Every morning, many girls in Zimbabwe rise with the sun and follow their daily routine to fetch water for their families. They have to walk many miles and carry the water home on their heads. Where they live, there is no running water at all.
“You have to relax your neck and head and make it follow the load,” one girl told me. “It’s easy for you to do that if you have mastered some skills.” I have lived in Zimbabwe all my life. But I had never tried to balance a pot on my head. I have made efforts many times and I have also practiced it for a long time. But it was not easy at all. I managed to walk only a couple of yards before the pot fell off my head. The girls watching covered their mouths and giggled at my poor head-balancing skills.
In reality, water is not the only thing that requires head-balancing skills in their daily life. In most of these villages, there is no electricity for cooking, so fire wood is used instead. The girls must collect and carry the fire wood back to their villages. They insist the easiest way to do this is on their heads.
Even at school, head-balancing skills come in handy. At a school near the small town of Norton, I saw a group of girls fetching bags of sand that were to be used to build a new classroom. They carried these bags with ease. When I tried, I couldn’t bear the weight.
Girls in many countries worldwide prefer to carry things on their heads. They are taught this skill at a young age and grow up to have strong necks and great posture. For these girls, balance is simply a way of life.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us that ________ .| A．girls are suffering a lot in Zimbabwe |
| B．girls are the main labor force in their family |
| C．girls gain their ability out of their poor living condition |
| D．girls' main responsibility is to fetch water for their families |
| A．graceful | B．rapid | C．gentle | D．skillful |
| A．They have used them since they were young. |
| B．They think it is the easiest way to carry things. |
| C．They are required to carry things on their heads. |
| D．Their necks are strong and their heads are square. |
| A．By analyzing some questions. | B．By making some comparisons. |
| C．By showing his appreciation. | D．By giving his own opinions. |
