As we all know, getting benched in sports is usually a bad thing. But at one school in Florida, a girl has taken a bench and turned it into something entirely different – a place to find friends. It’s called the Friendship Bench. And it’s the brainchild of a sixth grader at Palm Bay Elementary – a girl named Acacia Woodley.
Acacia’s attitude toward life might be summed up best by a question she recently asked members of the Brevard County School Board – “what if we spend as much time putting the spotlight on kindness as we do on cruelty?” It’s a philosophy Acacias has learned to live her own life -despite having a lot of people would consider a handicap. She was born without a right hand. And her left hand did not form properly. But Acacia says that she has not stopped her from achieving her goals. “You need to believe in your dreams. If you don’t believe in you dreams, I can definitely tell you that they are not going to come true.” She said.
Acacia came up with the idea for the Friendship Bench after seeing kids getting bullied at school. She says she has also experienced bullying herself – kids whispering about her or picking on her because she is different. “Some people say they feel sorry for me. I tell them not to,” she said. “I don’t care that I’m different. I like being different.”
The Friendship Bench looks like a lot of other benches. It has arm sets and a place to lean on. But there are also words painted on it – words such as “hope”, “respect”, “listen” and “dream”. Acacia put the benches together with the help from her mother and brother.
Any time a kid feels he or she needs a friend, all that kid needs to do is sit on the bench. It is then up to the other kids – or grown-ups – to fill that need. “It’s a perfect idea,” Palm Bay Elementary Principal Lori said. “It’s something we’ve needed so badly.”
The Friendship Bench has been such a success at Palm Bay Elementary that other schools are now interested in installing one too. “There’s a saying in my teacher’s classroom,” Acacia said. “It says, ‘it you can dream it, you can achieve it.’”
小题1:What is the function of the first sentence in Paragraph One?
A．To explain the meaning of getting benched is sports.
B．To introduce the important role “bench” plays in sports.
C．To introduce what the author wants to say in the text to us.
D．To tell us that the passage is connected with the word “bench”.小题2:What can be learned about Acacia from the passage?
A．She is disabled but leads an active life.
B．She has a deep understanding of life.
C．She finds it difficult to achieve her goals.
D．She finds herself always in need of help.小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A．Acacia has also suffered from other kids’ bullying.
B．The kids who sit on the bench feel they need friends.
C．Grown-ups are allowed to offer their help to the one in need.
D．The Friendship Bench is different from others in the arm sets.小题4:What can we infer from the passage?
A．More Friendship Benches will be installed in other schools soon.
B．Students stop bullying other schoolmates at Palm Bay Elementary.
C．The students at Palm Bay Elementary have become more friendly.
D．Acacia has become a very important figure at Palm Bay Elementary.小题5:What is the best title of this passage?
A．Acacia’s New Invention
B．The Friendship Bench
C．Help from a Special Bench
D．Getting Benched in School
