Whitney Johnson and her unusual organization

江苏白蒲高级中学 王志红

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难词探意

1.pre-teen/'priː'tiːn/n.十岁出头的儿童

2.orphanage/'ɔːfənɪdʒ/n.孤儿院

3.crucial/'kruːʃl/adj.关键性的

As apre-teenin New York,Whitney Johnson volunteered at soup kitchens and delivered clothes to the homeless.While studying at Colorado College,she set up an English-language tutoring program for immigrant children.No one was surprised then,when she chose to volunteer in anorphanagein Khayelitsha,one of South Africa's most destitute （贫困的）areas,during her junior year abroad.“I knew at a young age that volunteering was something I was meant to do,”said Johnson.

At the orphanage,Johnson discovered that most of the children had been infected with HIV at birth.Many had been abandoned by parents who were too sick to care for them,or they were ignored by surviving relatives.Few were receiving the care they needed to stay healthy.In fact,only about a quarter of the approximately 330,000 children under 15 living with HIV in South Africa get the medication they need.“The clinics are overcrowded and underresourced,” Johnson said. “I saw so many kids dying.When I left South Africa,all I wanted to do was go back and change what I had seen.”

After graduation,Johnson began a fund-raising effort that eventually gleaned enough money to found Ubuntu Africa (UBA),a nonprofit organization intended to provide services for HIV-positive kids whose ages range from 4 to 18 in Khayelitsha.Now the UBA center is housed in a church big enough for a few shared offices as well as the children.The staff includes counselors,a social worker,a nurse,a cook,and a handful of volunteers,ensuring that each child has access to the proper medication,a free healthy meal,and emotional support.

Knowledge,Johnson maintains,is crucial to the kids'well-being,too.Once a week,she makes sure the children receive age-appropriate lessons about AIDS.“When we first started,some of the kids didn't even know they had HIV,”Johnson said.The social worker also sees to it that the kids are enrolled in school and have safe living conditions—especially those without parents.

“So many people think that HIV is a death sentence,but there's so much that can be done,”Johnson said. “In fact,in the five years since the center opened,none of the 200 kids in the program has died.It's so emotional to see the strong,independent people they become.”One teenage girl who had received help at UBA even announced that she wanted to become a nurse.Johnson assured her she could be anything she wanted to be.“It's challenging in this environment,but these children deserve to have big dreams,”she said.

Reading Check

1.The underlined word in paragraph 3 can be replaced by ______.

A.picked B.raised C.donated D.borrowed

2.What does UBA provide for each child with HIV?

A.A free meal. B.A free house.

C.A free travel. D.A self-protection lesson.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

The social worker also sees to it that the kids are enrolled in school and have safe living conditions—especially those without parents.这名社会工作者同样努力确保这些孩子能正常入学，有安全的生活条件——尤其是一些没有父母的孩子。

【信息提取】see to it that...意为“确保……；保证……”。

【句式仿写】我们要确保这个国家的每个孩子都能受到教育。