A young girl called Ida in Sweden decided to travel to a place she hadn't seen for 22 years. She had a happy life until some kids asked, "Why don't you look like your mom?" Ida was sent to her adopted(收養(yǎng)) family in Sweden right after she was born.She really didn't know anything about her birthplace, Korea, except for some information she recently heard about her birthparents.
During her schooldays, she was often questioned about her looks. Ida considered herself a normal Swedish person. She tried to be part of the group in her school, but she found it hard. She was still seen as an outsider.
As she grew older, she accepted(接受)who she  was. Still, she
wanted to find the missing piece of the puzzle (困惑). After finding out the place of her birthparents, Ida went to Korea in 2008. When she first arrived, she was surprised to see so many people who looked like her. However, apart from her looks, not much could be shared (分享) with others. She knew little about the culture, food, especially the language. Being in Korea wasn't always easy for her.
Perhaps Ida can never truly fit in either culture, but it's worth visiting her birthplace because she finally realized how special and different she is. She has two loving families, and most of all a better understanding of who she is. This helps her to have a positive view of her life.
【小題1】 Where was Ida born?

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, at the same time they usually talk about a lot of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen---they can’t do both---and they don’t understand that women can. Besides(此外), women think that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships--not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring (盯著) at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot(the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.) and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the small body language signals that show how the characters are feeling emotionally(情緒上). Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully because they want to keep relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to connect to the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a way of keeping relationship. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing(令人信服的)evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to and looked at baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents reply to the brain differences of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we talk to them more. As a result, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short complaints in reply.
【小題1】While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they ___________.

When I was 16 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.
It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.
Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break. I couldn't talk about anyone with my problems. And I didn't want my parents to worry about me.
Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me, without a word, only a smile.
Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.
That smile changed my life. I started to talk with other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.
One day I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me!
It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think it lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.
11. Why was the smile an important gift?
A. Because the writer's old school was far away.
B. Because the writer didn't know who the boy was.
C. Because the smile didn't mean anything to the boy.
D. Because it made the writer feel happy, lively and warm.
12.The writer didn't talk to anyone in her new school about her problem because  .
A. she was always unhappy
B. she didn't have any friends there
C. she was in the first year at the junior high school
D. she didn't want her parents to worry about her
13. How did the smile change her life?
A. She started to make friends.
B. She became the best friend with the boy.
C. Her parents didn't worry about her any more.
D. She realized that she was lonely.
14. Where does she now think her feeling of unhappiness came from?
A. From her old school     B. From her parents.
C.. From herself.          D. From her classmates at the new school.
15. Who has become the writer’s best friend now?
A. The writer herself           B. The writer’s parents
C. The writer’s classmates     D. The boy with the smile