Match the headings (A-H) to extracts 1-7. Use each heading only once. There is one heading you do not need to use
A A brief but valuable career E Starting young
B Great things from small beginnings F Awards and honours
C Volunteers afloat G Starting again
D More to life than music H A very special quality
1If you are sailing in the waters surrounding the British Isles and you get into trouble, you will naturally send out a call for help. The call will be received by the professional coastguard authorities, who will co-ordinate any rescue efforts, but the chances are that the people who will come to help you will be unpaid sailors. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, or RNLI for short, relies on volunteers to man its rescue craft and it receives no money from the government to pay for its equipment. It relies entirely on money generously given by members of the public.
2Contrary to what some people might think, not all popular musicians are concerned simply with their own fame and fortune. For example, Paul Hewson, better known as Bono, the lead singer of the band U2, has devoted much of his time to fighting the problems of poverty in third-world countries, particularly in Africa. He has met many of the world’s political leaders over the years as he campaigns to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people, and he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times for his efforts to help others.
3Some of the largest aid organisations in the world had very small beginnings. For example, today Oxfam helps people around the world in many different ways. If there is a disaster such as an earthquake, you can be sure that Oxfam will be there, providing tents and warm clothing as well as helping to make sure that people have safe water to drink. The charity also provides poor people with the tools that will help them improve their lives. Today, Oxfam is an international confederation of 14 organisations working in over 100 countries, but it started out as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, and it’s aim was to help bring food to the starving people of Greece during the second world war.
4As an actress, Angelina Jolie is probably best known for her role as Lara Croft, in the film based on the well-known video game, but she has been recognised for her performances in a number of other films, including an Oscar for best supporting actress in 1999. Apart from her acting work, Angelina has become involved in a number of projects to help refugees in war-torn countries. In particular, she focuses on homeless children who may also have lost their parents. She has won a lot of praise for this work as well as many honours, including being named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency.
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5It is not only generous-minded people who help those less fortunate than themselves. In many countries, it is not unusual to see a dog wearing a special harness in the company of a person who is poorly sighted or has no sight at all. These dogs are guide dogs, animals that help their owners to walk safely along the streets of busy cities. The dogs are highly trained and it takes about two years from birth before a guide dog can be introduced to its new owner. The dog will then spend around seven years helping its owner to enjoy a richer and more satisfactory life before it has to be retired and replaced with a younger dog.
6Any healthy person over the age of eighteen can do a lot to help other people simply by giving a small quantity of blood. People who do this regularly are known as blood donors and, in many countries, they do not receive any reward for their offering apart from knowing that they are helping to save other people’s lives. One man in Australia has donated his blood nearly one thousand times over the past 56 years. His blood is of a unique type that can save the lives of babies who have a form of anaemia. Doctors say that his blood has saved the lives of more than 2 million babies over the years
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7You don’t have to be rich or famous to raise money to help others – or even an adult. A 12-yearold boy, Jake Peach, raised more than £600,000 to help sick children despite having to battle with leukaemia himself. He was not satisfied with that, and within a year raised almost another £300,000 which will be used to provide new equipment for the seriously ill children being treated in the same specialist hospital that saved his own life. Jake is quite a cheeky boy. He has managed to get the famous football players from his favourite team to give money to his cause because, as he says, “they can afford it”.
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