Are you stuck in a rut（车辙）and looking for a change? Fed up of seeing hungry, poor faces on your TV screen and want to do something to help? Perhaps you’ve considered volunteering overseas but ruled it out because you thought you were too old, couldn’t commit enough time, or have a family. If so, think again.
“Over the past five years it has become far safer --- and more professionally acceptable --- to take up a job volunteering overseas,” says David Stitt, managing director of Gap Year for Grown Ups, a company catering for volunteers in their late 20s and upwards. “While 10 years ago
intrepid souls took financial and personal risks in volunteering abroad, now several organizations exist to make the experience safe and well-organized.
Nowadays, universities and business encourage overseas volunteering among students and employees. Entire families can volunteer abroad, and agencies are employing more disabled and retired people. A prosperous “humanitarian tourism” industry has sprung up; thousands of UK citizens will do some form of overseas volunteering this year.
“Some volunteering jobs are easier to find than others,” explains Kevin Cusack, from a volunteer advice agency. “If you can speak English, it’s not too hard to land a job teaching English, even without a qualification, and those who enjoy working with children should be able to find child care work.”
Whether your interest is rainforests or women’s rights, you can find a volunteer position to suit you. But be warned: unless you have relevant skills or existing overseas development experience, it’s going to cost. Just how much depends on the location and length of the position, but you should budget for somewhere between £1,500 and £6,000.
“Having to pay to volunteer may sound paradoxical (矛盾的), but it’s the best way to ensure you get a position that benefits the local community while matching your interests and skills,” explains Cusack. “You can also discuss the time you want to commit to a project --- many positions can fit into a holiday or even a weekend.”
小题1:The underlined words “intrepid souls” in Paragraph 2 most probably refers to ___________.
| A．companies | B．volunteers | C．fighters | D．students |
小题2:In Kevin Cusack’s opinion, paying to volunteer overseas ___________.
| A．must be incredible and unrealistic |
| B．can help volunteers learn more about another culture |
| C．may benefit both volunteers and the community they work in |
| D．needs confidence, courage and determination |
小题3:What can we learn from the text?
| A．Disabled people can also take up a job volunteering overseas. |
| B．In the past no one could take up a job volunteering overseas. |
| C．“Humanitarian tourism” industry is in its beginning stage. |
| D．Taking up a job volunteering overseas needs at least £1,500. |
小题4:Where can we most probably read this article?
| A．In a job guidebook. |
| B．In a celebrity biography. |
| C．In a guidebook to work overseas. |
| D．In a report on volunteer work. |
小题5:What is the writer’s attitude towards volunteer work?
| A．Critical. | B．Unfavorable. | C．Supportive. | D．Disagreeable. |