Raj Patel was 5, traveling with his family to India from England.A young girl, no older than 12, approached their car, carrying a crying baby, begging for money and food. “My parents embarrassingly pushed some money out to her from the window,”Patel says. “Since then, the journey has been to figure out why this stuff happens.”
Upon returning to England, Patel decided to rent out his toys and raise money to stop hunger. It didn’t take him long to realize his attempts would not fix the problem.While attending Oxford University, Patel had an idea to shift his major to mathematics, believing that mathematics could handle the crisis of hunger and poverty (贫困).But as he dived deeper into the topic, he learned the political and systemic side of the story. So he changed his undergraduate degree back to economics and added the study of philosophy and politics to his pursuits (事业).
After graduation, he worked for the World Bank and the United Nations. But even that, he says, didn’t lead to workable solutions (解决方案).
His first book, Stuffed and Starved, was a breakout work written for a general audience. While living in Africa, Patel created a number of documentaries but none gained much popularity until he met Anita Chitaya, an activist in Bwabwa, a remote village in Malawi. Anita works with a local organization that has fought hunger in Malawi for decades.She helps farmers to experiment with crops to grow more nutritious food. Her story evolved into an 11-year project -The Ants&the Grasshopper, which earned the Moving Mountains Award.
As the decade of research,filming and editing carries on, this drought-stricken village goes from being.self-sufficient through sustainable farming practices to struggling to grow enough nutritious food and access clean,drinkable water. Climate change ended up being another part of the story.
Patel knows that he needs to find other ways to reach audiences. He released a widely shared YouTube video about capitalism, chicken nuggets (鸡块) and the global hunger crisis. He’s given 20-minute TED Talks that summarize the intentions of his books. No matter what gets thrown his way, Patel seems to course-correct in order to continue pursuing his mission.
24. What excited Patel’s pursuit of his career?
A.A beggar-led crowd. |
B.A fund-raising event. |
C.A chance encounter with a needy girl. |
D.A narrow escape from a car accident. |
25. Why did Patel shift his major to mathematics?
A.He felt he was good at it. |
B.He disliked boring economic theories. |
C.He was eager to learn its political and systemic side. |
D.He considered it as a solution to the hunger and poverty crisis. |
26. What is The Ants & the Grasshopper mainly about?
A.Anita’s journey to tackle food crisis. |
B.Causes of climate change in Malawi. |
C.Bwabwa’s remarkable transformation. |
D.Patel’s personal experience in Bwabwa. |
27. What did Patel do to attract more attention to global hunger?
A.He shot funny videos. |
B.He made presentations. |
C.He cut the price of his books. |
D.He conducted collaborative research. |