Give the Gift of Water

倪慧琴

你曾关注过贫困地区的生活吗？你想过为他们做点什么吗？美国女孩德斯蒂尼·惠特克却能心怀他人，倾尽自己的一切力量为贫困地区的人们送去干净的水，贡献出自己的一份绵薄之力。

Destinee Whitaker was in fourth grade when she learned that millions of people around the world lack （缺乏） clean water.

“It was a problem that just stuck with me， that not everyone had what I had， that not everyone lived the way that I live，” said Whitaker， a young girl from West Philadelphia， Pennsylvania， US. “Water is a necessity （必需品）.”

When Whitaker entered high school， she felt she had to do something. She wanted to raise1 money to buy water purification systems （净化系统） for people in need. Whitaker knew the systems would have to be easy to carry and able to work without electricity.

With the help of her classmates， Whitaker organized2 bake sales， dress-down （便装） days and games. They raised $800 （5，653.6 yuan）—a large amount for a school where 70 percent of students' families are not rich.

But Whitaker soon found that finding an organization3 that could deliver （递送） the water purification systems was a bigger problem. She went to mission groups and others about their possible connections4 to projects in Africa， Central and South America. No one could help.

Then Whitaker connected with Joseph Sackor. He runs the Liberia Medical Mission， an organization that provides medical services to Liberians （利比里亞人） who lack health services. Sackor accepted5 the school's money and agreed to deliver the systems to people who need them.

“Some students in Liberia can't even go to school because their parents cannot afford to buy them bottled water，” Sackor said. “This money is huge.”

【词海拾贝】

1. raise v. 募集 2. organize v. 组织 3. organization n. 组织;机构 4. connection n. 关系;联系 5. accept v. 接受

【难句解析】

1. It was a problem that just stuck with me.

释义：这个问题一直困扰着我。

点拨：stuck with意为“无法摆脱;困扰;缠住”。例如：

The poor boy was stuck with his father's debts.

2. Sackor accepted the school's money and agreed to deliver the systems to people who need them.

释义：Sackor收到学校募集到的钱，并同意将净化系统送到需要的人手中。

点拨：who need them是定语从句，修饰先行词people。在定语从句中，先行词是人，关系代词作主语，所以用who引导定语从句。例如：

The man who is shaking hands with my father is a policeman.

3. Some students in Liberia can't even go to school because their parents cannot afford to buy them bottled water.

释义：在利比里亚的一些学生甚至上不了学，因为他们的父母买不起瓶装水。

点拨：afford意为“买得起;负担得起”。afford后面常跟带to的不定式，通常与can， could， be able to连用，尤用于否定句或疑问句中。例如：

They couldn't afford $50 to buy a ticket.

I. Choose the right answer.

1. What problem stuck with Whitaker？

A. The poverty in Africa.

B. Lack of clean drinking water all over the world.

C. The environment problem in the USA.

D. The low awareness of health in Liberia.

2. What did Whitaker do in order to give the water to poor areas？

A. She raised money from students.

B. She organized bake sales， dress-down days and games.

C. She connected with Joseph Sackor to deliver the water purification systems.

D. All above.

3. What was the bigger problem that Whitaker met？

A. Raising money to buy water purification systems.

B. Finding an organization to deliver the water purification systems.

C. Keeping in touch with the mission groups.

D. Buying the most useful water purification systems.

4. What does the story mainly talk about？

A. How hard many people in poor areas were.

B. Whitaker fought for the lack of clean water.

C. Whitaker made efforts to give clean water to poor areas.

D. Whitaker learned a lot from poor people.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. He would like to ____ ____ （募集資金） to help poor children in poor areas.

2. ____ ____ ____ ____ （在……的帮助下） his classmates and teachers， he     has caught up with the others.

3. WeChat allows us to ____ ____ （与……有联系） many people and places in the world.

4. I ____ ____ （同意） put on a performance on New Year's party.

5. We ____ ____ ____ （负担不起） go abroad this summer.