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?

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.
【小题1】Do young people like the trading activities?
【小题2】Where can people trade things they do not usually use?
【小题3】Why do these traders usually prefer face-to-face trading?
【小题4】What did the Chinese girl hope to get at the end of the trade?
【小题5】Why are the trade activities popular among young people?

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. 1.

   Do young people like the trading activities?

2. 2.

   Where can people trade things they do not usually use?

3. 3.

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

4. 4.

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

5. 5.

   Why are the trade activities popular among young people?

When I was young, I liked to play jokes on people I knew, especially on my parents and friends. One day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and my younger brother was playing near the window. I ran to my mother and said, “My brother has fallen from the open window!” She was very worried about my brother and then I said, “Don’t worry. I’m just joking.” And my mother shouted at me, “If you do it again, I’ll punish(惩罚) you.”
One day I went swimming with my friends in the sea. I wanted to play a joke on my friends. In the beginning, I went swimming alone, and I called to my friends, “ Help me!” All my friends came to help me, only to find out that I was joking. But the next time I wasn’t joking. I swam in deep water and I was so careless that I was almost drowned(淹死). I tried my best to call my friends for help, but this time nobody came to help me. In the end, they found I was telling the truth(真话). They came and saved my life. They took me to the emergency center. From then on, I haven’t joked on anyone. I think this is the best lesson in my life.
【小题1】What did the writer like to do when he was young ?
A. To fight with his friends.            B. To play with his mother.
C. To play jokes on others.
【小题2】How did the writer’s mother feel when she heard what he said about his brother ?
A. Interested.               B. Worried.    .           C. Excited.
【小题3】 When the writer shouted “Help me!” for the first time, his friends _______ .
A. came to help him           B. didn’t care about him    
C. stopped to look at him
【小题4】The underlined part “the emergency center” means “________” in Chinese.
A. 购物中心              B. 娱乐中心               C. 急救中心
【小题5】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? 
A. The writer’s mother was cooking when his mother fell from the open window.
B. The writer used to go swimming alone in the deep sea.
C. The writer hasn’t joked on others since he was saved by his friends.