少年奇才講地理

涂麗平

主題語境：自然地理篇幅：350詞建議用時：7分鐘

1“Did you know that the deepest location on Earth is more than 36，000 feet below the Pacific Ocean？ It？？s called the Mariana Trench，”says Kaylan Patel. The 16 ? year? old from Florida is a two ?time state Geography Bee winner. Now a children？？s book author， Kaylan is sharing his knowledge of the world with children across the state of Florida.

2 Kaylan？？s passion for geography started when he was about three years old.“I just had an affection for looking at maps and different atlases （地圖集） that we had when I was growing up，”he said. When Kaylan was in middle school， he won his state ？？s Geography Bee. He then advanced to the national competition， placing in the top 10 among students in the United States. Now a junior in high school， Kaylan stressed that having a basic under? standing of our world allows us to think about innovative solutions to the challenges we face.

3 Although his competing days are over， Kaylan hopes to inspire kids to learn more about geography through his new book series. Called Kobe？？s World Adventure， the books fol? low the adventures of a boy named Kobe who travels the world with his family and learns new geographical facts along the way. The first book is about Kobe and his family exploringthe US. Young readers will find many of the facts Kaylan has learned over the years， alongwith colorful illustrations （插圖）. The second book of the six?book series will be publishedin the fall.

4 Kaylan has also started an organization called Lending Hands Global Foundation. Through the non?profit organization， he has been sharing copies of Kobe？？s World Adventure with students in several poor communities in Florida. So far， he has donated about 1，500 books.

5 Kaylan recently read to a group of children at the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida. He enjoys working with the nationwide organization， which provides after?school programs for kids. Seeing the kids？？ responses to Kobe？？s World Adventure was rewarding.“I can tell that some of the students that I？？m reading to are picking up on the topic，”Kaylan said.

ReadingCheck

1. What can we know about Kaylan？

A. He wrote many books for children.

B. He was uninterested in geography as a junior.

C. He won Geography Bee twice.

D. He thought highly of the Mariana Trench.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about？

A. The deepest location on Earth.

B. Some different atlases.

C. A national competition in America.

D. A new book series.

3. How did Kaylan help students in poor communities？

A. By giving money.

B. By donating books.

C. By reading to them at school.

D. By providing after?school programs for them.

4. What does the underlined part“picking up on”mean in paragraph 5？

A. Having a taste of.

B. Breaking away from.

C. Getting used to.

D. Catching sight of.

LanguageStudy

Ⅰ. 日積月累

share v. 分享

passion n. 熱情

stress v. 強調

innovative adj. 創(chuàng)新的

inspire v. 鼓勵；鼓舞

publish v. 發(fā)表

non?profit adj. 非營利的

donate v. 捐贈

rewarding adj. 值得的

so far 到目前為止

Ⅱ. 單句填空

1. The book is less than （inspire）.

2. Sue shares a house three other students.

3. The English have a passion gardens.

4. He donated thousands of pounds charity.

5. That is a （reward） experience.