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Mandarin Chinese · B126 min

Zhiming volunteers at the community reading corner on the weekend

Practice B1 Mandarin in a short story where Zhiming volunteers at the community reading corner on the weekend. Tap individual words, follow line-by-line meaning, and review vocabulary from the scene.

  1. Vocabulary
  2. Story
  3. Support
  4. Grammar
  5. Practice
  6. Review

Read the story for what each person is trying to do, then reread it for the language that connects the actions. Tap words for vocabulary, and use the support section to check the parts that carry the plot.

Core vocabulary

Target word with readingTranslationType
志愿者 zhì yuàn zhě

volunteer

noun

社区 shè qū

community

noun

登记 dēng jì

to register / sign up

verb

提醒 tí xǐng

to remind

verb

渐渐 jiàn jiàn

gradually

adverb

书架 shū jià

bookshelf

noun

报纸 bào zhǐ

newspaper

noun

推荐 tuī jiàn

to recommend

verb

珍贵 zhēn guì

precious / valuable

adjective

图书角 tú shū jiǎo

reading corner

noun

Core text

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Line-by-line support

Read each line with the direct translation beside it. Use this section to slow down and confirm exactly what the story is doing sentence by sentence.

每个 měi ge星期六 xīng qī liù上午 shàng wǔ，志明 Zhì Míng都会 dōu huì去 qù社区 shè qū图书角 tú shū jiǎo做 zuò两个 liǎng ge小时 xiǎo shí的 de志愿者 zhì yuàn zhě。

Every Saturday morning, Zhiming goes to the community reading corner to volunteer for two hours.

刚 gāng开始 kāi shǐ的时候 de shí hou，他 tā以为 yǐ wéi自己 zì jǐ的 de工作 gōng zuò不过是 bú guò shì整理 zhěng lǐ书架 shū jià、帮 bāng小朋友 xiǎo péng you登记 dēng jì借书 jiè shū，所以 suǒ yǐ应该 yīng gāi不会 bú huì太 tài难 nán。

At first, he thought that his job was merely to organize the shelves and help children register borrowed books, so it should not be too difficult.

可是 kě shì去了 qù le几次 jǐ cì以后 yǐ hòu，他 tā才 cái发现 fā xiàn真正 zhēn zhèng麻烦 má fan的 de不是 bú shì书 shū，而是 ér shì每个人 měi ge rén来看书 lái kàn shū的 de理由 lǐ yóu都 dōu不 bù一样 yí yàng。

But after going a few times, he discovered that the real difficulty was not the books, but the fact that everyone came to read for a different reason.

有些 yǒu xiē孩子 hái zi放学 fàng xué以后 yǐ hòu只想 zhǐ xiǎng找 zhǎo一个 yí ge安静 ān jìng的 de地方 dì fang坐一会儿 zuò yí huìr，有些 yǒu xiē老人家 lǎo rén jiā则 zé喜欢 xǐ huan一边 yì biān翻报纸 fān bào zhǐ，一边 yì biān跟 gēn别人 bié ren聊天 liáo tiān。

Some children only want to find a quiet place to sit for a while after school, while some older people prefer to flip through newspapers while chatting with others.

志明 Zhì Míng除了 chú le借书 jiè shū和 hé还书 huán shū，还 hái得 děi不断 bú duàn提醒 tí xǐng大家 dà jiā把 bǎ看完 kàn wán的 de书 shū放回 fàng huí原位 yuán wèi，不然 bú rán下一个 xià yí ge人 rén就 jiù很 hěn难 nán马上 mǎ shàng找到 zhǎo dào。

Besides checking books in and out, Zhiming also has to keep reminding everyone to put finished books back in their original place, otherwise the next person will have a hard time finding them right away.

快 kuài中午 zhōng wǔ的时候 de shí hou，他 tā看见 kàn jiàn一个 yí ge平常 píng cháng不 bù太 tài说话 shuō huà的 de男孩 nán hái主动 zhǔ dòng把 bǎ一本 yì běn故事书 gù shì shū推荐 tuī jiàn给 gěi刚 gāng进门 jìn mén的 de小女孩 xiǎo nǚ hái，才 cái渐渐 jiàn jiàn明白 míng bai这个 zhè ge地方 dì fang真正 zhēn zhèng珍贵 zhēn guì的 de是什么 shì shén me。

Near noon, when he saw a usually quiet boy voluntarily recommend a storybook to a little girl who had just walked in, he gradually understood what was truly precious about that place.

Grammar in context

These are the two patterns doing the most work in this lesson. Learn them as reusable sentence frames, not as isolated rules.

除了 ... 还 ...

除了 ... 还 ... adds a second responsibility or point and helps the sentence feel more layered.

除了 chú le整理 zhěng lǐ书架 shū jià，他 tā还 hái要 yào提醒 tí xǐng大家 dà jiā。An addition-and-expansion pattern.

才 + verb

才 often appears after a condition or a sequence to show that something happens only then.

看见 kàn jiàn那个 nà ge场面 chǎng miàn以后 yǐ hòu，他 tā才 cái明白 míng bai。A delayed-realization structure.

Extension reading

、，，。

Review

Story check: What is Zhiming trying to do in this lesson, and what detail changes the situation?

Vocabulary check: Find the first key word, the second key word, the third key word, and one more key word in the story text again. Explain what each word is doing in its sentence.

Retell: Retell the scene in two or three sentences using the first key word and the second key word. Then add one sentence about why the ending matters for Zhiming.

Next steps

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