Question

Homeless people face a lot of challenges, such as not having enough to eat and no job opportunities. Some of the most basic challenges, however, are not having clean water and toiletries (衛(wèi)生用品) — a big problem for homeless teens. That encouraged a young researcher to invent a multi-purpose product to help these teens.

"I was born into a life of volunteering," said 13-year-old Leia Gluckman. And that’s true. Her mom is a president of an organization providing help for homeless teens. Leia and her brother have volunteered there for years. When she was a young girl, Leia helped serve food where teens were eating. Now she’s a teenager herself, and she’s managing the toiletry and clothing work there.

From her work at the center, Leia noticed that teens asked for some toiletries more than others. What they needed most often were toothpaste, body powder (粉) and shampoo (洗發(fā)水). Leia wondered whether she could create a product to serve all three purposes.

It would need to take away dirt and oil from skin and hair. It would need to clean teeth. Also, it would need to kill bacteria (病菌) without being harmful to people. She wanted her ingredients (產(chǎn)品成分) to be natural, to be able to break down easily and to taste and smell pleasant. Moreover, this product had to be low-cost and have a long shelf life.

Leia started by going to stores and looking at the ingredient lists for toiletries. Then she tried eight different ways. She tested each way to see how well it worked.

Not all of them worked well. But she finally decided on three. Each includes salt and baking powder. Salt helps clean teeth and skin; baking powder helps take in bad smells. She also has some other recipes which include some special materials that give her products different tastes and smells, which would let teens choose a product based on personal preferences.

It wasn’t easy, but Leia came up with some model products. She presented them at the finals of Broadcom MASTERS science competition.

Leia wants to develop her products further. "Could it possibly be used to drive away mosquitoes (蚊子)?" she wonders.

"Science offers a way to go about solving problems and helping people," says Leia. And she thinks her products could benefit a great number of people, not just the homeless. Anyone in an area with little or no chance to get clean water could find her products useful, maybe refugees (難民) and soldiers who are sent to places without running water.

1.What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A. Leia has lived a life of volunteering for years.

B. Leia and her brother helped their mom for years.

C. Leia was born in a great family of volunteering.

D. Leia’s mom set up an organization for homeless teens.

2.Leia’s products meet homeless people’s needs mostly because ___________.

A. they are cheap and natural

B. they can offer personal choices

C. they are used to drive away mosquitoes

D. they can serve three purposes with little water

3.According to the passage, we know that ___________.

A. Leia invented the product in order to win the MASTERS competition

B. Leia’s invention came from her will to create and to help others

C. The family influence played a decisive role in Leia’s invention

D. Leia believed that science could help solve problems easily

Answer 1