Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me.
Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby in different seasons.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy.
“I said ‘That’s not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he’s going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Hug(拥抱)him! And she started to do that. They just want a little hugging and a little love. And it works!” Delores Clemens said.
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. “I’m doing something for them that never has been done for them before.”
In class, with her baby son, is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in looking for a safer life.
“Did you go to high school?”
“Yes.”
“Did you graduate?”
“No, I didn’t. I was in my last year and then, I got pregnant(怀孕)and I got lazy.”
“You look like you are willing to accept responsibility(责任)for that.”
“Yes, I am, and I would like to finish.”
Some teenage mothers wish they themselves could be children again. 18-year-old Placida knows that feeling. “Because you have to get up every two hours in the middle of the night, and you can’t go out and say ‘I am going to buy this for myself.’ No. I have to buy pampers, clothes and food. So now it’s two. So it’s very hard.” Placida said.
【小题1】What did Natasha want to finish high school for?

A.To bring her high school life to an end.
B.To accept the responsibility to look after her baby.
C.To stop the chatting with Adam.
D.To end the relationship with her boyfriend.
【小题2】From what Placida said, we know that she thinks _______.
A.looking after a baby needs love
B.having a baby costs more
C.being a mom is hard
D.loving comes from responsibility
【小题3】The passage is mainly about _______.
A.a class where teen parents are looked after
B.a class where parents are teaching their children
C.a class where homeless mothers learn to find a job
D.a class where teens learn mothering and are mothered

An 8-year-old Miami boy, Joshua Williams, is president of his own non-profit organization---Joshua’s Save the World. His organization provides food and clothes for p?? 1.???

people and families in Miami and the neighboring areas.

Joshua has r?? 2.? thousands of dollars for his organization. He started to help the hungry when he was just 5. He was in his mother’s car when they passed a beggar. Joshua asked his mother to stop so that he could give him $20. “It’s my m? 3.?? . I want to help him, Mum,” Joshua recalled. One year later, he created his organization with the help of his mother and Francine Hanna, a local businesswoman. “He just thought that was what he wanted to do,” his mother said. “And there was nothing that could s?? 4.?? him.”

The organization now provides clothing, furniture and food for the poor people in America. At the same time, Joshua never misses a c?? 5.?? to encourage other people to follow what he did whether at church or on the streets. Earl Laird lost his job two years ago and hasn’t managed to get a n?? 6.?? one. Without money, he can’t pay for the flat and has to live on the street. He depends on food from Joshua’s Save the World. “Joshua is an angel (天使) from God,” he said.

Joshua has won Miami’s “Do the Right Thing” award and the “Kids Who Care” competition, which awarded him a $1,000 note. Even though he has a? 7.?? done plenty, he said that his

mission (使命)to provide for the poor is far from finished. “I want to get a team together,” Joshua said. “I want my team to go out and give food to people who have a need for it. I want to spread love to countries in Africa.”

 

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