1 . Children grow quickly, especially their feet. But many families cannot afford new shoes each time a child needs them. As a result, about 300 million children around the world go barefoot（赤脚的）. Those children risk picking up diseases from the soil. An American man may have a solution for those barefoot kids—a shoe that grows with the child.
Kenton Lee is the creator of The Shoe That Grows. He explains how the shoe works and how it’s able to last so long. “It grows in three places; the front, on the side, and on the back. It can last up to five years. The bottom is like tire rubber. The top is just high-quality leather.”
The shoe comes in two sizes: small that fits children aged 4 to 9 and large for children aged 9 to 14.
Lee got the idea for the shoe while working as a volunteer in Kenya. However, it was not easy to turn his idea into a reality. Finally, in 2009 Lee founded a non-profit organization called Because International. In the office, he kept a pair of his own shoes to help him remember his promise.
Because International works with several partner organizations. Together, they’re sent more than 50,000 pairs of shoes to 70 countries. Most are going to East Africa. And then also a lot of shoes go to Haiti, some of the Central American countries as well. Many of these areas do not have good sanitation（卫生设备）, and illness spreads easily.
A pair of shoes, he says, gives more than protection. It gives a child self-worth and more chances to succeed. Because it’s a small thing that really makes a big difference to keen them healthy and happy and having more chances to succeed. Kenton Lee adds that his goal is to help get The Shoe That Grows to as many children as he can around the world.
1. Why are so many children around the world barefoot?| A．They grow so quickly that their families can’t buy proper shoes. |
| B．Their families are too poor to buy them enough new shoes. |
| C．They don’t like wearing new shoes. |
| D．There are no shoes at all now. |
| A．the shoes are designed for adults. |
| B．the shoes just grow in two places |
| C．Kenton Lee made great efforts to invent the shoes |
| D．Because International was founded to make much money |
| A．get himself to stick to his promise |
| B．let others know how hard he worked |
| C．encourage others to invent the shoes |
| D．make himself change shoes easily |
| A．it’s not necessary to improve sanitation in East Africa |
| B．Central America is the poorest place in the world |
| C．a small thing can really make a big difference |
| D．the shoes can make children succeed easily |
Your mother and I don’t yet have the words to describe the hope you give us for the future. Your new life is full of promise, and we hope you will be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully. You’ve already given us a reason to reflect on the world we hope you live in.
Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today. While newspapers often focus on what’s wrong, in many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. The number of poor families is decreasing. Knowledge is growing. People are connecting. Technological progress in every field means your life should be much better than ours today.
We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a responsibility to all children in the next generation. We believe all lives have equal value. Our society has its duty to improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those already here.
Today, most people die from five things — heart disease, cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases — and we can make faster progress on these and other problems. Once we recognize that your generation and your children’s generation may not have to suffer from disease, we collectively have a responsibility to increase our investments (投资) a bit more towards the future to make this reality. Your mother and I want to do our part. Curing disease will take time. Over short periods of five or ten years, it may not seem like we’re making much of a difference. But over the long term, seeds planted now will grow, and one day, you or your children will see what we can only imagine: a world without suffering from disease.
There are so many opportunities just like this. If society focuses more of its energy on these great challenges, we will leave your generation a much better world. Our hopes for your generation focus on two ideas: advancing human potential (潜能) and equality. Our society must do this not only for justice or charity, but for the greatness of human progress.
Today your mother and I are devoted to spending our lives doing our small part to help solve these challenges. I, Zuckerberg, will continue to serve as Facebook’s CEO for many, many years to come, but these things are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work.
We will give away 99% of our Facebook shares — now about $45 billion — during our lives to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these matters. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others.
As we become parents and enter this next chapter（篇章）of our lives, we want to share our deep appreciation for everyone who makes this possible. We can make progress towards these opportunities only by standing on the shoulders of experts. And we can only focus on serving this community and this mission because we are surrounded by loving family, supportive friends and amazing colleagues. We hope you will have such deep and inspiring relationships in your life too.
Max, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. We can’t wait to see what you bring to this world.
Love,
Mom and Dad
1. When might the letter be written?| A．When Zuckerberg got married. | B．When people suffered from diseases. |
| C．After Zuckerberg’s daughter was born. | D．After Zuckerberg increased his investment. |
| A．people’s health is improving | B．poor families become fewer than before |
| C．technology makes progress in few fields | D．people communicate with others more |
| A．Because he is the CEO of Facebook company. | B．Because he is devoted to helping those who are poor. |
| C．Because he hopes that his daughter will live a rich life. | D．Because he hopes future generations won’t suffer from diseases. |
| A．positive | B．negative | C．objective | D．subjective |
| A．Zuckerberg and his wife have inspiring relationships in their life. |
| B．People can’t make much of a difference within 5 years. |
| C．Society is only responsible for those already in the world. |
| D．People have made faster progress on five main deadly diseases. |
| A．tell his baby that he will donate 99% shares of Facebook |
| B．call on people to make efforts to improve living conditions |
| C．tell people that he is willing to make contributions to the world |
| D．express love for his daughter and what he will do for the future |
