Sixteen years ago a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.

    It was the early autumn of my first year at a middle school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to speak to anyone.

Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break. I couldn’t talk with anyone about my problems.

    Then one day, when my classmates were talking happily with their friends, I was sitting at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy entered the classroom. I didn’t know who he was. He passed by me and then turned back. He looked at me, with a smile.

    Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy and warm. That smile changed my life. I started to talk with other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.

    One day I asked him why he had smiled, but he couldn’t remember doing so!

    It doesn’t matter because all the dark days have gone. I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think it is lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

1.When did the writer get the gift?

A. At the age of 16.

B. After making friends with the boy. [来源:Zxxk.Com]

C. In the first year at a middle school.

D. After becoming closer to everyone in the class.

2. Why was the smile an important gift?

A. Because the writer’s old school was far away.

B. Because the writer didn’t know who the boy was.

C. Because the smile didn’t mean anything to the boy.

D. Because the writer felt lonely and had no friends and it made her feel happy and warm.

3. Why didn’t the writer talk to anyone in her new school about her problems?

A. Because she was always unhappy.

B. Because she didn’t know anyone at the time.

C. Because she was in the first year at the junior high school.

D. Because she didn’t want her parents to worry about her.

4.How did the smile change her life?

A. She started to make friends.

B. She became the best friend of the boy.

C. Her parents didn’t worry about her any more.

D. She realized that she was lonely.

5.Where does she now think her feeling of unhappiness came from?

A. From her old school.                                 B. From her parents.

C. From herself.                                                D. From her classmates at the new school.

---Susan didn’t like popular music very much, did she?     

--- ___________now.

A．Yes; but she didn’t                     B．No; but she did

C．Yes; but she does                       D．No; but she does

---Susan didn’t like popular music very much, did she?     
--- ___________now.

It began with one red paper clip(回形针)and ended with a house. Kyle MacDonald, a 26-year-old Canadian got a house with three bedrooms through 14 trades(交易)that started with a single red paper clip.

Now more and more young people around the world like this kind of trading activities. They set up websites and trade on the Internet. People trade things they do not usually use with other people. A website called Peerflix allows people to trade their old possessions. These traders usually prefer face-to-face trading, in this way they don’t have to worry about who is going to pay for the delivery(递送).

Last year, a young girl in Beijing decided to follow the example of Kyle. She started with a paper clip and hoped to get a house in the end．After several trades she now has a piano which is worth more than 10, 000 yuan. But she may still have a long way to go.

Maybe you can’t understand why people are doing this. As Kyle said, “What’s more important to a man in the desert—one million dollars or a glass of water?” Kyle’s words probably show why these trades are popular among young people.

1.Do young people like the trading activities?

2.Where can people trade things they do not usually use?

3.Why do these traders usually prefer face-to-face trading?

4.What did the Chinese girl hope to get at the end of the trade?

5.Why are the trade activities popular among young people?