It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me.
She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed, enthusiastically responding, “Of course!” And she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.
“I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have children, and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously.”
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
We became instant friends. Over the course of the year, Rose made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she took great delight in the attention given to her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet (宴会) and I’ll never forget what she taught us.
As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her note card on the floor. A little embarrassed she simply said, “I’m sorry. This whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began: “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing; There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You have got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. Anyone can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral(葬礼) to honor the wonderful woman.
【小题1】While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about
________.

Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members, and in particular, their parents, don’t know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice.
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a circle of friends Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among them on the phone. This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one.
Who chooses your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
Your answers are welcome.
【小题1】Many teenagers think their ________ know them better than their parents do.