When Elaina Johnson was 7, she came up with a plan to feed hundreds of people. “She wanted to make sack lunches” for people experiencing homelessness, her grandmother Shalynda Lund said. Each bag held a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, a piece of fruit, a drink, chips, and a granola bar (燕麦棒). “We went downtown and she handed them all out,” Lund said. “All 400 of them.”
Helping others comes naturally to the young. “I saw that there were a lot of people that needed food,” Elaina said. “At the time, I didn’t understand why.” But she knew she wanted to be part of the solution. She says, “As soon as I could help, I wanted to help.” Elaina is now 10. She remains dedicated to the fight against hunger and food insecurity.
In Colorado, around 11% of residents say they don’t always eat as much as they think they should. They say they aren’t able to afford enough food. That’s according to a survey published earlier this year by the Colorado Health Institute. Of course, hunger is not a problem only in Colorado. “Hunger affects people in every single community nationwide,” Justin Levy says. He’s the executive director of Conscious Alliance, a nonprofit hunger-relief group based in Elaina’s hometown.
Levy has known Elaina since 2021. That’s when she and her grandmother went to the group’s national distribution center to collect food and supplies to help people in need. “What she’s doing is incredible,” Levy says. “She has the drive and the spirit and kindness and compassion to really make a difference.”
This past July, Elaina was honored by Hormel Foods as one of its 10 under 20 Food Heroes. The company’s annual award goes to young people who are fighting hunger. Elaina is the youngest person to receive the award this year. Soon after receiving the award, Elaina was honored at a Broomfield City Council meeting. “We just wanted to celebrate her,” council member Heidi Henkel said. “We really wanted to support her and just make her feel like her city and county are behind her.”
原创编写 版权所有 侵权必究！ 每日更新 个性化阅读 英语飙升！
1.1. What did Elaina do?
A She coped with energy security.
B She helped hungry people.
C She built houses for the homeless.
D She solved the problem of lunch crisis.
解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第一、二段内容可知，伊莱娜7岁开始，就为无家可归的人做便当，帮助他们对抗饥饿。现在她10岁了，仍致力于与饥饿和粮食安全作斗争，即她帮助挨饿的人们。故选B。
2.2.What does the third paragraph focus on?
A The crisis of finance.
B The growth of agriculture.
C The reality of hunger.
D The cause of food insecurity.
解析：选C。C 段落大意题。根据第三段内容，尤其是第一句和“Hunger affects people in every single community nationwide”可知，该段主要讲的是科罗拉多甚至该国全国面临的饥饿问题。故选C。
3.3.What does Levy think of Elaina?
A He speaks highly of her.
B He doesn’t take her seriously.
C He thinks what she did was no big deal.
D He finds her too young to do charity.
解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据第四段Levy说的话“What she’s doing is incredible”“She has the drive and the spirit and kindness and compassion to really make a difference.”可知，他高度赞扬了伊莱娜。故选A。
4.4.Why does the Broomfield City Council award Elaina?
A To support her.
B To give her money.
C To encourage the homeless.
D To make her comfortable.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据最后一段的“We just wanted to celebrate her”“We really wanted to support her and just make her feel like her city and county are behind her.”可知，市议会在会上给她颁奖是为了支持她。故选A。
