Look at the light and beautiful snowflakes（雪花） falling．Do you want to hold them in your hands? They are always lost when they meet your hands．

Well, this isn’t just a problem for you．It was a problem for Wilson Bentley, too．

In the 1870s, Wilson Bentley was just a teenager．His family lived in a small town in northeast America．Winters there were long and hard．Bentley’s mother was once a schoolteacher．She taught him at home．Bentley didn’t go to school until he was 14．He was a quiet boy, and loved reading his mother’s books．

But it was his mother’s microscope（显微镜） that interested him．When the other boys were playing with balls, little Bentley was studying the things like drops of water, flowers and snowflakes．Bentley loved watching snowflakes．For the next two years, young Bentley spent many winter days in a cold room watching these ice crystals（晶体） through the microscope．

The boy thought they were so beautiful that he started to draw pictures of them．But there were so many snowflakes that he couldn’t draw them all．

How could he keep their beauty forever? Bentley thought of buying a camera．

The boy and his mother asked his father to buy one．But his father didn’t agree．He thought the whole thing was a bad idea．He thought the only thing a farmer should do was farming．

But finally Bentley did get a camera．For more than a year he tried to take pictures of snowflakes．On January 15, 1885, during a snowstorm, Bentley took the first ever photo of an ice crystal with his camera．“It was the greatest moment of my life,” Bentley said later．

For 13 years, Bentley worked quietly and took thousands of photos of ice crystals．Later he became known as “Snowflake” Bentley．

1．The best title for this passage is “______”．

   A．Snowflake Photos                              B．“Snowflake” Bentley

   C．Long and Hard Winters                    D．Teenage Photographer

2．What kind of person do you think Wilson Bentley was?

   A．He was outgoing                                B．He was too serious

   C．He was interested in learning                D．He was very warm-hearted

3．The “ice crystals” in the fourth paragraph refers to “______”．

   A．water drops      B．rain drops       C．flowers                D．snowflakes

As prices and building costs keep rising, “the do-it-yourself”（DIY）trend（趋势） in the US continues to grow.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Kose, “and we didn’t have enough money to buy it.” So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs. John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling （努力）to make a home when the cost of living is very high. The Koses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was very upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car myself. ”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how to do things yourself.
【小题1】We know from the passage that many people ________ .