1 . Where would we be without food? We certainly wouldn’t be at Starbucks, grocery stores or restaurants. We wouldn’t, in fact, be anywhere for very long, because we need food to live. Food is seen as a basic human right, and yet one in nine people globally experience hunger. As far back as 1945 the United Nations recognized food as not a privilege, but a right, and that’s why they created World Food Day, observed annually on October 16, in 1979. It’s a day of observance to draw attention to the plight of the hungry. So, today, join us in alleviating hunger.
HOW TO OBSERVE WORLD FOOD DAY
(1).Give to a local food bank
In the United States it’s estimated 1 in 7 people rely on food banks as their primary or supplemental food source—many of these are working families who suffer from unemployment and cannot afford the groceries needed to help their family live healthily. The top requested items for food banks are healthy, nutritious and easy-to-store items high in protein, such as canned or dry beans, peanut butter, rolled oats, low-sodium soups and vegetables and tuna canned in water.
(2).Support small scale farms
Ninety-eight percent of the farms in the world are family farms. They usually practice sustainable agriculture with plants that are native to the area, rotating crops and limited use of pesticides. Sadly, many family farmers are unable to produce the variety of crops needed for their own survival and without support, can suffer from insufficient nutrition themselves. On World Food Day, shop locally and support family farms.
(3).Raise money to eliminate hunger
On World Food Day there are typically a number of food drives. If you don’t know of a local food drive, organize one yourself and donate the food to it. Globally there are hunger walks, World Food Day dinners or food packaging rallies. Get involved and let’s end world hunger!
1. What does the underlined word “plight” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．A difficult situation. | B．The health state. |
| C．The emotional condition. | D．The financial problem. |
| A．It is observed only in less developed countries. |
| B．It falls on October 16 annually since 1979. |
| C．It is committed to boosting the rice yield worldwide. |
| D．It aims to teach farmers to practice sustainable agriculture. |
| A．A campaign to deliver extra food to the place where it is needed. |
| B．An organization to call on people to save food. |
| C．A soup kitchen to teach people how to cook healthy food. |
| D．A volunteer activity to collect food for hungry people. |
| A．To inform the readers of the origin of World Food Day. |
| B．To share the diverse activities held on World Food Day. |
| C．To stress the importance of food security. |
| D．To appeal to the readers to do their part to end hunger. |
2 . Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation (PPIE) was started in 1987 to raise money by organizing running events for local schools. Based in Pleasanton, California, a suburb of San Francisco, the non-profit organization recently hosted a family-focused fitness event for the community. “Our event helps to bring the community together,” said Mindy Louie, events and outreach manager for PPIE. “We have more than 3,000 participants, hard-working volunteers and viewers.”
This year’s fitness event took place on April 30 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It featured races of two miles, five kilometers and ten kilometers. A new Kids Challenge consisted of a quarter-mile run to encourage younger children to participate. When asked to describe the run, 11-year-old Jeremy Louie said, “Fun, exciting and enjoyable.” Jeremy added that he was happy to help support his school.
PPIE supports all 15 schools in the Pleasanton Unified School District, which include more than 14, 500 students and 800 teachers and staff. The nonprofit organization tries to fund programs affected by budget cuts, while encouraging fitness and athleticism. To date, the PPIE has raised over $1 million for the school district.
A local runners’ group called the BURN Youth Development (B. Y. D.) participated in the fundraising. The B.Y.D. has since grown to more than 100 youth members, 30 of whom ran in April’s PPIE event. Jerry Wu, the group’s founder and lead coach, explained that the B.Y.D. was born to keep kids running. “Watching them running strongly and happily makes me smile every time,” Jerry said.
Jerry encourages teamwork and teaches the students valuable running techniques. As a B.Y.D. member, Ollie Gu, an eighth grader, was one of the top finishers in the ten-kilometer run. He completed the race in 40 minutes and 46 seconds and won first place in the 12-to-15 year-old age group. “The race was extremely rewarding,” Ollie said. “I’m looking forward to it next year.”
1. Which race was recently created?| A．A ten-kilometer run. | B．A quarter-mile run. |
| C．A five-kilometer run. | D．A two-mile run. |
| A．To stress the great influence of PPIE. |
| B．To show a small budget for education. |
| C．To introduce the school district in brief. |
| D．To advertise the organization’s programs. |
| A．Their duties as athletes. | B．Their feelings as coaches. |
| C．Their recognition of the B.Y.D. | D．Their anticipation of the next run. |
| A．Sports volunteers. | B．Young sportsmen. |
| C．Running with teachers. | D．Racing for education. |
3 . Games for Peace
The Peace Corps is a United States volunteer organization. The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship by providing trained volunteers to countries who need them. Here is advice of two of those volunteers on joining the Peace Corps and some more information about the activity.
Schwille: It usually takes nine to twelve months to be placed, and it’ll take longer if you’re married. If you’re willing to go anywhere, there are more opportunities. Remember the place you’re going is not the place you think it is.
Schneider: The biggest piece of advice I could share is that each experience is so unique and every experience is incredibly valuable. There is no one way to measure the “success” or “impact” a volunteer has in their community.
Click here to get more information
FAST FACT
Peace Corps Online
Follow the adventures of the Peace Corps, and get updates about the program, on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. FAST FACT
To Be a Volunteer
Length of service is 27 months, which includes an average of three months of in-country training and 24 months of Volunteer service.
The application process averages 9-12 months. The minimum age for Peace Corps service is 18; there is no upper age limit. Volunteers must be U.S. citizens. Competitive applicants will have a demonstrated commitment to community service, leadership experience, and a willingness to learn a new language.
1. What’s the purpose of the Peace Corps?| A．To train volunteers. | B．To advance peace and friendship. |
| C．To provide opportunities. | D．To share experiences. |
| A．A British postgraduate who wants to give back to society. |
| B．A Canadian lawyer with adequate volunteering experience. |
| C．An American gardener who is proficient in French. |
| D．An American high school student with busy school schedule. |
| A．In a magazine. | B．In a biography. | C．On the website. | D．In a novel. |
1. What is Habitat for Humanity?
| A．A farm. | B．A community. | C．An organization. |
| A．To make profits. | B．To provide shelter for the poor. | C．To live a simple life. |
| A．Building companies. | B．Local authorities. | C．House owners. |
| A．They are cheap. | B．They are expensive. | C．They are free. |
5 . It all started with a post on social media. Returning home from the grocery store, then 25-year-old Simone Policano felt compelled to help the elderly in her neighbourhood to practise safer social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. With this in mind, she reached out to her friends via the social media, inquiring about existing volunteer opportunities in the state of New York. Unexpectedly, many responded to her post, expressing their interest to volunteer as well. As a result of that outreach, one of her friends, Liam Elkind joined Policano. They decided to start an initiative called Invisible Hands Deliver.
Just two days after conceiving(想出)the idea, Policano and Elkind had a website up and running. This site allowed the elderly and other at-risk individuals to make requests for groceries and prescription medicines to be delivered to them. Volunteers left the bags of groceries outside the doors. The webpage also included a call for volunteers, which gained more than 2,000 sign-ups within the first five days.
As the pandemic began to take its toll on New York in March 2020, Invisible Hands Deliver witnessed a massive outpouring of support from like-minded individuals in the community. Besides volunteering to deliver groceries for free, New Yorkers also reached out to translate the Invisible Hands flyers into over a dozen languages, enabling the organisation to reach out to more members of the community.
Following its success in New York and New Jersey, the organisation has expanded its operations to Philadelphia and there are plans to expand to other areas of the United States. Their acts of kindness have also inspired similar networks to sprout up worldwide. Invisible Hands Deliver is also supported by other organizations.
Helmed by a team of college students and recent graduates, Invisible Hands Deliver has shown that one is never too young to make a difference and give back to the community. In a time when the pandemic has forced people apart, the young are in a prime position to take advantage of technology and bridge the gap, bringing communities together.
1. Why did Simone Policano setup “Invisible Hands Deliver”?| A．To practice outreach on the social media. |
| B．To bring volunteers of the same interest together. |
| C．To help the elderly with their daily chores contactlessly. |
| D．To sell groceries and prescription medicines to the lonely elderly. |
| A．Cause great damage. | B．Reduce the impact. |
| C．Fill a huge gap. | D．Recover slowly. |
| A．Invisible Hands Deliver has drawn wide attention. |
| B．People responded to Simon’s post in actively at the beginning. |
| C．Invisible Hands Deliver has existed in many areas of the United States. |
| D．Young people pull the elderly together when the pandemic pulls them apart. |
| A．Great minds think alike. | B．All the people gather the fire. |
| C．Great things never come easy. | D．Kill two birds with one stone. |
6 . When a group of college kids channeled their pandemic troubles into action, they never imagined the project would fuel a nationwide movement to tackle hunger and food waste.
But that’s exactly what Farmlink has done since 2020, bringing together hundreds of young volunteers to rescue nearly 77 million pounds of harvests headed for the trash and delivered them to those in need. The organization’s efforts help farmers, the environment, and people struggling to feed thef.
Launched during the height of the pandemic in spring, 2020, Farmlink was initially supposed to help struggling families and food banks. “In the United States, 40 million Americans are food insecure,” said Aidan Reilly, who co-founded Farmlink. “Meanwhile, we’re throwing out over 100 billion pounds of food every year.” Learning that local farms were forced to destroy excess produce that they couldn’t sell, especially with restaurants and schools closed, Aidan and a group of friends worked together to contact farms coast to coast.
In California, they found a farmer who had 13,000 eggs that could be donated, and Reilly offered to do the pickup and delivery himself. That was the first of many more deliveries. With “we’ll come to you” as their catchphrase, the group rented trucks and attempted to do all the food pickup and deliveries themselves.
The students ultimately got a welcome help from Uber Freight, and with the help of professional drivers, they moved more than one million pounds of produce from farms to food banks within just two months, transforming their passion project into a massive logistics (物流) operation in the process. Word spread, and more and more young people at home during the pandemic reached out to help.
Farmlink has worked with more than 100 farms and 300 communities in the US, rescuing and moving enough food to distribute more than 64 million meals.
1. What is Farmlink?| A．A project. | B．A volunteer. | C．A food bank. | D．A college. |
| A．To deal with food waste. | B．To protect the environment. |
| C．To help with food shortages. | D．To fight against the pandemic. |
| A．Fresh. | B．Necessary. | C．Expensive. | D．Extra. |
| A．Transforming Passion into Action |
| B．Turning Food Waste into Meals |
| C．Distributing Meals with Joint Efforts |
| D．Rescuing the World from Hunger |
