Do you like to help people?
Word Focus
weird
very strange and unusual, unexpected, or not natural
challenge
something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability
attention
notice, thought, or interest
support
to agree with and give encouragement to someone or something because you want him, her, or it to succeed
ground
the surface of the earth
brave
showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things
deadly
likely to cause death
unharmed
not hurt or damaged
There are thousands of charities and non profit organisations around the world that help those in need. Competition is fierce and they have to think of imaginative ways to raise money. A popular trend recently has been for charities to attract the help of members of society who do all sorts of weird and wonderful activities to raise money on their behalf. People are prepared to do unusual and even extreme things for this cause.
David Hunt, who is a firefighter, did something of the kind in 2010. He spent 48 hours without any food locked in a glass box which was hanging 30 feet in the air from a crane above central London. His unusual challenge was certainly not easy. But it successfully gained a lot of attention. With a little help from another firefighter who was on the ground, they managed to persuade the public to support their cause by making donations that added up to over five thousand pounds. Their chosen charities were the Firefighters Charity and Cancer Research UK.
Reading Tips:
When trying to guess the meaning of an unknown word, always look for clues in the context (the words before and after it as well as the previous and following sentences). Also, look for clues in the word itself. See if it is similar to any other words you know and try to analyse its parts - root, ending, prefix, suffix. Then try to determine:
what part of speech it is (verb, noun, adjective, etc.)
if it has a positive, negative or neutral meaning
what general topic it is related to
what it means approximately
It is not just the young who have gone up high to raise money for charity. In 2009, Kay Matthews, who was 90 at the time, went to Norfolk, UK to skydive from a plane 13,000 feet above the ground for a war victims charity. She raised about 3000 pounds. Few people are brave enough to go skydiving, let alone an elderly woman. But she loved every minute of it.
Others prefer to stay firmly on the ground, but still no further away from danger like Nicholas Le Souef a 67 year old businessman who lives in Melbourne, Australia. In 2010, he decided to spend three weeks living in a shop window with 400 deadly spiders to raise money for Children charity. The real life Spiderman wasn't at all nervous as he slept among his eight legged friends and survived the experience unharmed, raising $50,000. The spiders, however, weren't so lucky as by the end of the challenge, a few of them had started eating each other.
Raising money for charity is also popular with students. Allison Bishop from Middleton School in Peterborough, UK decided to do her bit for charity by doing a sponsored silence in March 2011. She spent a whole school day without saying a word. She had to write things down in class and she wore a sign saying 'Please don't speak to me. I'm doing a sponsored silence for the National Deaf Children Association.' It was quite difficult, but she managed to raise £874.00.