3 . In 2010, a terrible earthquake occurred in China’s Qinghai province, causing tremendous damages. With the aid of the central government and people throughout the nation, the rescue and recovery lifted the survivors further and further from hell.
But there was still much room for improvement. Qinghai taught me to create light when there seems to be none to be found—literally.
I started working on the highland region by installing solar panels in an isolated school without electricity. We also provided metric tons of clothes, computer labs, libraries food, medicine, coal and even yaks. Indeed, when first arrived in China, never imagined I’d’ end up buying, riding, milking and getting kicked by yaks-let alone harvesting their waste for fuel. Even there, on the “planet’s third pole”, Chinas’ poverty alleviation miracle means that the Qinghai I’ve returned to recently is different place than I first saw in 2011. Since the government has brought unthinkably rapid development, we’ve shifted toward providing surgeries for nomadic children and university scholarships for nomads.
One surgery was for girl with a severe cleft palate. She’d lived in such a remote area that she was amazed when she first rode an escalator in Beijing. She was shocked by the “stairs that move themselves”. A friend paid to fly her home after the surgery. She was amazed because she didn’t know that planes flew above the clouds. She felt like an angel. And I, too, felt closer to heaven.
My book, Closer to Heaven, published in English and Chinese by China Intercontinental Press, is the highlight of my life’s mission to contribute to and tell the story of China’s poverty alleviation miracle from the front lines.
These journeys have been adventures. They’ve brought me from the darkness of the quake zone toward the light, from the United States to the “roof of the world” and closer to heaven. And they’ve been firsthand exploration of how China, in turn, has lifted so many people from the hell that is poverty and closer to heaven, as it exists on this Earth.
1. What does Paragraph 2 tell us?
| A．Electric breakdowns happened all the time. |
| B．In some remote areas, the sun actually never rises. |
| C．In some places, people had no access to electricity. |
| D．People suffered from power failure from time to time. |
2. Why did the author feel closer to heaven?
| A．He flew above the clouds. | B．He wrote Closer to Heaven. |
| C．He lived on the planet’s third pole. | D．He was happy to bring happiness to others. |
3. What is the book Closer to Heaven like?
| A．A science fiction, picturing China’s future high-tech development. |
| B．An adventure book, recording China’s tough battle against poverty. |
| C．A travel brochure, describing China’s breathtaking tourist attractions. |
| D．A personal diary, telling about the author’s lifelong experiences in the USA. |
4. What can be learned from the text?
| A．The author has never been to western China before. |
| B．Little has been done to improve people’s well-being. |
| C．The girl had an unforgettable experience during the Beijing trip. |
| D．The author has done little voluntary work while staying in China. |
