Part 2: Reading comprehension · Inglés Selectividad Cataluña Setembre Serie 3 2022

Part 2: Reading comprehension

SHE WAS SOLD TO A STRANGER SO HER FAMILY COULD EAT AS AFGANISTAN CRUMBLES

Parwana Malik, a 9-year-old girl with dark eyes and rosy cheeks, giggles with her friends as they play jump rope in a dusty clearing. But Parwana’s laughter disappears as she returns home, where she’s reminded of her fate: she’s being sold to a stranger as a child bride.

The man who wants to buy Parwana says he’s 55, but to her, he’s “an old man” with white eyebrows and a thick white beard. She worries he will beat her and force her to work in his house. But her parents say they have no choice. For four years, her family has lived in an Afghan displacement camp in the northwestern Badghis province, surviving on humanitarian aid and menial work earning a few dollars a day. But life has only gotten harder since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.

As international aid dries up and the country’s economy collapses, they’re unable to afford basic necessities like food. Her father already sold her 12-year-old sister to someone else several months ago. Parwana is one of many young Afghan girls sold into marriage as the country’s humanitarian crisis deepens. Hunger has pushed some families to make heartbreaking decisions, especially as the brutal winter approaches. “Day by day, the numbers are increasing of families selling their children,” said Mohammad Naiem Nazem, a human rights activist in Badghis. “Lack of food, lack of work, and the families feel they have to do this.”

Abdul Malik, Parwana’s father, can’t sleep at night. Ahead of the sale, he’s “broken” with guilt, shame and worry. He had tried to avoid selling her and his wife resorted to begging other camp residents for food. But he felt he had no choice if he wants to feed his family. “We are eight family members”. “I have to sell to keep other family members alive.” The money from Parwana’s sale will only sustain the family for a few months, before Malik has to find another solution, he said.

Parwana said she hoped to change her parents’ minds—she had dreams of becoming a teacher, and didn’t want to give up her education. But her pleas were futile.

On October 24, Qorban, the buyer, who only has one name, arrived at her home and handed 200,000 Afghanis (about $2,200) in the form of sheep, land and cash to Parwana’s father. Qorban didn’t describe the sale as a marriage, saying he already had a wife who would look after Parwana as if she were one of their own children. “(Parwana) was cheap, and her father was very poor and he needs money,” Qorban said. “She will be working in my home. I won’t beat her. I will treat her like a family member. I will be kind.”

Since the Taliban’s takeover, stories like Parwana’s have been on the rise. Though marrying off children under 15 is illegal nationwide, it has been commonly practiced for years, especially in more rural parts of Afghanistan. And it has only spread since August, driven by widespread hunger and desperation. The problem is particularly acute for Afghan girls, who have stayed home and watched their brothers return to secondary school since the Taliban takeover. The Taliban said it is working on a plan to allow girls to return too, but have not said when that could happen or what conditions may be imposed. The uncertainty combined with rising poverty has pushed many girls into the marriage market. And once a girl is sold as a bride, her chances of continuing an education or pursuing an independent path are close to zero.

Text adapted from an article on edition.cnn.com (November 2, 2021)

giggles: riu efusivament / ríe efusivamente

fate: destí / destino

menial work: feina avorrida / trabajo aburrido

dries up: acaba

resorted: va recórrer com a última opció / recurrió como última opción

plea: petició urgent i emotiva / petición urgente y emotiva

QUESTIONS

Choose the best answer according to the text. Only ONE answer is correct.

[3 points: 0.375 points for each correct answer. Wrong answers will be penalized by deducting 0.125 points. There is no penalty for unanswered questions.]

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