When 19-year-old Sophia Giorgi said she was thinking of volunteering to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation(基金会)，nobody understood what she was talking about．But Sophia knew just how important Make－A－Wish could be because this special organization had helped to make a dream come true for one her best friends．We were interested in finding out more ,so we went along to meet Sophia listen to what she had to say．
Sophia told us that Make－A－Wish is a worldwide organization that started in the United States in 1980．”It's a charity(慈善机构)that helps children who have got very serious illnesses．Make－A－Wish help children feel happy even though they are sick, by making their wishes and dreams come true ,” Sophia explained．
We asked Sophia how Make－A－Wish had first started．She said it had all begun with a very sick young boy called Chris ,who had been dreaming for a long time of becoming a policeman．Sophia said lots of people had wanted to find a way to make Chris's dream come true－so, with everybody's help , Chris, only seven years old at the time ,had been a “policeman” for a day．” When people saw how delighted Chris was when his dream came true, they decided to try and help other sick children too, and that was the beginning of Make－A－Wish,” explained Sophia
Sophia also told us the Foundation tries to give children and their families a special, happy time．A Make-A-Wish volunteer visits the families and asks the children what they would wish for if they could have anything in the world．Sophia said the volunteers were important because they were the ones who helped to make the wishes come true．They do this either by providing things that are necessary, or by raising money or helping out in whatever way they can．
(1)
Sophia found out about Make-A-Wish because her best friend had ________．
[ ]
A．
benefited from it
B．
volunteered to help it
C．
dreamed about it
D．
told the author about it
(2)
According to Sophia, Make-A-Wish ________．
[ ]
A．
is an international charity
B．
was understood by nobody at first
C．
raises money for very poor families
D．
started by drawing the interest of the public
(3)
What is said about Chris in Paragraph3?
[ ]
A．
He has been a policeman since he was seven．
B．
He gave people the idea of starting Make-A-Wish
C．
He wanted people to help make his dream come true．
D．
He was the first child Make-A-Wish helped after it had been set up．
(4)
Which of the following is true about Make-A-Wish volunteers?
[ ]
A．
They are important for making wishes come true．
B．
They try to help children get over their illnesses．
C．
They visit sick children to make them feel special．
D．
They provide what is necessary to make Make-A-Wish popular．
She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday．
Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder．She lived to the ripe old age of 122．So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?
Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers．“Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas．
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees．“People can live much longer than we think,”he says．“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110．When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120．So why can’t we go higher?”
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing．“Anyone can make up a number,”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan．“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine．”
Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120．Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most．So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120．”
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的)，but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington．“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,”he says．“But a fly’s never going to live 150 years．”
“Of course, if you became a new species(物种)，one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,”he adds．
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about it,”he says with a smile．
(1)
What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?
[ ]
A．
People can live to 122．
B．
Old people are creative．
C．
Women are sporty at 85．
D．
Women live longer than men．
(2)
According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ________．
[ ]
A．
the average human life span could be 110
B．
scientists cannot find ways to slow aging
C．
few people can expect to live to over 150
D．
researchers are not sure how long people can live
(3)
Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?
[ ]
A．
Jerry Shay．
B．
Steve Austad
C．
Rich Miller
D．
George Martin
(4)
What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?
[ ]
A．
Most of us could be good at sports even at 120．
B．
The average human life span cannot be doubled．
C．
Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before．
D．
New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species．
名校课堂系列答案