It began with a red paper clip and ended with a house. Kyle MacDonald, a 26-year-old Canadian, got a three-bedroom house through 14 trades (交换) that started with a single red paper clip.[来源:学。科。网Z。X。X。K]

Encouraged by Kyle’s successful experience, now more and more young people around the world are starting their own trading activities. They set up websites where people can trade things they don’t usually use with other people. A website called Peerflix allows people to trade their used DVDs. These traders usually prefer face-to-face trading, which means 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 more than 10,000 yuan. But she may still have a long way to go.

You may be puzzled about why people are doing this. In fact, everyone in the trade activities gets things that are useful to them. Just as Kyle said, “What’s more important to a man dying of thirst in the desert — one million dollars or a glass of water?” Kyle’s words probably show why these trades are poplar among young people.

4. Where can people trade things they do not usually use according to the passage?

A. On the Internet.     B. In Beijing.          C. In Canada.       D. In the desert.

5. Why are trading activities popular among young people?

A. Because they can make a lot of money by trading with other people.

B. Because the traders can get things that are useful to them.

C. Because young people love trading activities.

D. Because many young people want to get a house.

6. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. If you begin with a paper clip, you will finally get a house by trading.

B. A young girl in Beijing got a house through trading.

C. A glass of water is more important than one million dollars.

D. Many traders like face-to-face trading because they don’t have to pay for the delivery.

Mr. Hunt came from a poor family. He had three brothers and two sisters. His father worked hard but wasn’t paid much. And his mother did all the housework at home. They were both able but they couldn’t get enough money for their family.

Mr. Hunt was in school for only three years and he had to stop to help his parents though he was good at his lessons. When he was sixteen, he came to the city and began to work in a small factory. He learned from an old worker and became a skilled worker. The old worker liked him and married his daughter to him. The young man did not have his own house and had to live with his parents-in-law. His mother-in-law always thought he was poor and often chattered. So the young man tried to save everything and hoped to have his own house.

It was one fine Sunday. The old woman wanted to have a picnic on the top of the hill. She told Mr. Hunt to drive her car. But sometimes she told him to turn left and sometimes to turn right. The young man had to listen to her. At a crossing the lights were red but she made him turn left. The policeman stopped them and told the young man to give his license to him.

“If I did wrong, sir,” said Mr. Hunt, “It was my mother-in-law’s fault(过错). She was driving the car though she sat behind me!”

1.The Hunts were poor because ____.

       A. they were lazy B. they were too weak to work

       C. they couldn’t make enough moneyD. they weren’t able enough

2.Mr. Hunt left the school because ____.

       A. he didn’t like studying           B. his family was poor

       C. he wasn’t clever                 D. he hoped to stay at home

3.____, so the old man married his daughter to him.

       A. Mr. Hunt became a skilled worker 

B. Mr. Hunt was friendly to him

       C. Mr. Hunt was paid much in the factory                

D. Mr. Hunt worked for six years there

4.The old woman was ____ to Mr. Hunt.

       A. good           B. bad             C. friendly         D. useless

5.Which of the following is wrong?

       A. The old woman herself drove the car that day.

       B. It was the old woman’s fault.

       C. Mr. Hunt hated his mother-in-law.

    D. The old woman told Mr. Hunt to run the red lights.