Are you ready for the coming festive season? What gifts will you give to make your friends feel special? Here teenagers share their ideas for gifts and look forward to the ones they'll get.

Hu Ziwei, 15, Nanjing Foreign Language School

My class will have a gift exchange party, during which we will put on a small talent show. Many of us had our gifts ready a week ago. I believe that the boys will give magic tools, stationary （文具） or sweets, while girls are likely to give dolls or mobile accessories （掛件）.

The biggest fun about these parties is not knowing from whom you'll receive a gift and who will receive your gifts. The computer will decide everything! Our teacher hopes the activity will help us get to know each other better – you see, we've only known each other for three months. I'm looking forward to my surprise gift!

Liu Wei, 17,Beijing No 8 High School

Although my birthday was in November, I'll get a special birthday gift from my classmates this week. A．collective （集體的） birthday party is scheduled for all the students who had birthdays fall in the last six months.

My classroom has been decorated with colorful ribbons and Christmas balls. Someone told me that there will be a huge birthday cake and that a personalized gift sent with best wishes from other students is being prepared for each birthday student. I'm sure we will treasure this event and I'm so looking forward to the big moment!

Yin Zhaohua, 19, Jixi No 1 High School in Heilongjiang

I'm still enjoying the gifts I received on Christmas Eve. Nowadays traditional greeting cards are being replaced with apples and sweets, which symbolize （象征） hope for the year ahead. I got more than 20 apples this Christmas, which means I sent a similar number of apples out. I think apples are healthier, more environmentally and friendly gifts than cards sent through the post.

Wu Shang, 16, Mianyang High School in Sichuan

These last two weeks have been filled with every kind of exam so the atmosphere（氣氛） on campus is not at all like a holiday. I miss the days when I got handwritten cards.

In fact, I haven't received or sent holiday cards since the Internet became popular. It's so fast and easy to send an e-card. Also, text messages are fun and convenient （方便的）. I'll send warm hugs to my best friends on New Year's D．a(chǎn)y to let them know that I'll be always there for them.

1. Where is Yin Zhaohua from?

A．He is from the east of China                   B．He is from the capital of China

C．He is from the north of China                  D．He is from the west of China

2. Before the gift exchange party, Hu Ziwei knows _____________

A．from whom she'll receive a gift           B．who will receive her gifts.

C．what gift she will send to her classmates    D．that she may get a magic tool

3. In Liu Wei’s classroom we can’t see _____________ during the collective birthday party.

A．some colorful ribbons                              B．some Christmas balls

C．a(chǎn) huge birthday cake                               D．some mobile accessories

4. On New Year’s D．a(chǎn)y Wu Shang will _____________.

A．have an important exam                   B．send some handwritten cards

C．meet and hug her best friends warmly       D．send some text messages to her friends

5. From the passage we can infer _____________

A．the kids share the same ideas about gifts  

B．the kids will receive and send expensive gifts

C．a(chǎn)pples are sent as gifts to keep young kids healthy

D．the kids are trying to show their wishes in different ways

Each year Ben is glad when school is closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day．Ben knows that this day honors an important man，but Ben does not feel connected to him．However，the small-world theory （理論） connects Ben to Dr. King．Ben's mom （0） has a close friend，Amy（1）．Amy’s uncle，Mark（2），once met and spoke to John Carter（3），the son of President Jimmy Carter（4）．Jimmy Carter knew Dr. King （5）． In a way，Ben is only “five people away” from Martin Luther King Jr．

 The small-world theory says that everyone in the world is connected through a short chain （鏈條）of people they know．Another name of this chain is degrees of separation．Each degree is a step that separates a person from someone he or she does not know．There are zero degrees of separation between a person and the people he or she knows directly．This means that there are zero degrees between Ben and his mom．There is one degree of separation when just one person separates someone from a person he or she does not know．Ben knows his mom，but he hasn't met her close friend Amy．Therefore，Ben is one degree away from Amy．As the chain continues，Amy's uncle，Mark，is two degrees．John Carter is three degrees，and his father is four degrees．Dr. King is five degrees away from Ben．The theory says that there are no more than six degrees of separation between any two people in the world．

The small-world theory has a lot to do with math．The theory assumes（假定）that each person knows 100 people. Each one of those 100 people knows 50 different people．Each of those 50 people knows another 50 people，and so on．When someone continues the calculation to six degrees，it is like this：100 × 50 × 50 × 50 × 50 × 50 = 31.25 × 10⁹．This number is greater than 31 billion（a billion = a thousand million）．There are over 6 billion people in the world．These numbers show it is possible that six degrees of separation could include everyone in the world．

Does the small-world theory work? No one has ever proved it．Maybe the theory just invites people to think a little more about their places in the world. ．

1．Ben is two degrees away from                ．

A．Jimmy Carter          B．John Carter             C．Amy                       D．Mark

2．What is the meaning of "degrees of separation" in Paragraph 2?

A．The chain to connect people．                            B．The relations between people．

C．The steps of knowing strangers．                D．The separation between strangers．

3．What is the small-world theory mainly about?

A．How far Ben is away from Dr. King．          B．How many people one can get to know．

C．How people are connected in the world．     D．How the degrees of separation are set up．

4．We can learn from the article that                  ．

A．the small-world theory works

B．more research is needed to prove the theory

C．six degrees are needed to know the strangers

D．the writer's purpose is to help people find out their places

　　Have you ever heard the saying,“If you want a friend, be one?”

　　Here is how one new teacher made friends with the girls and boys in her class on the first day of school. As the bell rang, the teacher smiled at each girl and boy. Then she said in a quiet voice,“Good morning. How nice it is to have all of you in my class this year. I'd like to know each of you. I am sure we will enjoy working together.”Everyone felt that she meant what she said because of her sweet voice and her friendly look.

　　She told the girls and boys her name and wrote it on the black board. Then she told them some of the things she liked to do and she was hoping to do with them during the year.

　　Then she said to the class. “Now you know my name and the things I like and I want to know your names and the things you tike. Then I will feel that I know you.”

　　Could you make friends by doing the same things as the teacher did?

　　One way of getting to know and to like the other girls and boys in your class is to find out more about them. It is often easy to be friends with those people. They have the same hobbies with you, play the same games, and have made the same journeys you have.

　　You may find that some new comers in your class may miss their old friends and feel strange and alone. You can invite them to walk to school or to ride bikes with you. You will find many things to talk about. Just talking together in a friendly manner（方式）is one good way to make friends.

Choose the best answer.

(1) How do you understand the saying“If you want a friend, be one”. It means“________”.

A．If you want to have a friend, try to make one be your friend

B．You can make friends by doing what a friend should do

C．You may have a friend by doing everything for him

D．When you need a friend, you have to be a friend of yourself

(2) The teacher's sweet voice and her friendly look_________.

A．showed that she would like to be a friend of the girls and boys

B．made every girl and boy happy

C．told the girls and boys everything about herself

D．meant she wanted to tell the boys and girls something interesting

(3) The people _________ will become friends easily.

A．without knowing each other

B．with the same interests

C．of a few words

D．of few words

(4) A new comer will be your friend if_________________.

A．he always thinks of his old friend

B．you ask him to do something

C．he knows you very well

D．you talk with him in a friendly way

(5) What is the best title of the passage?

A．A friendly way of making friends.

B．How to make friends between teachers and students.

C．The relationship between teachers and students.

D．Making friends.