We’ve seen such scenes often: Needy families lining up for a bag of daily necessities—dry foodstuff, cooking essentials, basic toiletries (化妆品). But Foo Say Thye, 56-year-old co-founder of local volunteer group Heart warmers, observed one common occurrence at these donation drives: Whenever beneficiaries (受益者) receive the bags, most would seem shy and unwilling to talk and would leave the venue almost immediately.
Mk realized that it is important not just to meet the physical needs of beneficiaries, but also consider their mental and emotional state as well. Foo Say Thye said that he wanted to take such goodie bag distribution a step further. That’s why the group came up with Project 100=50.
“When we give bags of groceries to families, these are default (默认) items donated by the organizers. Project 100=50 allows participants to choose whatever they need and what they actually want,” says Say Thye.
Project 100=50 is a community service event that supports low-to middle-income families by creating a “mini supermarket” where beneficiaries can choose to buy what they need at highly discounted prices. It partners with local supermarket group Sheng Siong, which supplies these groceries to Heartwarmers at a special rate.
Discounts are either capped (限额收取) at 50% if beneficiaries spend $100 or less or at $50 if they spend more than §100. Say Thye explains, “Providing them with a choice on what to get at reduced prices raises their self-esteem and self-confidence. It also promotes self-help when beneficiaries can start to pay for their own necessities.”
Every month, different Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) select low-to middle-income families who don’t qualify for financial assistance from the Government or agencies to attend Project 100=50 events. Different GRCs use different criteria to choose the beneficiaries.
Volunteer Tan Jun An, 21, says that these ‘‘sandwiched” families are stuck in between categories. “Like my own family, we are stuck in between. You’re neither rich nor poor,” he says. “Because you don’t fall in any other group, you cannot receive any benefits. So, this project helps the ‘sandwiched’”.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To lead in the topic. | B．To state the author’s opinion. |
| C．To analyze a phenomenon. | D．To share the author’s routine. |
| A．To make groceries affordable. | B．To offer financial assistance. |
| C．To compete with supermarkets. | D．To provide emotional support. |
| A．Professional. | B．Meaningful. | C．Profitable. | D．Convincing. |
| A．The Challenges Faced by Needy Families |
| B．A New Way to Help Needy Families |
| C．The Importance of Self-Help for Beneficiaries |
| D．Government Assistance Failing Needy Families |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Thirty thousand is a big number. It represents the amount of people who have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS, 肌萎缩侧索硬化). It’s also the number of times that Alex Sahinidis juggled(抛接) a soccer ball over an 11-hour period to raise money for the Live Like Lou Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to finding a cure for the discase.
Alex, a junior at Carnegie Mellon University studying economics and finance, works to raise money for ALS each year through the Students’ Union. Alex began his fundraising journey, which aimed to raise $ 1,000 for the Live Like Lou Foundation, in November of 2019. His progress was lagging behind though.
“We raise money for ALS each year, and I won’t lie, sometimes it felt routine and more often, like a chore,” Alex said. “My entire perspective changed when I met Susan. It gave me a sense of purpose.”
Susan is a resident receiving treatment for ALS at a medical center. Alex met Susan in October, when the Students’ Union provided members the opportunity to volunteer for an individual impacted by the disease. For Alex, meeting her was a life-changing experience.
Although Susan could not speak and required a machine to track her eye movements to express herself verbally, Alex recalls that she was optimistic and fun. “After completing some chores for her, she thanked me gently. But then suddenly, she broke down crying and I was immediately touched by her sensitivity and gratitude.”
His short time with Susan inspired Alex to speed up his fundraising. For the last month, he spent time individually raising money for the Iron Phi Challenge, an athletic event which raises money for patients like Susan.
Alex encourages others to find ways to give back, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “No matter the circumstances we find ourselves in, there is always an opportunity to put a smile on another’s face and leave a positive impact on the world around you,” he said.
1. What’s the significance of number 30,000 in Alex’s charity event?| A．It demonstrates his excellent soccer skills. | B．It stands for the number of ALS patients. |
| C．It refers to the target of fundraising. | D．It reflects the wide spread of ALS. |
| A．Lack of help. | B．Lack of plan. | C．Lack of guidance. | D．Lack of motivation. |
| A．He expressed his concern to Susan through a machine. |
| B．He realized Susan was stronger than he imagined. |
| C．He changed his view of the world and life. |
| D．He witnessed the optimism of other patients like Susan. |
| A．Helping others is helping ourselves. | B．Better late than never. |
| C．Kindness costs nothing. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
【推荐2】Beauty From Their Ashes is a group of mothers and daughters who have dealt with the impact that trauma (挫折) brings. With this experience, their goal is to help others by coming to each person from a place of compassion and empathy (共情).
“We have walked this walk,” said Synethia Bland, Marketing Director. “We have already learned how to manage the challenges that a trauma-impacted mother faces each day. Our goal is to communicate that you’re never on this journey alone.”
Everyone goes through adversity. This group hopes to communicate to mothers and daughters that they can rise from these trials to reach places of beauty. Bland says that by providing guidance, hope, and love, women can hold their faith because empathy and compassion are restored in their lives.
“Broken women help other hurting women in realizing their dream and potential,” said Liliana, a certified life coach. Liliana is praised for being a defender of the truth. “The best teachers come from life,” she said.
Liliana ran through her social media, and she saw others in pain: homeless, abused, facing chronic illness. No one gave an encouraging word. No one paid attention, like illness and poverty were a choice. Liliana was overcome with such heart-broken stories. When Liliana found her faith, she said her journey became more difficult. Turning away women in need was not something she was willing to do, so she poured all her resources into this organization.
“You know that in your secret closet, you still have ashes. Just because the world can’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Some of us just choose not to sit on our hands.”
By showing women how they can rise like a phoenix, the ashes don’t need to be the end of their stories. It can be the beginning of something new.
1. What is the mission of Beauty From Their Ashes?| A．To help the suffering women. | B．To train women to be independent. |
| C．To encourage women to face challenges. | D．To provide useful suggestions for women. |
| A．The help from social media. | B．The situation of the sufferers. |
| C．The trouble Liliana met with. | D．The reason why Liliana served the group. |
| A．Sit well. | B．Take action. | C．Turn a blind eye. | D．Lend a hand. |
| A．Ladies can rise from trials. | B．True beauty comes from ashes. |
| C．Broken women deserve more concern. | D．Misfortune can be a new start with help. |
【推荐3】Radajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution for the world’s two persistent problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers：Rather than toss your empty chip bags into the trash, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.
Chip eaters drop off their empty bags from Doritos, Lay’s, and other favorites at two locations in Detroit: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they clean the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open, lay them flat, and iron them together. They use padding and liners(内衬)from old coats to line the insides.
It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag, and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags, depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof lightweight, and easy to carry around,” Oleita told the Detroit News.
Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 800, 000 chip bags and, as of last December, created 110 sleeping bags.
Sure, it would be simpler to raise the money to buy new sleeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for the volunteers and Oleita whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life. “We are dedicated to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally.” she says.
And, of course, there’s the symbolism of saving bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental injustice and poverty often go hand in hand, as Oleita told hourdetroit. com:“I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues. ”
1. Whom is the Chip Bag Project intended to help?| A．People donating chip bags. | B．People protecting the environment. |
| C．People without sleeping bags. | D．People having no home. |
| A．Collecting—slicing —cleaning—ironing—lining. |
| B．Collecting—cleaning—slicing—ironing—lining. |
| C．Ironing一slicing一 cleaning—collecting—lining. |
| D．Lining—slicing ―cleaning—collecting —ironing. |
| A．It is time to make efforts to help the homeless to live better. |
| B．People can get more free sleeping bags easy to carry around. |
| C．Her project tries to solve both social problems and trash pollution. |
| D．People should connect with each other to solve all the problems. |
| A．To encourage environment protection. | B．To introduce a charity project |
| C．To promote new sleeping bags. | D．To show new uses of chip bags. |
【推荐1】In the old days, when you had to drive to a movie theater to get some entertainment, it was easy to see how your actions could have an impact（影响）on the environment. After all, you were jumping into your car, driving across town, coughing out emissions（产生排放）and using gas all the way. But now that we're used to staying at home and streaming movies, we might get a little proud. After all, we're just picking up our phones and maybe turning on the TV. You're welcome. Mother Nature.
Not so fast, says a recent report from the French-based Shift Project. According to "Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video", digital technologies are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that energy use is increasing by 9% a year. Watching a half-hour show would cause 1. 6 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions. That's like driving 6. 28 kilometers. And in the European Union, the Eureca project found that data centers （where videos are stored） there used 25% more energy in 2017 compared to just three years earlier, reports the BBC.
Streaming is only expected to increase as we become more enamored of our digital devices （设备）and the possibility of enjoying entertainment where and when we want it increases. Online video use is expected to increase by four times from 2017 to 2022 and account for 80% of all Internet traffic by 2022. By then, about 60% of the world's population will be online.
You're probably not going to give up your streaming services, but there're things you can do to help lessen the impact of your online use, experts say. For example, according to Lutz Stobbe, a researcher from the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, we have no need to upload 25 pictures of the same thing to the cloud because it consumes energy every time. If instead you delete a few things here and there, you can save energy. Moreover, it's also a good idea to stream over Wi-Fi, watch on the smallest screen you can, and turn off your Wi-Fi in your home if you're not using your devices.
1. What topic is the first paragraph intended to lead in?| A．The environmental effects of driving private cars. |
| B．The improvements on environmental awareness. |
| C．The change in the way people seek entertainment. |
| D．The environmental impacts of screaming services. |
| A．Get more skeptical of. | B．Become more aware of. |
| C．Feel much crazier about. | D．Get more worried about. |
| A．It is being reduced to protect the planet. |
| B．Its environmental effects are worsening. |
| C．It is easily available to almost everyone. |
| D．Its side effects have drawn global attention. |
| A．Watching downloaded movies on a mobile phone. |
| B．Downloading music on a personal computer. |
| C．Uploading a lot of images of the same thing. |
| D．Playing online games over mobile networks. |
【推荐2】A great number of species make their home in the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the entire ocean makes up an ecosystem, many smaller habitats are found within, including an open-water habitat off the coast of the Northern Atlantic Ocean known as the Sargasso Sea. Sargassum is an alga (海藻) that floats in masses that can continue for miles. The waters of the Gulf Stream push the water in a northward move into this area. This constant move and varying temperature support the accumulation of the brown-colored seaweed.
The Sargasso Sea is so enormous that one method of information collection has not been enough for scientists to obtain an accurate picture of what takes place within this ecosystem. Researchers have needed to employ several methods of sampling. Methods such as dragging nets over the surface of the water and videotaping beneath areas of sargassum have served scientists well. Information collected has shown that the Gulf Stream pushes brown algae from open water into the Sargasso Sea area, creating a diverse floating habitat in an area that would otherwise not support that wildlife.
In the most recent study of the sargassum community off the shores of North Carolina, eighty-one fish species were documented as using the area as a microhabitat. This is an increase from previous studies. The types of fish found here are both commercially and environmentally important. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is working to regulate the harvesting of sargassum. The Council hopes to have the area classified as an Essential Fish Habitat, which would afford it certain protections.
Further research needs to be done before scientists understand how to best protect the Sargasso Sea as well as understand how it goes about supporting so many important types of wildlife.
1. The author uses “enormous” in paragraph 2 to stress that ________.| A．the research work is complex because a large area must be covered |
| B．a large amount of money for the Sargasso Sea research is needed |
| C．the Atlantic Ocean is really amazing in terms of its size and area |
| D．what the researchers do is highly respected by scientific community |
| A．the Sargasso Sea is becoming a problem and needs removing |
| B．new methods for researching the ecosystem must be found instantly |
| C．the Sargasso ecosystem is worth our attention and needs more study |
| D．the scientific community has ignored this complex ecosystem |
| A．methods of information collection |
| B．the Sargasso Sea as an entire ecosystem |
| C．diversity of wildlife in the Atlantic Ocean |
| D．different habitats of sea animals |
【推荐3】Gray wolves have lived in North America for at least half a million years. Their living areas once included most of the continental United States. But during the 1800s and early 1900s, wolves were hunted to near extinction(灭绝).By the 1960s, the U. S. wolf population was limited to a handful of creatures in small comers of the northern Midwest.
Then, in 1973, a law, the ESA, was passed to protect animals from becoming extinct. Gray wolves were one of the first animals placed on the endangered-species(濒危物种)list. Killing them was illicit. And the U. S. government worked to promote their protection. In a famous example of this effort, starting in 1995, 31 wolves were moved from Canada to Yellowstone National Park. By 2015, more than 500 gray wolves were living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem(生态系统).Today, the continental U. S. is home to more than 6,000 gray wolves. On January 4, 2021, the U. S. government removed gray wolves from the endangered-species list.
Usually, an animal's removal would be cause for celebration. But some environmental protectors say the wolves still need protection. In some parts of the country, wolves are increasing in numbers. More than a thousand of them can be found just in Michigan and Wisconsin. But overall, their range is still a small part of what it was. Wolves used to live across most of the U. S. Now they , are found in fewer than a dozen states. Others argue that as long as a species is not in danger of extinction, it doesn't belong on the endangered-species list. And farmers with land near wolf living areas say that if the wolf's population continues to grow, more of their farm animals will be killed by wolves.
But some protection groups worry that without protection, the wolf population will crash again. They hope that no matter what, people and wolves can get along peacefully with each other. They are promoting ways to make that happen.
1. What caused gray wolves to be almost extinct?| A．Losing their living areas. | B．Too many natural enemies. |
| C．The extreme climate changes. | D．Being hunted in great numbers. |
| A．Rather difficult. | B．Against the law. |
| C．Totally normal. | D．Conditionally allowable. |
| A．They have a much larger population already. |
| B．They have all been put into the safe natural parks. |
| C．They have been feeding on farmers, farm animals. |
| D．They have grown too strong to be protected by humans. |
| A．The wolves are trouble for them. | B．The wolves must be better protected. |
| C．The wolves get along peacefully with them. | D．The wolves should live where they belong. |
