Reading Text on “Homeless Children”

       [ 1 ]    In Morocco, a huge number of children are homeless. Thousands of young girls from poor families are sent to work in houses in cities. However, they are often ill-treated and exploited; which makes them run away and live in the streets. Also, many young boys and girls leave their houses due to family problems and poverty. Some of them work hard to earn some money and others survive by begging from rich people. Street children live a difficult life; very often full of danger. Non-governmental organizations make considerable efforts to reintegrate them into families and schools, but experts say the problem is large and its root lies in poverty and difficult social circumstances.

        [ 2 ]   Touria is one of the girls who worked in houses. Her parents who lived in the countryside had some financial trouble, so they sent her to work as a domestic in the city. Touria lived in terrible conditions at work. She worked all day, slept in the kitchen, and was beaten by her host family. As a result, she escaped from the house where she was working and lived in the street because she could never go back home. One day, a lady found her all in tears and helpless in the street, so she took her to Bayti. Now that she is given shelter in this association, Touria feels much happier and safer.

        [ 3 ]   Hassan left his home and school at the age of 12 to live on the street. After his mother passed away, his father married another woman who did not like Hassan to stay with them. She always made his father beat and insult him. “The street is not a better place to live in, but I will not suffer from my father beating me everyday” Hassan thought. Nobody gave a hand to Hassan; he worked as a porter in wholesale markets and sometimes he gained little money from helping passengers at the train station.

        [4 ] The government and many non-governmental organizations have adopted a strategy of building centers to shelter homeless children and reintegrate them into schools and families, yet the challenge is enormous. The number of those children usually exceeds the centers’ capacities; there are not enough beds for all of them. Thus, all citizens should act at once to rescue them.

Comprehension Questions:

A- Are these statements true or false? Justify

1. [ ….. ] Children live happily in the streets.
   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. [ ….. ] Touria worked as a maid.
   ………………………………………………………..
3. [ ….. ] Hassan left his house because he did not like his stepmother.
   ………………………………………………………..

B- Answer the following questions

1. How do children manage to live in the street?

2. For what reasons did Touria leave the house she was working in?

3.Who helped Hassan when he went to the street?

C- WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS lN THE TEXT REFER TO?  

 1. They :. . . . . . . . . . . . 2. She :…………… 3. I : ………………………

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