谷战峰
古铁雷斯通过从垃圾堆中收集废书,建立了一个社区图书馆,以便让农村和贫困社区的孩子们能够阅读。这改善了孩子们的生活。
Gutiérrezs life changed after finding a copy of Anna Karenina in trash 20 years ago. It happened one night when he saw deserted books while he was driving his garbage truck through wealthier neighborhoods. It ignited his desire to start rescuing books from trash. He took home about 50 books every morning after his night shift. Eventually, he turned his book collection into a community library for children from low?income families.
Bogota, Colombias capital, has 19 public libraries. However, they are far away from where rural and poorer communities live. Buying new books is sometimes out of reach for families struggling to make ends meet. Gutiérrezs community library is a true representation of how one mans trash can be anothers treasure. “I dont think Im doing something so great. The library is simply a bridge between people who throw books and those who have no access to books,” he said about his remarkable efforts.
Today, his library, called “the Strength of Words”, contains over 20,000 books and occupies most of his home. Everything from school textbooks to storybooks can be found in his collection. The library is open every weekend, when neighborhood children pour in. “The whole value of the library lies in helping kids start reading. This is important for kids in Bogota where many young people kill time in the streets,” said Gutiérrez.
Gutiérrez grew up poor, and his family couldnt afford to educate him beyond primary school. Nevertheless, he never lets a lack of formal education stop him from reading. “Books are the greatest invention of human beings. Theres nothing more beautiful than having a book handy,” Gutiérrez said. His journey to giving back to his local community is an amazing example of how every one of us can improve the lives of those around us by identifying needs, investing time and finding a simple solution.
1. What does the underlined word “ignited” mean in the first paragraph?
A. Indicated. B. Satisfied.
C. Limited. D. Stimulated.
2. Which of the following can best describe Gutiérrez?
A. Caring and humble.
B. Smart and independent.
C. Traditional and self?disciplined.
D. Ambitious and easy?going.
3. What do paragraphs 2 and 3 mainly tell us?
A. Bogotas main social problems.
B. The librarys rich variety of books.
C. The bad habits of Bogotas young people.
D. The librarys significance for the neighborhood.
4. What message does Gutiérrezs story deliver?
A. Education is the key to success.
B. All things are difficult before they are easy.
C. Small acts of kindness make a big difference.
D. Books are the food for those hungering for reading.
Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text
It happened one night when he saw deserted books while he was driving his garbage truck through wealthier neighborhoods. 事情发生在一个晚上,当他开着垃圾车穿过更富裕的社区时,他看到了被丢弃的书。
【点石成金】本句中,when引导的是一个定语从句,修饰先行词one night,while引导的是一个时间状语从句。
Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks
turn...into 把……变成
out of reach 够不到;遥不可及
make ends meet 使收支平衡
pour in 蜂拥而入
lie in 在于
kill time 消磨时间
a lack of 缺少
stop sb from doing sth 阻止某人做某事
invest time 投入时间
find a simple solution 找到一个简单的解决方案