Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jasonlulu_2000]

Just north of the airport in Phoenix, in one of America's most violent neighborhoods, the crackle of gunfire often ricochets between shabby stucco houses. Jacked-up cars blaring hip-hop cruise past the dirt yards, and the clatter of police helicopters echoes through the desert air. But if you listen closely, you can hear a chorus of small voices wafting from a classroom in a white brick school building. Brenda Combs is leading her students in song. "When we wake up in the morning," she belts out in a soulful contralto, "we can brush our teeth � comb our hair � eat some food ... and get ready for a brand-new day."

　　The kids in this summer class range in age from 5 to 12 and, like most pupils at StarShine Academy-a charter school serving kindergarten through 12th grade-come from Phoenix's poorest families. Some of their parents are drug addicts; others are homeless. The woman by the chalkboard, for her part, has achieved a kind of success that once would have seemed well beyond her grasp. Combs, who runs the summer program and teaches third and fourth grades the rest of the year, was recently listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers. When she received her master's in education from Grand Canyon University last spring, First Lady Laura Bush sent congratulations. As Combs was being interviewed on CNN, the university's CEO showed up with a surprise graduation present: a full scholarship toward a PhD.

　　"Brenda is incredibly gifted," says StarShine Academy's founder, Patricia McCarty. "I often think of how many people used to walk by her and say, 'She's a throwaway.' "

　　What makes Combs such an extraordinary educator of at-risk children-the kind whose students drop by later to thank her-may be the years she spent living on the streets as a desperate crack addict. She slept under bridges and rummaged through dumpsters for breakfast. And she seldom used a comb or a toothbrush.

　　Combs, 45, likes to show teenage students her "before" photos, which portray a gaunt, disheveled derelict with zombie eyes. "I know what it's like to want to get high to be hungry and abused. They trust me because I've been there," she said.


Could you paraphrase the underlined sentence for me?

Thanks

[rice07]

1. To get high means to behave in an unusually excited way because of taking drugs.

2. In that case, it refers to the real subject of the clause to want to get high to be hungry and abused.

3. If somebody is a drug addict, he/she will lose his/her ability in earning his/her living(to be hungry), even worse, distroy his/her body(to be abused) over time.

　

[jasonlulu_2000]

Thank you for your detailed explanation.

BUT:

We usually use "to" to express a purpose.

A drug addict wants to get high to be hungry and abused

So in this case "to be hungry and abused " isn't a purpose, is it?

Thanks again

[rice07]

[Lorikeet]

[jasonlulu_2000]

I got it.

Thank you.