1 . Students at West Side Elementary School in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline to offer cheerful advice during difficult times. In just days, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour. The hotline, available in English and Spanish, offers the happy voices of children of different ages sharing positive messages.
Most people agree that with concerns like Covid-19, extreme weather, and the climate crisis, the last years have been stressful.
“To hear the pure joy from kids is extremely comforting in these difficult times,” art teacher Jessica Martin says.
Ms. Martin called the project “Pep Talk”, which later changed to “PepToc” to draw an ad for the hotline. The project had two parts, one the hotline, and the other creating encouraging posters. Along with artist Asherah, she worked with students from kindergarten to sixth grade. Students working on the hotline thought of what they would like to say. When they were ready, Ms. Martin recorded each one. Later, she sorted out the recordings into the different parts of the telephone hotline. For example, pressing 2 results in words of encouragement and life advice. This includes messages like: “The world is a better place with you in it.” and “You are okay!” Pressing 4, you hear the sounds of children laughing — a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Other students took part in making encouraging posters to hang up around the town. Many posters had strips of paper that people passing by could tear off and take with them.
Ms. Martin thought the project would attract interest from people near the school. But word of the hotline spread quickly on social media. The hotline has become popular with stressed adults, patients in hospitals, older people in homes, and others to beat stress by hearing the happy voices of children.
1. What’s the purpose of the telephone hotline?| A．To get people to express themselves. |
| B．To provide a way for people to cheer up. |
| C．To inspire children to face difficulties. |
| D．To have children learn foreign cultures. |
| A．To satisfy the need of an advertisement. |
| B．To make it attractive to people of all ages. |
| C．To add to the humorous effect of the hotline. |
| D．To show the work value of Ms. Martin. |
| A．She sorted out the most cheerful information. |
| B．She advertised them in the local radio station. |
| C．She put them into different parts for the hotline. |
| D．She added children’s laughter as the background. |
| A．It will grow popular all over the city. |
| B．It greatly reduces people’s loneliness. |
| C．It puts ads in media for its existence. |
| D．It can help people deal with stress. |
