Reading

Think Comprehension:
about others A Childhood in Poverty
While in Nairobi last week, I heard about a little girl who lived in the shacks outside
the city. She and the other hungry children used to roam a
rubbish tip that promised the richest pickings, for this was the
tip where the airline catering company dumped the uneaten food
from in-flight meals. Who, after all, does actually finish those
nasty little meals in plastic tubs?
The answer is that the slum-kids
did. But this kid made good. Years later, by then a senior
executive in a big charity, she was flying to Nairobi from
a business trip abroad when the airline dinner was served.
Idly she opened up the plastic covers, then realised she really wasn’t hungry. She
remembered her childhood days on the tip. So, carefully, she put all the covers neatly
back on, did her best to seal them, and asked the steward to try to keep it all
together on the tray. She knew where the meal would end up.
By Matthew Parris, columnist at the Times newspaper.

1. Where was the author last week?

 The author was in Nairobi last week

2. Where did the little girl live?

 The girl lived in some shacks outside the city.

3. Where did the slum-kids go to find food?

 Children go to the dump to look for food

4. Why was the food good at that place?

 Because there they throw away the uneaten food that was on the plane
5. Who, in the end, ate those nasty little meals in plastic tubs?

 Those who fed were the slum-Kids

6. What was the woman’s job?

 She was a top executive at a large charity.

7. Where had she been?

 She had been in Nairobi on a business trip.

8. What did she realise, as she was about to eat?

 She realized that she was not hungry

9. What did she remember?

 she remembered her childhood

10. What did she do with the meal?

 she put all the lids back on carefully

11. Who did she ask to keep it all together in the tray?
 she asked the butler to keep everything together on the tray

12. Why did she do this?

 She did it because she knew where the food was going to fall, in that dump
where many children eat.