Dear Reader,

Imagine an 11-year old girl whose days are often spent washing clothes, looking after a baby, working hard in the field.

Imagine a little girl who knows there will not be enough food for dinner, who can’t fill her stomach with water because it’s polluted, and who has watched life slip away from her father, little brother and sister because the family is too poor to see a doctor.

Is it hard to believe? For Maria Pastora, these are the real life.

Maria would gladly walk miles to school, but her mother, now alone, needs her badly at home. If Maria grows up without any schooling, what will be her future?

But for just 52 pennies a day, you can sponsor a child like Maria. Through “Save the Children”, you can help Maria’s mother get the tools and ways she needs to turn their poor food into a good dinner and the money she needs to buy clothes and school things for Maria.

To help Maria most, your money is put together with that of other sponsors, so hard-working people can help themselves. Build a school, a hospital…bring in clean water. This is what “Save the Children” has been about since 1932.

For you there are many rewards. Have the chance to write to or hear from your sponsored child. Receive photos or progress reports. Know you are reaching out to another person. Not with a handout(施舍物), but a “handup”. That’s how “Save the Children” works. But without you, it can’t work. Please take a moment now to fill in and post the form below to help a child like Maria and her village.

It can make such a difference in her life and yours.

1.We can most probably read the letter in __________.

A．somebody’s diary                      B．a newspaper

C．a progress report                       D．a storybook

2.From the passage, we can infer （推断）that _________

A．Maria is an 11-year-old girl.

B．Maria’s family is very poor.

C．Maria has to do a lot of hard work.

D．Maria is hoping to get schooling.

3.What is “Save the Children”?

A．An organization to help poor children go to school.

B．An office of the government to collect money.

C．A program shown at theatres to help the poor.

D．A group who works for children in poor places.

4.The underlined word “sponsor” means “__________” in Chinese.

A．回报             B．资助　　　　　    C．感恩　　　　      D．抢救

5.What does the last sentence in the letter mean?

A．If Maria goes to school, you will be rewarded.

B．What you give is more than what you take.

C．Both Maria’s life and yours will change a lot.

D．Marie and you can help each other at school.

As everyone knows, there are many 　16　 of transportation in the world, like bicycles, buses, ships, trains and 　17　 .
If you are in big  18　like Shanghai or Beijing, maybe you get to school   19  a subway or you have to 　20　 to school because you live in a mountain village. Here I am just trying to say something about　21　 .
Ten years　22　, bicycles were very　23　in most villages.  24　 family had one or two of bicycles. Children got to school by bicycle; 　25　 rode bicycles to go shopping. Then motorcycles (摩托车)   26  to become popular. People no longer rode bicycles because motorcycles ran   27  faster.  But now, in some countries，bicycles are highly suggested
  28  the main means of transportation. They think buses, cars and motorcycles pollute(污染) the air but bicycles   29  . So, to live a low-carbon life,   30  a bike is a good way.