I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was social study. The last project of the term was called “Smile”. The last class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
Soon after we were given the project, my husband, my youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one cold March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back way. I turned around and found there standing behind me were two poor homeless men with a horrible “dirty body” smell. The short gentleman, close to me, was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of light as he searched for acceptance. The second man played with his hands uneasily as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation (救赎). The short man just asked for a coffee because that was all they could afford.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the men’s table. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you”.
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That’s why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.”
On the last evening of class, I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and we all knew that we need to heal people and to be healed.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. “LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS---NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.”
【小题1】 Why did the people around the author back away?

The problem had become _____ in his mind, and he could not decide what to do about it.

        A. simplified   B. exaggerated   C. matured   D. isolated

The problem had become _____ in his mind, and he could not decide what to do about it.

        A. simplified   B. exaggerated   C. matured   D. isolated

You Mi, a lovely and confident 17-year-old student, is the first Chinese high school student to appear on the cover of the popular young adults’ fashion magazine Seventeen.
“You is IN,” said Wang Lihua，Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen. “She is active and mature (成熟) because of her knowledge on everything from academic studies，to books on art，to movies. We find she’s the very style we’re looking for to represent young people’s attitudes.”
You also impressed Wang with her fluent English when they first met last year. As the hostess of an English broadcasting program at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University（人大附中）， You is always praised for speaking English almost like a native speaker. “I’ve built up my English by watching thousands of English DVDs since I was 10,” she explained.
But for You，watching isn’t enough. Last year，while in Senior 1， she met a talented (有才能的) boy who showed self-made DV movies at the English Corner in her school.
“I thought it was so cool and I knew that I should start making my own films，” she said. So she wrote a campus (校园) story, persuaded schoolmates to star in it and then began shooting a 30-minute DV movie，all in English. “I played one of the leading roles，actually I was everything in my film. I worked on it every day during the holidays,” she recalled. The movie finally became a big hit on campus，earning You a strong reputation（名气） as a DV movie director.
But this is not the only field she wants to master. Though a science student, You likes art, literature and fashion design very much.
“There are people who can be artists，there are people who edit books, and there are people who become film producers. But I just hope to mix all the things up!” she said. “There is an old saying I believe：Chances favor only the prepared mind.”
【小题1】You Mi was chosen to be a cover of Seventeen, mainly because she _____.