Dear Volunteers，

The service you will provide to elderly individuals in Abilene as a Meals on Wheels volunteer is deeply appreciated. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the many miles you will travel and all of the hours you will contribute to help make this one of the best programs in the entire state.

We have our staff members make a home visit before adding each person to the program and try to visit everyone at least once every year. That is hardly enough, and we depend on your contact a great deal! It is important that you report back when you do not get an answer to your knock on the door. The person inside may be hurt or ill. They may be in hospital or out of town and fail to inform us. If they are frequently absent, we may need to determine if they still need meals.

If you find someone with a medical emergency, please call 911 to request medical assistance, and then call the Meals on Wheels office. If you find someone who needs assistance other than for a medical emergency, please call the Meals on Wheels office at 6725050, and we will try to find the appropriate agency or individual to call.

Let us know when a certain person needs extra food. We have a food preparation room of shelf stable items to share with them. Please feel free to take a few magazines when you deliver meals. Many of those we serve cannot afford magazines and enjoy reading. If someone is interested in getting books from the Abilene Public Library, let us know. We can sign them up for the Books on Wheels program. Call if you smell gas strongly when you deliver meals, or if someone needs a space heater, a blanket, or an electric fan. Please convey all needs to us, and we will try to see that they are met. Some of the elderly people who we offer our service may have cancers, liver diseases, AIDS, etc. If you do not want to deliver meals to the people with certain types of health problems, such as these, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Betty L. Bradley, LBSW,

Executive Director

1.Why does the author write this letter?

2.What can we learn about the volunteers from the passage?

3.How does the author learn about the needs of the people served?

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last 36  of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always 37  at everyone. So I thought this would be very 38 .
Soon after we were given the project, my 39  went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be 40 , when all of a sudden everyone around us began to 41 , and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men 42 .
As I looked down at the short gentleman with 43  eyes, he said, “ Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I 44  the second man was mentally challenged（智障）and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.
The young 45  at the counter asked him what they wanted.
He said, “ Coffee is all ,Miss.” Because that was all they could 46 .
I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a 47tray（托盘）. I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here 48  through me to give you hope.”
When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is 49  God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”
I returned to 50 with this story in hand. I 51 “my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “ Can I 52  this with the class?”
I slowly 53 and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be 54.
In my own way I had 55 the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone．Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun．

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody．They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society．

While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age．But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old．

If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的)．In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing．

“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple．With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998．When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention．

“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper saiD．“Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves．” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful．“We’re a ladies’ play group．It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood．

56．The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________．

         A．one branch of an organization  B．a written agreement of a club

         C．one part of a collection of poems     D．a period in a society’s history

57．From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who       ．

         A．have gradually become more noticeable         

         B．are worried about getting old too quickly 

         C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

         D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

58．It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         ．

         A．interested in raising money for social work    

         B．programmers who can plan well for their future

         C．believers in equality between men and women

         D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

59．Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

         A．Emily Cornette．       B．Ellen Cooper． 

         C．Jenny Joseph．          D．Joe Heywood．

     The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.

    “My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emils Comette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.

     While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers (生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.

     If you take into consideration feminism (女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple (紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.

    “The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.

   “The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.

The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.

 A．one branch of an organization     B．a written agreement of a club

C．one part of a collection of poems   D．a period in a society’s history

From the text, we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who

 A．have gradually become more noticeable

 B．are worried about getting old too quickly

 C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

 D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

DIt could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         .

A．interested in raising money for social work

 B．programmers who can plan well for their future

 C．believers in equality between men and women

 D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

 A．Emily Cornette .       B．Ellen Cooper .

C．Jenny Joseph .         D．Joe Heywood .

Women join the Red Hat Society because          .

 A．they want to stay young  

B．they would like to appear more attractive

 C．they would like to have fun and live for themselves

 D．they want to be more like their parents[来

I told mom that not everyone could manage to have 3 meals on time everyday, _____?