about you. Ask me anything.” Emily thought for a moment, and finally decided, “What was your job?” “I was a Broadway star in the 1950s.” Mrs. Blair answered. “Cool! Can you tell me about it? My dream is to be a Broadway performer.” Emily said in excitement. Mrs. Blair smiled and showed her a bracelet (手鏈). “Look at the bracelet, Emily. Only the lead actress had the honor to wear the special bracelet. I was the lead in almost all of the plays, so I always wore the bracelet. Till this day, I still have it. ……”

Emily smiled along with Mrs. Blair and listened to the other stories, attentively. Days passed by quickly. Then came Friday. As she was leaving, Mrs. Blair handed a small box to Emily. Emily carefully opened the box and was surprised to see what was inside. “It’s the bracelet that you wore. Thank you!” Emily said with tears in her eyes. Mrs. Blair replied gently, “I believe you will stand on the stage of Broadway one day, wearing the bracelet.”

1.Was Emily good at talking with the elderly people at first?

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2.Where did Emily do volunteer service?

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3.What lies behind the bracelet?

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4.If you are asked to do volunteer service, what would you like to do? And why?

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Answer 1