For most teenagers, swapping an old mobile phone with a friend for the latest album or movie ticket might be considered a good trade.But 17-year-old Steven Ortiz set his sights a little higher, and -- after a series of swaps -- is now driving himself to school in a Porsche.The youngster started exchanging items two years ago after a schoolmate gave him an unwanted phone.Through a series of online swaps, Steven worked his way up through newer phones, laptop computers, and street bikes before landing the prized Porsche. Steven developed a love for online trading long before taking up the swaps that led to the Porsche.As a young teenager, he would buy his friends' unwanted mobile phones for around PS20, clean them up and sell them over the Internet for three times that amount. His father, Esteban Ortiz, said Steven was also useful to have around when the family needed something like a new washing machine, as he would use his nose for a bargain to pick up somebody's discarded appliance for next to nothing and fix it up cheaply."I think this is teaching him something.I want him to go to college, and make something of his life.He is learning the value of things, responsibility and negotiation skills." Steven got his first car at 15, but he was too young to drive, so he traded for a golf cart before moving back into cars when he got his license a year ago.Steven said swapping the Bronco, worth about PS10,000 at the time, for the Porsche was actually a trade down because the car was valued at PS6,000.Another downside is the running costs.He must pay PS100 every time the Porsche needs an oil change, and $1,000 for a routine service. Steven, however, still has some way to go before matching the achievement of Canadian Kyle MacDonald, who became famous four years ago for turning a single red paperclip into a two-storey farmhouse through a series of trade. What's the order of Steven's swapping process? _ . A) An old phone - a new phone - a street bike - a laptop - a Porsche. B) An old phone - a new phone - a laptop - a street bike - a Porsche. C) An old phone - an album - a new phone - a laptop - a street bike - a Porsche. D) An old phone - a movie ticket - a new phone - a laptop - a street bike - a Porsche.
B
Long long ago, there was an old merchant who had three sons. "To which one shall I leave my fortune?" he wondered. "It must be to the cleverest son. But which one is the cleverest?" He called his three sons to him. "Here is some money," he told them, "you must each take one coin to buy something that will fill this room. Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune." "It is a big room," said the eldest son. "One coin will not buy very much," said the second son. But the youngest son said nothing. He stood and thought, and then he smiled, "Come, brothers," he said, "let us go to the market." The eldest son bought straw with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of straw. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room. The second son bought sand with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of sand. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor. "What did you buy?" the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son. "You don't have any straw." "Yes, what did you buy?" the second son asked angrily. "You don't have any sand." "I bought this," said the youngest son. "A candle!" cried his brothers. "What good is a candle?" "Watch", said the youngest son. He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor. It was filled with light! "Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons," the old merchant said. And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with light. Who would get father's fortune? A) The oldest son. B) The richest son. C) The cleverest son. D) The silliest son.
C
Q: Just 10 years ago, I sat across the desk from a doctor. "Yes," he said, "there is something wrong with the left, upper lobe . You have a moderately advanced case... You'll have to give up work at once and go to bed. Later on, we'll see." Feeling like a man who is in midcareer has suddenly been placed under sentence of death, I left the doctor's office, walked over to the park, and sat down on a bench. I needed to think. In the next 3 days, I cleared up my affairs, then I went home, got into bed, and set my watch to tick off not the minutes, but the months. Two years later, I left my bed and began the long climb back. It was another year before I made it. I speak of this experience because _ that passed so slowly taught me what to value and what to believe. I realise now that this world I'm living in is not my oyster to be opened but my opportunity to be grasped. Each day, to me, is a precious thing. The sun comes up and presents me with 24 brandnew, wonderful hours--not to pass, but to fill. I've learned to appreciate those little, allimportant things I never thought I had the time to notice before:the play of light on running water, the music of the wind in my favourite pine tree. I seem now to see and hear and feel with some of the recovered freshness of childhood. How well, for instance, I recall the touch of the springy earth under my feet the day I first stepped upon it after the years in bed. Frequently, I sit back and say to myself, "Let me make note of this moment I'm living right now, because in it I'm well, happy and hard at work doing what I like best to do. It won't always be like this, so while it is, I'll make the most of it--and afterwards, I remember--and be grateful. All this, I owe to that long time spent on the sidelines of life." Which word can best describe the author's feeling after visiting the doctor? A) Hopeless. B) Curious. C) Confused. D) Energetic.
A: A
Q: Our 16-year-old daughter started to smoke last Christmas. It killed me to see that lovely girl with a cigarette in her mouth. I told her how I felt. Martha continued to smoke, saying, "It's my life," and so on. I told her if she didn't stop smoking, I wouldn't send her to college. She agreed to give it up. Last night there was cigarette smell on Martha's breath. She had to say she had broken her word. Now I must do what I've said to punish her. Martha is unusually bright and wants to teach children. I'm working full-time to put her older sister through school and would do the same for Martha. My husband's pay is good, but with prices going up all the time we could never educate the girls unless I kept on working. My theory is that if smoking is more important to Martha than college, I'm a fool to work to put her through college. The mother said that _ . A) Martha was usually a stupid girl B) though Martha's father received high pay, it was not enough for their two girls' college education C) as everything was becoming more and more expensive, the two girls had to work hard to pay for their education D) she liked Martha's sister but hated Martha
A: B