Turning soil pulling weeds, and harvesting cabbage sound like tough work for middle and high school kids. And at first it is, says Abby Jaramillo, who with another teacher started Urban Sprouts, a school garden program at four low-income schools. The program aims to help students develop science skills, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.
耕地除草和收获卷心菜听起来对中学和高中生来说是一项艰苦的工作。开始时确实是，Abby Jaramillo说，她和另一位老师在四所低收入学校创办了Urban Sprouts，一个学校园艺项目。该项目旨在帮助学生发展科学技能，增强环境意识和健康生活方式。

Jaramillo’s students live in neighborhoods where fresh food and green space are not easy to find and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores. “The kids literally come to school with bags of snacks and large bottles of soft drinks,” she says. “They come to us thinking vegetables are awful, dirt is awful, insects are awful.” Though some are initially scared of the insects and turned off by the dirt, most are eager to try something new.
哈拉米洛的学生生活在新鲜食物和绿地不易找到的社区，快餐店比杂货店还多。“这些孩子们真的是带着零食袋和大瓶软饮料来学校的，”她说。“他们来到我们这里，觉得蔬菜很糟糕，土壤很糟糕，昆虫很可怕。”尽管一些学生最初对昆虫感到害怕，对泥土感到不适，但大多数都渴望尝试新鲜事物。

Urban Sprouts’ classes, at two middle schools and two high schools, include hands-on experiments such as soil testing, flower-and-seed dissection, tastings of fresh or dried produce, and work in the garden. Several times a year, students cook the vegetables they grow, and they occasionally make salads for their entire schools.
城市发芽的课程在两所中学和两所高中开设，包括土壤测试、花卉和种子解剖、新鲜或干燥农产品的品尝以及在花园里的工作。每年几次，学生们会烹饪他们种植的蔬菜，偶尔为整个学校做沙拉。

Program evaluations show that kids eat more vegetables as a result of the classes. “We have students who say they went home and talked to their parents and now they’re eating differently,” Jaramillo says.
评估显示，孩子们在参加课程后吃更多的蔬菜。“我们有学生说他们回家和父母谈论，现在他们的饮食有所改变，”Jaramillo说。

She adds that the program’s benefits go beyond nutrition. Some students get so interested in gardening that they bring home seeds to start their own vegetable gardens. Besides, working in the garden seems to have a calming effect on Jaramillo’s special education students, many of whom have emotional control issues. “They get outside,” she says, “and they feel successful.”
她补充说，该项目的好处不仅限于营养。一些学生对园艺产生了浓厚兴趣，他们会带种子回家，开始自己的菜园。此外，在花园里劳作似乎对Jaramillo的特殊教育学生带来了镇定的效果，他们中的许多人有情绪控制问题。 “他们走到户外，”她说，“他们会感到成功。”

1. What do we know about Abby Jaramillo?
   A. She used to be a health worker. B. She grew up in a low-income family.
   C. She owns a fast food restaurant. D. She is an initiator of Urban Sprouts.
   答案：D

2. What was a problem facing Jaramillo at the start of the program?
   A. The kids’ parents distrusted her. B. Students had little time for her classes.
   C. Some kids disliked garden work. D. There was no space for school gardens.
   答案：C

3. Which of the following best describes the impact of the program?
   A. Far-reaching. B. Predictable.
   C. Short-lived. D. Unidentifiable.
   答案：A

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?
   A. Rescuing School Gardens B. Experiencing Country Life
   C. Growing Vegetable Lovers D. Changing Local Landscape
   答案：B