In Europe many people died during the Second World War. As a result, at the end of the war there were many orphans（孤兒）there. A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help these children. His idea was simple. He wanted orphans to have a home, and he wanted them to have the care and kindness of parents. Gmeiner asked people to give him some money. With this money he built the first SOS Children’s Village at Imst, in Austria. It opened in1949. This is how the SOS stand for “Save Our Souls（靈魂）.” This means “Please help us!” An SOS Children’ village gives help to orphans.
Hermann Gmeiner’s idea for helping orphans soon spread（傳播）all over the world. By 1983 there were 170 SOS Children’s Villages in the world. People in many countries give money to help the villages. Today the children from the first village have grown up. Now some of them work in other SOS Children’s Villages.
In SOS Villages orphans live in family groups. There are several houses in each village. The biggest village has 40 or 50 houses! Between seven and ten children live in a house. A woman lives with each group of children and looks after them. She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. She cooks meals for them and makes comfortable, happy home for them.
Of course, the children don’t spend all their time in the village. They go to school, they go out with their friends. But the village gives them a home—sometimes for the first time in their lives.
【小題1】Which of the following came last?
| A．People gave Gmeiner some money. |
| B．There were many orphans at the end of the war |
| C．Gmeiner built the first SOS Children’s Village |
| D．A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help the orphans |
【小題2】An orphan is a child
.
| A．who has no brother | B．who has no sister | C．who has no parents | D．all of the above |
【小題3】We can conclude（推論）from the article that the money for helping the SOS Villages mainly comes from
.
| A．governments | B．special organization |
| C．the orphans themselves | D．people in general（大體上） |
【小題4】Which of the following can best summarize（總結） the work a woman in an SOS Village does for each group of children?
| A．She gives the children a lot of love and kindness | B．She lives with each group of children |
| C．She cooks meals for children | D．She looks after them |
閱讀快車系列答案
