The advice offered from any other 82-year-olds might have made young people yawn and roll their eyes. But when former South African president Nelson Mandela advised two dozen local youth leaders in Los Angeles to take education seriously, his audience was listening.
The famed old man said to the young people that if they expected to improve the lives of others in the future, they must work at improving their own lives now. “Education is one of the most important weapons you have, ” Mandela advised. “It will place you in a far better position to serve yourself and your community. ”
“The point is, he was young once and rebellious once and he kept his dream alive, just as you each have dreams, ” explained South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Sheila Sisulu, as she introduced Mandela to the young crowd.
Asked for specific advice about changing society by 21-year-old Ahmed Younis, Mandela suggested that somehow helping arouse more American interest in foreign affairs might be a start.
“There is an impression that Americans, in general, have not followed international developments properly, ” Mandela said. “I’m not making that statement myself, but there are serious political analysts who say Americans are not well informed as to what has happened in the world. ”
22-year-old Omari Trice said Mandela left him full of enthusiasm. “He’s a person who set the tone for an entire nation, ” said Trice. “You come away feeling you need to be a superman in order to get things done. ” (230W)
1. From the passage, we can conclude that American youth .
A. are willing to accept the advice from world-famous leaders
B. usually think that advice from old people is not worth considering
C. have a good understanding of the old
D. have no intention to improve the lives of others
2. Nelson Mandela makes the point in his speech that American youth leaders should .
A. improve their own lives
B. go to college for better education
C. put more importance on education
D. become interested in foreign affairs
3. What Sheila Sisulu said suggested that .
A. Nelson Mandela never lost hope in his life
B. she was especially troublesome when young
C. Nelson Mandela was quite different from American youth when young
D. American youth should be no more rebellious
4. From what Trice said, we can know that .
A. he was greatly impressed and encouraged by Mandela’ sspeech
B. he thought little of Mandela’s speech
C. he must be a superman in order to change society
D. he’ll be more interested in international development