Study Buddy (Explorer): Chinese man shelters more than 700 lost children
Each week, this page presents a light article with questions to test your comprehension.
Wang Wanlin, an 80-year-old man from Hangzhou, has become a father figure to more than 700 children by providing shelter and support to those in need. Photo: SCMP composite/DouyinContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] A generous man in China who has never married or had children of his own has become a “father” to over 700 children in the country. Wang Wanlin, 80 years old, is from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. Since 1979, he has been offering shelter to lost children he found on the streets.
[2] As a teenager, he had a bright future after joining a government-backed singing and dancing group. However, his life took a turn when a neighbour falsely accused him of stealing a wristwatch. He was sent to work on a farm in a remote area for 16 years as a form of punishment. After his release in 1978, he was fortunate to meet the owner of a packaging factory who was willing to help him by offering him a job.
[3] Wang has been helping homeless youth ever since. He offers his flat as a shelter and uses his own salary to buy them food and train tickets to get home. All he asks in return is a letter that tells him they arrived home safely. He has also fostered many children facing tough situations who couldn’t return home. At one time, his flat could accommodate up to 20 children. One of these children was Yu Hui, who came from a poor rural family in nearby Anhui province.
[4] In 1998, when Yu was 12 years old, he sneaked onto a train to find a job and make money to help his family. However, he encountered a group of kids who pressured him to steal. Yu was able to escape from them and ended up in Hangzhou. While he was looking for food in a trash bin, Wang approached him and showed him a news report about his actions to gain his trust.
[5] Wang took Yu to his home and bought him a train ticket to his hometown. When Wang learned that Yu had to leave school to work, he asked Yu’s parents to send him to Hangzhou for school. At first, Yu wanted to keep working, believing it was the only option. However, he was touched by Wang’s determination and agreed to attend a vocational school until he turned 19. Afterwards, Yu worked in Shanghai for several years, saving money to build a two-storey house for his family, which became the best dwelling in his village.
[6] In 2022, after discovering that Wang was living alone without anyone to take care of him, Yu relocated to Hangzhou to live with him. Yu, now the managing director of a beauty salon, took great care of his “father.” Knowing that Wang had a tendency to keep food even after it had expired, Yu often secretly replaced the expired items with the same products that had newer dates.
[7] Wang has kept the letters and photos from the 700 kids he has taken under his wing. Knowing how much he missed the kids, Yu posted a video last year searching for them but soon took the video down as Wang did not want the online observers to call them “ungrateful”.
Source: South China Morning Post, February 5
Questions
1. In paragraph 1, the children Wang helps …
A. have disabilities.
B. are from poor families.
C. do not have homes.
D. have a criminal record.
2. What punishment did Wang receive, according to paragraph 2?
3. According to paragraph 2, Wang was accused of …
A. theft.
B. vandalism.
C. telling lies.
D. arson.
4. Why did Wang ask the children to write him a letter?
5. Decide whether the following statements according to paragraphs 4 and 5 are True, False or the information is Not Given. Fill in ONE circle only for each statement. (4 marks)
(i) Yu ran away from the kids who made him steal.
(ii) Wang first met Yu in a restaurant’s kitchen.
(iii) Yu studied hair styling and cosmetics in vocational school.
(iv) Yu left home because he wanted to help his family by earning money.
6. Which word in paragraph 5 has the same meaning as “house”?
7. Why did Yu move back to Hangzhou according to paragraph 6?
8. In paragraph 6, what did Yu secretly do with the expired food?
A. cooked it for himself
B. donated it
C. changed it to a product with a newer date
D. none of the above
9. Why did Yu post a video last year, according to paragraph 7?
Answers
1. C
2. He was sent to a remote area to work on a farm for 16 years.
3. A
4. so he knew they had returned home safely (accept all similar answers)
5. (i) T; (ii) F; (iii) NG; (iv) T
6. dwelling
7. to take care of Wang as he is living alone (accept all similar answers)
8. C
9. to find some of the children Wang had taken under his wing because he missed them (accept all similar answers)