"To educate a girl is to educate a thousand people," says Maimouna Samake, a mother of six children(including five girls). "If you put one seed in the ground and rain comes, it will grow to produce many seeds." Samake, one of 2,000 residents, lives in a small village, Sounkala, in one of the world's poorest countries. Now she has a chance to see this wish come true thanks to build On, an American non-profit organization that is building a school in her community. For 17 years, build On has been sending American high school students overseas to create schools in places where literacy and formal education are usually out of reach. The organization has built about 300 schools in Mali, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, Nicaragua and Haiti. Its goal is to get young Americans in mostly urban areas to get involved in education. At the same time it can bring literacy to children and adults in poor villages in the developing world. Sounkala's school only has about 70 children; mud floors, poor lighting, few desks and an absence of books mean that the school is not the most ideal learning environment. Therefore they certainly could use build On's help. Samake hasn't been to school, but she wants a better future for her five daughters, including Ramatou, 12, and Mariam, 10. "When a woman attends school, she will teach what she learns to her children," said Ramatou, who wants to become a doctor. "She will also know how to take better care of her family." Build On tries to build schools for grades one to three. If things go well over those three years, they return to help build another school for grades four to six, and then set up evening adult literacy classes. Ramatou and Mariam will not learn inside the walls of build On school since they are already in the sixth grade, but Samake hopes that they will be able to attend evening classes to continue learning. According to the text, build On is most likely to help a school _ . A) in a village in a developed country B) in an urban area in a developing country C) in a rural area in a developing country D) in an earthquake-stricken area in a developed country
C
(Question)
When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be "last weekend." Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping--urban sprawl . Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Before 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn't produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred. Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal space. Well- meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it. Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water... Who do environmental activists blame for environmental problems? A) Endangered animals. B) Shopping mall owners. C) Unthinking shoppers. D) Ambitious farmers.
(Answer)
C
Ibrahim became disabled after contracting polio when he was three years old. At first his parents, like many other parents of disabled children in Niger, did not want to send him to school. They were worried he would be laughed at by his classmates. Despite his disability, and his parents' doubts, Ibrahim was determined to go to school. "When I was eight," Ibrahim says, "other kids of my age were going to school while I stayed at home. I did not like that. So, I pestered my parents until they finally let me go to school." Ibrahim's parents sent him to a private school nearby. Although the journey to and from school was a short one, it still wasn't easy for Ibrahim. He had to use his hands to help him move along, protecting them with plastic slippers. But at least he was getting an education. However, after only a year in school, Ibrahim's education was interrupted when his parents separated. His mother did not have the means to continue paying for his tuition. In 2007, Ibrahim received some money to be fitted with a leg brace , corrective shoes and his first pair of crutches . Now that he was more mobile than before, the most important thing for him was to find a way to go back to school. "I wanted to start school again last October," Ibrahim says. "After my mother told me she could not afford it, I went to visit some of my relatives for support. And I collected 5,000 francs CFA (US $8) to pay my tuition for half a year. I will find the rest of the money somehow." Ibrahim attends a school in which he is the only disabled student. According to his teacher, he is among the top five students in a class of 55. Why did Ibrahim's parents prefer Ibrahim to stay at home? A) There was a lot of housework for him to do. B) They had no money to pay for his tuition. C) There were not enough schools in the country. D) They were afraid the students would make fun of him.
D