阅读理解
Leymah Gbowee, ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, dreamed of peace and made it happen, founding a movement of women who brought peace and a female president to Liberia.
On the night of her high school graduation party, surrounded by family, neighbors, and friends, Leymah Gbowee imagined a bright future. She planned to study biology and chemistry in college and become a pediatrician. Instead, Gbowee writes in her autobiography, Mighty Be Our Powers, within six months of that party in 1989, everything around her was gone—her country torn apart by civil war, her family broken, her plans abandoned. And Gbowee never became a doctor. Gbowee saw civilians murdered before her eyes. She fled with relatives from one shelter to another, often went hungry. Upon returning to Liberia in 1991, she saw a terrible sight: everyone had fled, leaving their homes to the fighters.
Yet her spirit wouldn’t die. She began studying under a UNICEF program. Finally, with her family’s help, she imagined a movement of women demanding peace in Liberia and made it happen. Traveling from village to village, Gbowee began organizing women and persuaded women of different cultures to unite; under her leadership, thousands of women were dressed all in white to symbolize peace. Gbowee writes, “We were silent before, but after so many of us have been killed, fallen with diseases, and lost our children and families, war has taught us that the future lies in saying no to violence and yes to peace! ”
The women had reason to fear, but Gbowee had no choice. Then women could register to vote. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa’s first female president in 2005. Gbowee’s work was just beginning. She now travels the world, meeting with everyone from presidents to CEOs to people living in tiny villages, fighting for women and girls.
【文章大意】本文是一篇人物介绍。讲述了莱伊曼·古博韦在自己美好的生活被战争破坏后, 没有放弃, 而是不断努力, 为人权、为妇女儿童权益而斗争, 最终成为非洲一名主要的女权运动人物, 并荣获2011年诺贝尔和平奖。
1. Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to ________ .
A. the education in Liberia
B. the women’s movement
C. stopping the world war
D. protecting the environment
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第一段中的“founding a movement of women. . . ”和文章后面几段内容可知, Leymah Gbowee获得诺贝尔和平奖是因为在妇女运动方面所取得的成绩。故答案选B。
2. The underlined word “pediatrician” in Paragraph 2 is close in meaning to ________ .
A. teacher B. politician
C. biologist D. doctor
【解析】选D。词义推测题。根据第二段第四句“And Gbowee never became a doctor. ”可推出她计划成为医生。故答案选D。
3. What happened to Leymah Gbowee within two years after 1989?
A. She volunteered in shelters.
B. She lived an unsettled life.
C. She wrote an autobiography.
D. She tried to realize her dream.
【解析】选B。推理判断题。根据第二段中的“She fled with relatives from one shelter to another, often went hungry. ”可知, Gbowee和她的亲戚一起从一家避难所逃到另一家, 还常常挨饿。由此, 可推出Gbowee过的是一种漂泊的(unsettled)生活。故答案选B。
4. What effect did the civil war in Liberia have on Leymah Gbowee?
A. The war strengthened her spirit.
B. She gave up a UNICEF program.
C. She kept silent after the war.
D. She didn’t expect peace at all.
【解析】选A。细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Yet her spirit wouldn’t die. ”以及对她从事的运动的叙述可知, 内战没有让Gbowee消沉, 而是增强了她的信心和意志。故答案选A。
