Next Activity:
Try the same text at a reading speed of 200 words per minute.
This is the text (if you need help).
The number of refugees is increasing around the world. Many people are fleeing their countries because of war; others because they are unsafe in their homeland. They all want to find a new life in a safe country. Multinational companies will help around 250,000 refugees. They will give them a job. The companies made this offer on World Refugee Day. Adidas, Amazon, Pepsi and Starbucks are some of the more than 40 corporations who will help displaced people over the next three years. Kelly Clements, the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, was happy about this news. She said: "The commitments that businesses are going to make are absolutely essential."
Kelly Clements said more than 110 million people have been displaced worldwide. Around 12 million of these are from Ukraine. More than 6.8 million have fled Syria and 5.7 million have left Afghanistan. Ms Kelly said: "Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild." An Amazon spokesperson explained why hiring refugees would benefit the company. He said: "This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company." He added that: "Diversity brings innovation, creativity and different [points of view]."
Back to the multinational companies lesson.
