1 . When it comes to a public library, you usually think of books and computers for people to use. You can even think of educational lectures and concerts that are often held in the library. But few people would expect to have a farm in the library.
But why not? After all, with rising costs, food safety is a community-wide issue. The Cicero Public Library near Syracuse in New York solved this problem by building a farm on its land. When Meg Backus saw all the open space in the library across the street from the building, he realized it could be used to benefit the community.
The farm was created in 2011 and in the beginning, 40 members of the library brought seeds (种子), water, and supplies to see if they could grow food on the land. It turned out that they could. To get the needed supplies for a larger farm, the library began to work with the organization Syracuse Grows Agency.
The community farm donates (捐赠) over 200 pounds of fresh produce (农产品) to local food banks every year. Half of the growing area is used as the Food Educational Garden. The other half is used by growers themselves. During the year, there are educational programs held at the library to teach people how to garden. There are also a lot of gardening books that can be used at the library.
Lauren Rosenstein, a worker of the library, said that she felt like she was giving something back to the community. “You’re really making a difference as a local community because you’re growing the food that people are eating.”
1. Why did Meg Backus build the farm?| A．To earn money. |
| B．To attract more readers. |
| C．To improve food safety. |
| D．To teach readers how to grow food. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Stressed. | C．Hopeless. | D．Confident. |
| A．Farmers’ life. | B．Food donation. | C．Gardening skills. | D．Food banks. |
| A．Make a Farm Popular | B．Turn a Library into a Farm |
| C．Meet the First Library Farm | D．Find a Job on a Library Farm |
2 . Do you make money by doing small jobs? If you do, you may have heard of the idea of spending only some of it, saving some of it and donating some to people who need it more.
The head of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife announced they were giving away 99% of their money from Facebook during their lives to help others! That alone is amazing considering most people donate about 3% to 5% of the money they have. It is even more amazing when you realize they’re donating about $45 billion. That’s $45, 000, 000, 000!!!! Don’t worry. They’ll still have about $455 million to live on!
They made this decision partly because they had a baby girl, Max, and thought about what kind of world they’d like her to grow up in. It must be an amazing feeling to have that kind of money spent on people in need. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest persons in the world, so most of us will never know what that would be like.
But we don’t have to be super wealthy to make meaningful change. Sometimes change can come from change!
Ten-year-old Joey Roth from America started saving up change he found anywhere--around his house, on the street, on his way to school…And then he started putting it in a jar. He even asked the tooth fairy to donate some change in his letter to her after he lost a tooth! (The tooth fairy is an imaginary person.)
His collection, Jar for Change, has grown into a community-wide effort and he has raised over $10, 000 all from people dropping coins into jars! The money he raises goes to help connect parents with their very sick babies.
See what these people have done? You, too, can help others—no matter how old you are, where you live and how much you earn!
1. How much would most people donate if they had 20, 000 yuan?| A．60-100 yuan. | B．300-500 yuan. |
| C．600-1000 yuan. | D．30-50 yuan. |
| A．Joey Roth | B．their childhood |
| C．their education | D．their daughter |
| A．Making money. | B．Giving away $45 billion to help others. |
| C．Being the richest person in the world. | D．Spending money unwisely. |
| A．Everyone can make a difference. | B．Giving makes people happy. |
| C．Pocket money can be helpful. | D．Giving is better than receiving. |
3 . Last weekend I made a journey from New York to London, with my daughter to see my mother. To my relief, the travel was far easier than I expected: the airports were empty, the plane was half-full and the airline staff kindly provided food and wine, which I drank greedily with a straw while wearing the required face mask. What I did not expect was to be hit with a culture shock on arrival in London.
In New York, face masks are now an inseparable part of life. Street signs declare “OUTSIDE WITH NO MASK? FORGET ABOUT IT!” Buildings carry more polite notices warning that anyone without a mask is banned. And even without them, almost everyone I see on the streets in my corner of Manhattan has their face covered. Strangers sometimes shout angrily at people who do not.
Indeed, there is such a strong sense of social pressure that in recent months I have worn a mask even when cycling alone, along Manhattan’s East river. And my daughter has taken to shopping online for “fashion masks”.
But not so in London. A new report issued by the Royal Society and the British Academy shows that, at the end of April, just 25 percent of Brits wore face masks in public places compared with 66 percent of Americans. We saw this for ourselves: in London, we appeared to be almost the only people wearing masks on the streets or in shops; even on public transport some seem to reject them.
Simon Roberts explains powerfully in a timely new book the Power of not Thinking. Habits matter deeply, but we rarely notice them — unless we travel. After a few days in London, I have started to “forget” my mask when I go outside. When I return to New York, I will have to relearn my habits all over again.
1. What does the underlined phrase “culture shock” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．The loss of culture. | B．Confusion and unfamiliarity. |
| C．The face mask. | D．A huge welcome. |
| A．Serious. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Annoyed. | D．Ambitious |
| A．Londoners think mask wearing is only necessary on public transport. |
| B．None of the Londoners likes the idea of mask wearing. |
| C．New Yorkers should wear masks even if alone. |
| D．New Yorkers would react strongly to people without masks. |
| A．To stress the importance of realizing one’s habits with environmental changes. |
| B．To help people understand that each country has its own unique culture. |
| C．To encourage people to travel and explore the world. |
| D．To explain why there’s a culture shock. |
