More than 1 million volunteers will help out during the annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC in Beijing, said the Beijing Olympic Volunteer Program Coordination Group.
The volunteers will be deployed at 100 sites including busy intersections and bus stations, where they will help direct traffic and give directions, the group said.
The use of the volunteers will serve as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics, an official with the group added.
The volunteers will "accumulate experience and help cultivate a harmonious social environment" at the sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC), which will start tomorrow, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which started yesterday, the official said.
The sessions both run for more than two weeks and are expected to attract more than 5,000 delegates to the city.
Beijing's traffic management bureau has said it will do all it can to make life easy for traveling delegates, while minimizing disruption to local people. It said it will make regular TV and radio broadcasts, as well as provide traffic updates on its website.
As of February 14, more than 930,000 had applied to be volunteers at the Olympics, with a further 1 million applying to be "City Volunteers", who will be positioned across Beijing to provide general help and information to tourists and visitors, the Games organizers said.
Questions:
1. How many delegates are in the city for these two weeks?
2. Why are Beijing Olympic Volunteers helping at this event?
3. How many people applied to be volunteers since Feb 14?
Answers:
1.More than 5,000.
2.To use the experience as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Olympics.
3.More than 930,000.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
