The Volunteer
Felix only wants to finish his twenty volunteer hours at a community kitchen, but a girl about his age changes the way he sees the people there.
まずはゆっくり読み、文章全体の意味をつかみましょう。強調された単語をタップすると英語の意味を確認できます。音声を聴きながら文を追ったり、読書時間を計ったりしてから、理解度クイズに挑戦できます。
Last year, my school told us that every student had to do twenty hours of volunteer work. I wasn't . I think that was for people with lots of free time, and I already had exams, basketball practice and a weekend job. In the end, I chose the near the bus station, mainly because it was close to my house.
The kitchen serves a free hot lunch every Saturday to anyone who needs one. On my first day, the manager, Ms. Abara, gave me an and pointed at a mountain of dirty dishes. "Everyone starts here, Felix," she said. For three hours, I washed bowls and cups, spoke to almost nobody and counted the minutes until I could go home.
, I also had a picture in my head of the people who ate there. I that they were very different from me and my family. Then, on my third Saturday, a girl about my age sat down near the kitchen door. I thought she was a new volunteer, so I offered her an apron. She laughed and said, "No, thanks. I'm here for the soup."
Her name was Thandi, and she was studying to become a nurse. She worked in a supermarket at night, but her pay wasn't always enough for both food and . I felt , but she just smiled and asked me for more bread.
After that, I started to notice the people around me. Mr. Petrov, who used to drive a city bus, knew every street in town. A young father always stayed to help clean the tables before he left. A woman with silver hair taught me a card game while she was waiting for her lunch.
A few weeks later, Ms. Abara asked me to serve the soup. I was nervous at first, but I soon that the food was only half of the job. People also wanted someone to remember their names and ask about their week.
Although I finished my twenty hours in March, I haven't stopped going. I've learned how to cook rice for eighty people, and I know almost everyone's name. Thandi has finished her nursing course, and now she helps in the kitchen once a month. Last month, even my little sister came with me.
My school gave me a for those twenty hours. It's somewhere in a drawer, and I've never looked at it again. I used to think that volunteering meant giving away my free time. Now it's the best part of my week.
重要な語彙
単語と学習用の意味説明は英語です。
- pleasedadjective
happy about something
- used tophrase
did or thought something in the past, but not now
- volunteeringnoun
doing work for no money to help other people
- community kitchennoun
a place where volunteers cook free meals for people who need them
- apronnoun
a piece of cloth that you wear over your clothes to keep them clean when you cook or wash dishes
- to be honestphrase
used when you say what you really think, even if it does not sound nice
- imaginedverb
had a picture of something in your mind; thought that something was true
- rentnoun
the money that you pay every month to live in a house or an apartment
- embarrassedadjective
feeling silly because you made a mistake in front of someone
- realizedverb
understood something for the first time
- certificatenoun
a piece of paper from a school or company that shows that you did something
理解を確認しましょう
問題・選択肢・解説は英語です。必要に応じて本文を読み返しましょう。