Until last summer I had a very comfortable life: winter vacations skiing and summer cruises. My parents spent a lot of money on a private school, so they could get me into a competitive middle school. Everything was about tomorrow, next year, my graduation. We never had to worry about today.
Before last summer I never thought much about the people in the world who live day to day, every day, whose lives are controlled by poverty and hunger. Then I enrolled in a two-week intensive program. We lived in a “Tribal Village,” in a hot, dry open grassland in Arkansas, a state of the south-central United States. I am a tribal member in Mozambique, a country of southeast Africa. Every meal, I make the fire for my family, and feel the flames lick up my nostrils as I blow to keep the fuel alive. I cook mush with vegetables. This is all my family is ever given.
I feed the hen and three rabbits their dinner. I grow attached to the rabbits, even though I know I shouldn’t. I name them. I’m not getting enough to eat; it’s time to decide whether or not to kill the rabbits. I feel pain but it’s a privileged child’s pain because I know I will soon be eating again. That’s not true for a lot of other children around the world.
Growing up comfortably in the U.S., I’ve never had to worry about my dinner, and even though this whole process was only a simulation, it changed my life. Now I believe in doing whatever I can to help find practical ways to defeat hunger.
So I’ve become president of Roots and Shoots, a group working to improve local environments for people and animals. I’m also working to create a program at my high school called the “Safe Passage” trip to help young people in the Guatemala City dump. And I’ve got plans to do more.
I'm often thinking of laboring in the hot sun and the millions who still do. Now, I try to live for today and stop worrying so much about the future. When I eat or feel full, I am grateful for this fortunate life and want to extend the same feeling to others.
I believe in offering help to those who need it.
31. What is true about the author before last summer?
A. Her life was under great pressure.
B. Her life was well-planned.
C. She didn’t have to worry about the future.
D. She had to worry about her dinner
32.We can learn from the second paragraph that _______________.
A. the author raised some rabbits as pets
B. the author took part in a two-week program in Africa
C. the author had a very difficult life in the “Tribal Village”
D. the author never thought about poor people after the program
33. The author feel pain because ____________ .
A. she is a privileged child
B. she is not getting enough to eat
C. she doesn’t want to kill the rabbits
D. she can’t go back to her regular life
34. What does the underlined word “simulation” in the fourth paragraph probably mean?
A. Reality B. Experience C. Imagination D. Imitation
35. What influence did the author’s experience in the “Tribal Village” have on her?
A. It gave birth to a belief in helping others.
B. It taught her to be grateful to her parents.
C. It has made her life more comfortable.
D. It inspired her to start two groups to help others.