Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone.
Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.
In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen, it is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone. It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.
Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year. He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He says he wished he had traveled alone earlier.“ The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old man.
Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that is ready to deal with anything.” He said, “The feeling of having conquered something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I’m dealing with a difficult task.” “I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”
The great 19th century explorer John Muir once said, “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”
【小题1】Which of the following will Kristina Wegscheider agree with?

In modern society, people use money every day. It seems that it is very important in our life. That’s because without money you can’t buy any goods(商品) you want. But I think few people know the history of money.
Long ago, people did not need money. They lived on wild animals, fruits and other plants. As time passed, people learned to raise animals and crops. Sometimes, families produced more than they needed, so they started to trade with other families. Later, people began to use money as a means of exchange. However, it was not the kind of money we use today. They used shells, rice, salt, large stones, etc.
During the 600s BC, people began using coins as money. They soon found that coins were easier to carry than goods and lasted a long time. Later, countries began to make their own coins.
The Chinese were the first to use paper money, probably as early as the 11^th century. The Italian traveler Marco Polo saw the Chinese using money when he visited China in the 1200s. However, European countries did not start using paper money until 1600s.
Today, we have many ways to pay for things. We do not use coins or paper money. Often, people prefer to pay for things by card. Paying with a card is easier and safer than carrying around a lot of “real” money.
【小题1】  People used ________ as a means of exchange before the 7^th century BC.
A. paper money       B. card          
C. large stone         D. coins
【小题2】From the passage, we know that European countries used paper money in the ________.