Question

When Veronika Scott was a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, she received a task to “design to fill a need.” She dreamed up an idea for overcoats that would double as sleeping bags, made 25 of them, and handed them out to people living in shelters on an abandoned city playground. While her efforts were greeted mostly with enthusiasm from those braving Detroit’s cold winters, one woman voiced dissatisfaction. “We don’t need coats; we need jobs,” she told Veronika. Then she had her second inspiration.

After graduating from college in 2012, Veronika founded the Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit organization. She hired two homeless women to sew the coats and paid them with donations she received through her blog. Now, the Empowerment Plan employs about 20 people and has produced more than 10,000 coats and distributed them in 30 states, Canada, and elsewhere abroad.

“We don’t require previous employment,” Veronika says. “We’re looking for people who are motivated.” The Empowerment Plan provides free classes and lends money to those who qualify. Nearly all the employees eventually move into permanent housing, and some go on to jobs in the auto industry and construction.

Veronika has bettered the coat’s design by making its outer layer of a lightweight material that resists air, wind, and water and its inner layer of a material that stores body heat. Still, Veronika is less focused on the coats than on the workers who make them. “At the end of the day,” she says, “the coat is a vehicle for us to employ people.”

1.What was Veronika’s second inspiration?

A. Improving her coat’s design.

B. Founding a nonprofit organization.

C. Profiting from the work of those low-paid people.

D. Producing more coats and distributing them abroad.

2.What is the purpose of the Empowerment Plan?

A. To raise more donations.

B. To design better clothes.

C. To provide help for the homeless.

D. To offer free classes to the motivated.

3.Which of the following best describes Veronika?

A. Traditional but helpful    B. Greedy and unsatisfied.

C. Generous but childish.    D. Creative and caring.

4.Which is the best title of the passage?

A. Design to Fill a Need.    B. The Empowerment Plan.

C. Look for Motivated People.    D. How to design a coat.

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇记叙文，介绍了一位美国女性Veronika 一直在帮助需要帮助的无家可归的人的事，她帮助他们设计了御寒保暖的外套，并成立公益组织帮助他们。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句Then she had her second inspiration.和第二段第一句After graduating from college in 2012, Veronika founded the Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit organization.可知她第二个灵感就是成立了非盈利组织the Empowerment Plan。故B项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段后两句She hired two homeless women to sew the coats and paid them with donations she received through her blog. Now, the Empowerment Plan employs about 20 people and has produced more than 10,000 coats and distributed them in 30 states, Canada, and elsewhere abroad.可知她雇佣了一些无家可归的人生产外套并把这些外套分给其他需要的人。所以the Empowerment Plan的目的是给无家可归的人提供帮助。故C项正确。

3.推理判断题。Veronika一直在帮助需要帮助的人，说明她很有爱心；她能够想出多种方法帮助他人，说明她很有创造性。故D项正确。

4.主旨大意题。本文中介绍了一位美国女性Veronika 一直在帮助需要帮助的无家可归的人的故事，她帮助他们设计了出御寒保暖的外套，并成立公益组织帮助他们。A项与文章第一句“When Veronika Scott was a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, she received a task to “design to fill a need.”中“design to fill a need一致，可以作为文章标题。