It’s more than a marathon for these wonderful walkers. Almost 400 students from four schools wore their broadest smiles—and strongest shoes—as they took on a huge challenge for a great cause last week.

Students from Elisabeth Murdoch College, Woodlands Primary, Langwarrin Park Primary and Langwarrin Primary walked more than 50km from St Kilda to Frankston over the course of one day. Leaving their schools at about 5.45am and starting the lengthy walk at 7am, the I Can Challenge participants raised more than $200,000 for the Good Friday Appeal, an annual fundraiser for Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital. 

I Can Challenge organiser Jess Wade said the event had a special connection to the appeal, with the Good Friday Appeal chair, Penny Fowler, related to one of the participating school’s namesakes(同名的人). “We participate because of the connection with Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who is Penny Fowler’s grandmother,” Ms Wade said. “We were lucky enough to have Penny join us for the first 10km, which was awesome.”

The I Can Challenge has been running every second year since 2014, collecting more than $655,000 in donations in that time.

One of the walkers, Oscar Taylor, 10, raised $3000 for this year’s event, knocking on doors in his local community to ask for donations under the supervision of his parents. His proud mum, Sammy, said Oscar’s efforts ahead of the walk boosted his confidence, respect, empathy (共情) and public speaking skills. “He was pretty nervous to begin with, so he made a video to post on the local community Facebook page announcing his intention to door knock and asking the recipients to be kind as it was his first time,” she said. “It was met with such an amazing response, that he was pumped to get started and meet everyone.”

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1.The huge challenge _________.

A had 400 primary school participants

B might end at about 7pm

C raised more than $20,000

D runs every single year

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据第二段的“over the course of one day”和“starting the lengthy walk at 7am”可知，该徒步活动花费了大约一个白天，开始于早上七点，那么在大约下午七点结束。根据第二段第一句的“Elisabeth Murdoch College”可知参与者还有大学生；根据第二段的“raised more than $200,000”可知筹集了超过20万美元；根据第四段“The I Can Challenge has been running every second year since 2014”可知该活动并不是每年都有。故选B。

2.What does the underlined part “a special connection” refer to?

A The accompany of Penny.

B The relative relationship.

C The similar goals.

D The same name.

解析：选D。D词义猜测题。根据第三段的“with the Good Friday Appeal chair, Penny Fowler, related to one of the participating school’s namesakes”“Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who is Penny Fowler’s grandmother”以及第二段的“Students from Elisabeth Murdoch College”可知，这个特殊的联系是：Penny Fowler参与了马拉松的前10公里，而Penny Fowler的祖母Dame Elisabeth Murdoch与参与该活动的学校之一Elisabeth Murdoch College同名。故选D。

3.What can we know about Oscar Taylor?

A He asked for donations on his own.

B He gained confidence from walking.

C He walked the year before.

D His video got positive response.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句“It was met with such an amazing response, that he was pumped to get started and meet everyone.”他的视频得到了积极的反响，他迫不及待地开始和每个人见面。故选D。

4.What is the text?

A A news report.

B A book review.

C A short story.

D A research article.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据全文内容来自四所学校的近400名学生徒步筹集善款可知，本文是一篇新闻报道。故选A。