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