A
Kong Zhenlan, a 71yearold woman from China's Shanxi Province, has devoted the last four decades of her life to adopting orphans (孤儿), making sure that they had food on the table and got access to education.
Even though she could only afford to support herself on a modest income Kong Zhenlan couldn't bear to walk by the orphanage in Jixian County every day and see so many children struggling in poverty. One day, she stopped by and picked one of the orphans in her arms. That's when she knew she had to do something to make their life better. The modest woman started adopting these abandoned children and nurturing them as her own. Over the last 47 years, she has adopted 45 orphans, some of whom grew up to become doctors and lawyers.
Kong's oldest adopted child is 45 years old, while her youngest is 9 months old. Today, her adult children donate some of their monthly salaries to help bring up their younger siblings (兄弟姐妹), but in the beginning, the woman had to make due with what she had. And it wasn't much. She would spend all her money making sure the children had milk to drink, and if there was none left for her, she would look for leftovers in local garbage cans.
The modest woman recently told Pear Video that over the last 40 years she has only been getting 2 hours of sleep per night. She goes to sleep at around midnight, after putting the children to sleep and finishing up her chores (家务), and gets up around 2 a.m. to check if they're all still covered with blankets. She has gotten used to it and said that a short sleep was a small price to pay for making sure the children grow up healthy and happy.
语篇解读:本文是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了七十多岁的老人孔振兰几十年如一日地收养孤儿的故事。尽管她自己只有很少的钱, 但是她还是尽力让那些孤儿过上健康快乐的生活。
1.What does the underlined word “nurturing” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.Examining. B.Observing.
C.Raising. D.Preferring.
解析:选C 词义猜测题。根据画线词所在句及后一句可知,孔振兰老人收养那些被遗弃的孩子并把他们抚养长大。故画线词的词义与“Raising”的意思一致。
2.How do Kong Zhenlan's adult children help her?
A.Support her financially.
B.Raise money every month.
C.Sell milk in the midnight.
D.Pick up leftovers when free.
解析:选A 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Today, her adult children donate some of their monthly salaries to help bring up their younger siblings”可知, 孔振兰抚养的孩子们长大后在经济上支持她。
3.What makes Kong Zhenlan spare no effort to raise the orphans?
A.Her desire to get rid of loneliness.
B.Her eagerness to get fame and wealth.
C.Her wish to find a better job in this way.
D.Her hope for the children to have a happy life.
解析:选D 细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句可知, 让孩子们健康快乐地生活是孔振兰不辞辛苦养育这些孤儿的动力。
4.Which of the following best describes Kong Zhenlan?
A.Easygoing. B.Kind.
C.Creative. D.Reasonable.
解析:选B 推理判断题。综合全文可知,孔振兰老人能四十年如一日地收养孤儿,这说明她是一个善良的人。