21世纪大学英语读写教程Unit6内容

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21世纪大学英语读写教程Unit6内容

导语:21世纪大学英语以特色求发展,下面YJBYS店铺分享21世纪大学英语读写教程Unit6内容,欢迎学习!

Text A

One summer holiday, a teenager volunteered to work in a

soup kitchen and got her first big lesson there. What was the

lesson she drew from the experience? Let's read the following

story.

Becoming a Better Person

Laura Hennessey

In the summer of 1992 I got my first big lesson in community

service. I can still remember how I felt the first day of my

volunteer assignment. I thought I was one of the most selfless

teenagers around, giving a whole month of my precious summer

to work in a soup kitchen.

At 7 a.m. every morning, I would walk to the bus stop in my

suburban neighborhood, board the 67A and settle in for the

hour-long ride into, what seemed to be, another world. Goodbye

air-conditioning, big grassy yards and pedigree dogs. Hello

smelly soup kitchen, sweltering street corners and trash-filled

alleyways. I felt like a saint.

Two experiences from that month in the soup kitchen still

stand out in my mind. One day the kitchen got a huge cardboard

box filled with unpeeled baby shrimp. Needless to say, I, with the

help of other volunteers, spent the whole morning sorting

through and peeling a million little shrimp for the gumbo. I

couldn't eat shrimp for years.

The second experience was far more influential than the

shrimp incident, but it was also much more difficult. Part of our job at the soup kitchen was to come up with activities for the

neighborhood kids. We would see the same kids almost every

day, so we got to know them quite well. I became particularly

fond of a young boy named Bruce.

One rainy day Bruce, who was normally very outgoing and

laughed easily, sat motionless, all alone at a big table in the

corner. We tried to get him to join in the fun with the other kids,

but he refused to take part in the silly games. Eventually, I

approached him and sat down to talk.

"Hi, Bruce. How are you?" No response. "What's wrong, Bruce?

Are you sad?"

"No."

"Are you angry at somebody?"

"No."

"OK, Bruce. Are you tired?"

"No."

"Are you sick?"

Once again Bruce replied, "No."

I was beginning to get a little frustrated and starting to

realize that maybe Bruce just wanted to be left alone. But then,

he finally filled me in. He said, in his meek voice, "I'm hungry; my

mom forgot to feed me."

I smiled as my heart simultaneously broke. "Well then, Bruce.

Let's find you some food." Then, hand in hand, we went into the

kitchen and found the only food that was around that time of day

— a couple of doughnuts. Bruce eagerly ate the tasty sweets, and

I felt like a hero.

When I got off the bus that day I hurried home to fill my

mom in on my day. I relayed the story to her in a tone tinged with

excitement. Then, slowly, I saw a look of concern and worry spread across my mother's face. She then sat down with me and

said, "Laura, that's great that you were there for him today, but

you have to realize that it is only one day. What's going to happen

tomorrow, or next week or a month from now, when you are no

longer there? You really have very little control over this little

boy's diet, let alone his life."

Her words struck me hard, but in that instant I realized a

great many things about what it means to "make a difference."

For a brief moment I felt useless, and I wanted to give up my

dreams of changing the world for the better. But that moment

quickly passed when I realized that giving up my dreams would

mean giving up a very important part of myself. Quitting was not

an option.

It was then that I knew service was going to be a part of my

life for the rest of my life. It's not about becoming a saint or a

hero. It is about becoming a better person.

(642 words)

New Words

community

n. a group of people living together and/or united by

common interests, background, nationality, etc. 社区

assignment

n. a piece of work given to a particular person or group (分派的)任务,工作

selfless

a. caring only for others and not for oneself 无私的;毫不利己的

teenager

n. a young person between 13 and 19 years old (指13岁19岁的)青少年 soup

n. 汤

kitchen

n. 厨房;灶间

suburban

a. of, for or in an outer area of a town or city 郊区的

soup kitchen

(救济贫民、灾民等的)施粥所,(免费或以极低价格供应汤和面的)施食处

* air-conditioning

n. the system that uses machines to control the temperature

in a building, esp. to keep it cool and dry 空调系统

grassy

a. covered with growing grass 覆盖着(青)草的;长满草的

pedigree

a. (of an animal) of known descent, pure-bred, and of good

stock (动物)纯种的`,有系谱证明的

smelly

a. having a bad smell 有(强烈或难闻)气味的

sweltering

a. unpleasantly hot 闷热的

trash

n. rubbish 垃圾,废物

activity

n. sth. done esp. for interest or pleasure (尤指娱乐或兴趣方面的)活动

alleyway