文章大意:这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了Patricia Gallagher每到假日季节,就会在车里装满毛绒玩具,然后开车在费城兜风。这些玩具不是给孩子,而是给老年人。文章介绍了她这一传统开始的时间以及她对此的看法。
Every holiday season, Patricia Gallagher fills her car with stuffed animals and drives around Philadelphia. She gives them not to kids but to seniors.
Patricia’s holiday tradition started in 2009. “I just got this idea to call two nursing homes at random and ask if I could come and read It was the Night Before Christmas,” she said. She brought some of her kids’ stuffed animals for the seniors to hold while she read. “But when I went to gather them and take them back to go to the next nursing home, nobody wanted to give up their stuffed animals,” she added. It was then and there that she realized the power of a simple holiday gift.
Patricia wanted to continue her tradition of giving, so she put an ad online, asking for gently used stuffed animals. In her first two years of collecting, she received more than 11,000 donated stuffed animals. She said sometimes local schools would hold stuffed animal collections on her behalf, or a child who outgrew their toys would donate. After receiving too many, Patricia started capping how many she would collect at a time, and said she could only take in about 250 stuffed animals each week during the holiday season. Then, she took them to nursing homes.
“The elderly want stuffed animals not only for comfort, but they were conversation starters. It reminded them of their childhood,” she said. And she recalled one man said, “You know, I never wanted to go to school. And my father said if I would go that day, he would take me to the Brooklyn Zoo. And you know what? This was the first animal I saw there and it looked just like this giraffe.”
Spreading joy isn’t just a holiday pastime for Patricia. She is also known as the “Happy Flower Lady” around Philadelphia, because she collects old flowers from stores and passes them out to anyone who needs a pick-me-up.
“When you give, you really do get more back,” Patricia said. “Every morning, whether it’s the flowers or the stuffed animals, I have a purpose.”
4. Why did Patricia go to the nursing homes in 2009?
A.To send gifts to the seniors. | B.To read a story to the elderly |
C.To get over her loneliness. | D.To get rid of her kids’ toys. |
5. What does the underlined word “capping” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.Limiting. | B.Recording. | C.Identifying. | D.Doubling. |
6. What can we infer from paragraph 4?
A.Seniors love good old days. | B.Cute animals have healing effects on seniors. |
C.Giving makes seniors happy. | D.Stuffed animals have more than one function. |
7. What does Patricia think of her giving experiences?
A.Rewarding. | B.Entertaining. | C.Timely. | D.Tough. |