Perhaps every older generation since ancient times has complained about young people, and today is no different. Isn’t it obvious that kids these days are self-absorbed social network addicts?
However, this summer, my impression of today’s kids has been restored by the story of Rachel Beckwith. She could teach my generation a great deal about maturity (成熟) and unselfishness — even though she’s just 9 years old, or was when she died on July 23.
At age 5, Rachel had her long hair cut off and sent to Locks of Love, which uses hair donations to make artificial hair for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer or other diseases. After that, Rachel announced that she would grow her hair long again and donate it again. And that’s what she did.
Then when she was 8 years old, her church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organization called “charity: water”. Rachel was astonished when she learned that other children had no clean water, so she skipped her ninth birthday party. Rachel set up a birthday page on the charity: water website with a target of $300. Instead of presents, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to charity: water. Finally Rachel raised only $220 — which had left her just a bit disappointed.
Then, on July 20, a serious traffic accident left Rachel critically injured. Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page — charitywater.org/Rachel — and donations reached her $300 goal, and kept rising.
When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness, the family decided to remove the life-support machine. Her parents donated her hair for the final time to Locks of Love, and her organs to other children.
Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser (募捐行动). Contributions poured in, often they donated $9. The total donations soon topped $100,000, then $300,000.
This is a story not just of one girl, but of a young generation of outstanding problem-solvers working creatively.
小题1:Which of the following is TRUE of Rachel?
A．She died at the age of 8.
B．She was a cancer patient.
C．She was a warm-hearted girl.
D．She founded Locks of Love.小题2:The underlined word “skipped” in Paragraph 4 probably means “ ”.
A．put off
B．gave up
C．expected
D．planned小题3:According to the text, Rachel set up the birthday page to .
A．make more new friends
B．call on people to donate hair
C．ask her friends to send her gifts
D．raise money to help African children小题4:How does the author feel about the young generation now?
A．Worried
B．Critical.
C．Appreciative.
D．Doubtful小题5:What would be the best title for the text?
A．Rachel’s last fund-raiser
B．Rachel and her birthday page
C．Kids are addicted to social networks.
D．What’s wrong with the young generation?
