【推荐2】Community Development Projects Overseas

The aim of Community Development projects abroad in Temple Conservation，DIY and more is to improve poorer local communities. You can do them as part of your work experience, gap year or career break. Or just as a volunteering holiday.

●South Africa

Time: 1^st, March — 31^st, May 2018

Registration fee: $ 65

Maintenance/Handyman! The project is truly unique....you will assist an Animal Rehabilitation Center that desperately needs any help it can get and you will be benefiting the animals at the same time! And, of course, the location is very unusual. And finally, conservation are lovely people to work with!

●Sri Lanka：

Time: 1^st, May — 31^st, July 2018

Registration fee: Free

Buddhist Temple Repair and Construction Project in Kandy

Rebuild and repair Buddhist temple in and around Kandy. This unique and fascinating project offers an opportunity to learn about Sri Lankan construction using traditional manual methods, without using modern machines.

Work includes construction, repairing temples, cleaning in and around temples, interacting with children and villagers and helping the Temples arrange Community Centers for the village youths. You will also assist with the repair of paintings and sculptures inside the temples.

●Zimbabwe:

Time: 1^st, October — 31^st, December, 2018

Registration fee: $ 120

Community Healthcare and Medical Project in Gweru gain basic medical experience in local clinics and play a role in HIV/AIDS education and awareness. You will be able to get involved in not only this clinic but others in the nearby area as well. You do not need to be qualified in any particular area. You will work with children from the ages of 3 to 6 years. It is a very worthwhile, enjoyable placement.

1. Which of the following is needed in South Africa?

A．People experienced in painting.

B．People with rich travelling experience.

C．People experienced in caring for animals.

D．People with experience in treating AIDS.

2. What is the project of Zimbabwe aimed at?

A．Food and environments.	B．Health and medicine.
C．The community and education.	D．Animals and resources.

3. What is the similarity of these three projects：

A．They all charge some fees.

B．They all need particular experience.

C．The length of the working time is the same.

D．They all need you to be good at foreign languages.

【推荐3】Picasso paintings regularly sell for millions of dollars, making it unlikely that the majority of art lovers will ever own a work by the famous Spanish painter. But Care International, a Paris-based nonprofit is offering individuals around the world the chance to acquire a Picasso original for just $111 and contributes to a worthy cause at the same time.

As Caroline Elbaor reports for artnet News, Aider les Autres is offering tickets for Nature Morte, a 1921 Picasso painting describing a newspaper and a glass of absinthe(苦艾酒). The painting, which is on display at the Picasso Museum in Paris, has been valued at SI. 1 million. But one lucky winner will be able to obtain the painting for a mere small amount of that price.

By selling the Picasso painting at an extremely discounted rate, Aider les Autres hopes to raise a lot of money for Care International. Around 200, 000 rale tickets (抽奖券)are available for purchase, meaning the organization will be able to raise up to $22 million. Some of the money will be used to buy the painting and cover other costs, but the majority will be donated to the charity.

Care International plans to use the donated money to build and restore wells, washing facilities and toilets in Cameroon, Madagascar and Morocco. Having easy access to clean water not only reduces the risk of water borne diseases, but also reduces the time that people and particularly women and girls have to spend walking to clean water sources.

“Besides the huge waste of time, women and girls are at risk as they walk alone along remote paths and tracks,” Aider les Autres explains. “Girls are also more likely to miss school because of lack of hygiene (卫生). By providing clean water, we will increase girls' attendance by many thousands.”

1. Where are art lovers likely to get a Picasso original at a very low price?

A．From the lucky winner.	B．From Caroline Elbaor.
C．From the Picasso Museum.	D．From Care International.

2. What will most money from raffle tickets be used to do?

A．Buy tickets for art overs.

B．Buy the painting Nature Morte.

C．Contribute to charitable projects.

D．Give away to the lucky winner.

3. Why will Care International build wells in Morocco?

A．To promote its status.	B．To store more clean water.
C．To improve people’s health.	D．To increase girls 'learning time.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A personal diary.	B．A news report.
C．A book review.	D．A science fiction novel.

【推荐1】Suddenly another thought went through Kate’s mind like an electric shock. An express train was due to go past about thirty minutes later. If it were not stopped, that long train, full of passengers, would fall into the stream. “Someone must go to the station and warn the station-master, ” Kate thought. But who was to go? She would have to go herself. There was no one else.

In wind and rain she started on her difficult way. Soon she was at the bridge that crossed the Des Moines River, a bridge also built of wood, just like the bridge across Honey Creek. The storm had not washed this away, but there was no footpath across it. She would have to cross it by stepping from sleeper (枕木)to sleeper. With great care she began the dangerous crossing, sometimes on her hands and knees, hardly daring to look down between the sleepers into the wild flood waters below. If she should slip, she would fall between the sleepers, into the rapidly flowing stream.

At last -- she never knew how long it had taken her- - she felt solid ground under her feet. But there was no time to rest. She still had to run more than half a mile and had only a few minutes left. Unless she reached the station before the express did, many, many lives would be lost.

She did reach the station just as the train came into sight. Fortunately the station-master was standing outside. “The bridge is down! Stop the train! Oh, please stop it!” Kate shouted breathlessly.

The station-master went pale. He rushed into the station building and came back with a signal light. He waved the red light as the train came into the station. It was not a second too early.

1. What did Kate decide to do?

A．Stop the express train.	B．Check the signal light.
C．Meet the passengers.	D．Visit the station-master

2. Which of the following words best describes Kate’s journey

A．Fruitless.	B．Boring.
C．Well-planned.	D．Risky.

3. Why did the station-master turn pale?

A．He suddenly fell ill.	B．He realized the danger.
C．He discovered his mistake.	D．He became over-excited.

【推荐2】In January 2017, snow began’ to fall across the Apennines. From his home in the Rome suburbs, Edward watched the weather with concern. He and his wife, Caroline, had planned an overnight getaway to the hotel. But now he wondered whether they should go with the road covered with snow. Edward phoned the hotel, whose owner, Del Rosso, advised Edward to use chains on his tyres.

After a short talk, Edward and Caroline decided to make the trip. By the time they neared the resort (度假胜地) six hours later, they were battling a total whiteout. When they finally reached the hotel, they were cold and exhausted. They checked into their room, trying to forget their long day in the car.

Suddenly, the hotel began to shake. The windows rattled, and the water in the tub spilt over the edges. An earthquake with a magnitude of 5. 7 had struck the mountain. Edward had had enough. “Let’s get out of here,” he told his wife, dressing quickly. They were about to head to the parking lot when the snow on the mountain began to slide.

Martin, the resort’s caretaker, had been working in the tiny boiler hut about 30 yards from the main building when he noticed something abnormal. Standing on an empty snowfield, he gazed at a trail of complete destruction — it was as if a giant rake (耙子) had been dragged down the mountain, pulling down beech trees, crushing cars, chewing up everything in its path.

Finding a signal with his phone seemed to take forever. In fact, it took two hours before Martin finally spoke with the chief of the region’s rescue team.

“We’re coming,” Crocetta promised.

“How long will it take?” asked Martin.

“Five or six hours.”

Eight hours after Martin had talked to Crocetta, the rescuers finally arrived. There was no movement anywhere — no human sound, just rubble (碎石).Edward lay in a coffin-sized pocket of air beneath 30 feet of snow, ice, and rubble. He could hear nothing of what was happening at the surface. Shock had set in, and he felt no pain, no hunger, no cold. Each time Edward awoke, he faced a new terrible reality: he was buried alive. Despair suddenly seized him. He asked himself, who is going to save us?

Nick and three other rescuers kept digging on, breaking blade after blade on their circular saws (圆锯), battling toward a faint cell signal detected deep in the ruins. Suddenly they heard a voice. They silenced their saws and listened. It was Edward. He was still fading in and out of consciousness. A vision of his wife stayed with him, an angel of mercy, he thought. She assured him he would be OK.

“Edward, we are here!” Nick shouted, ten feet above where the trapped man lay.” Are you injured? Are you bleeding?”

As the voices and the buzzing of saws grew louder, Edward became more alert. “Where is my wife?”

“We put her in the car because it’s cold,” Nick lied.

At last, at around six in the morning, Nick’s saw broke through a final thick layer of insulation (隔绝). He pointed his light toward the opening and spotted Edward’s back. Nick could see how the angled beams had created a cocoon that prevented Edward from being crushed to death. Those near him had not been so lucky: Squeezed in the space with him were the bodies of two women — one supporting his head, one curled (卷曲) beneath his left leg.

Rescuers raised the concrete beams off Edward’s limbs with a jack (千斤顶). “You are a superhero,” Nick said as he reached beneath Edward’s armpits and gently lifted him out of his tomb.

Five days after his rescue, Edward was given the heartbroken news that his wife had died. Her body had been found, crushed by debris, near where Edward had been trapped. The angel who had appeared to him in his dreams had, somehow, never left his side.

1. Edward was advised to use chains on his tires in order to      .

A．protect the tyres

B．reduce the risk of slipping

C．make the car stronger

D．put on the weight of the car

2. What did Martin see after noticing something abnormal?

A．A beautiful scenery of snow.

B．The cars crushed by the trees.

C．A giant rake dragged down the mountain.

D．The snow swallowing everything on its way.

3. It took Martin two hours to get in touch with the rescue team because        .

A．his phone was out of power

B．the signal was not strong enough

C．he was too scared to make the call

D．the line was too busy to get through

4. What was Edward’s condition after he was trapped?

A．He was lucky to be safe and sound.

B．He was optimistic and waiting for the rescue patiently.

C．He was in a bad state and came back to life once in a while.

D．He was seriously injured and out of consciousness completely.

5. Nick lied to Edward when he asked about his wife because      .

A．he didn’t want Edward to lose hope

B．he was a dishonest rescuer and often lied to others

C．he wanted to play jokes with Edward to relax him

D．he wanted to distract his attention to reduce his pain

6. What does the author want to convey to us?

A．Rescuers are true superheroes.

B．Where there is life, there is hope.

C．Love can help a man survive a disaster.

D．A snow crash goes hand in hand with an earthquake.