Steller and her magic chair

2020-08-15

疯狂英语·新读写 2020年7期

关键词：篇幅理发师体裁

题材体裁篇幅建议用时460词 9分钟理发师记叙文

难词探意

1.margin /΄mɑːdʒɪn/ n.边缘；界限

2.keenly /kiːnli/ adv.敏锐地；强烈地；锐利地

3.cosmetology /ˌkɒzmə΄tɒlədʒɪ/ n.美容学

4.beam /biːm/ v.笑容满面

5.offshoot /΄ɒf∫uːt/ n.分支

Wheeling her red chair and scissors around the city, a salon owner gives out-of-luck strangers the gift of—one free hairdo at a time.

To date, Steller has given 30 or so such haircuts to people around the city.These clients are all living on themargins, and she iskeenlyaware of the power of her clean-up job.“It's more than a haircut,” she says.“I want it to be a gateway to show value and respect and to get to know people.I want to build relationships.”

Steller knows that a haircut can change a life.As a teen, she suffered from a severe disease, and her hair thinned drastically.Seeing this,her mother arranged for Steller's first professional haircut.“To sit down and have somebody look at me and talk to me like a person and not just a patient, it helped me feel cared about and less alone,” she said.After that, Steller knew she wanted to have her own salon so she could help people feel the way she'd felt that day.Not long after finishingcosmetologyschool in 2009, she began what she now calls her Red Chair Project, reaching out to people on the streets.

“Part of what broke my heart was just how lonely people looked,” she says.“I thought maybe I'd go around and ask if people want free haircuts.I can't fix their problems, but maybe I can help them feel less alone for a moment.” Steller listens to people's stories of loss, addiction, and struggle to get back on their feet.The attention apparently works.When she was cutting a woman's hair one day,someone drove by and yelled, “You look amazing! ” The woman in the chairbeamed.

“I'm not invisible,” she exclaimed.“I thought I was invisible.Look, people see me! ”

Another man was on his way to a job interview at a pet-supply store when he accepted Steller's offer.When she followed up, she learned he didn't get that job, but he did get a landscaping job soon afterward.

Anoff shootof the Red Chair Project is the Steller Kindness Project, in which people who commit acts of kindness like volunteering for hurricane relief or helping neighbors in need are invited for a free makeover at Steller's salon.In exchange, they tell their stories, which Steller shares on her website.Her hope is that by reading about kind acts, others will be inspired to spread their own.

And it all began with a belief in simple acts of kindness, such as a free haircut.“The way you show up in the world matters,” says Steller.“You have no idea what people are going to do with the kindness that you give them.”

Reading Check

1.What does the underlined word refer to in paragraph 1?

A.Kindness.B.A good job.

C.A free haircut.D.Hurricane relief.

2.Why did Steller open her own salon?

A.To make a living.B.To help the lonely.

C.To share her own stories.D.To realize her mother's dream.

3.Steller shared some stories on her website to .

A.attract customers to her salon

B.search for those in need

C.set up more projects

D.spread more kindness