阅读下列短文，从下面每题的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。

    Just as I entered my house, I heard a sound coming from the bedroom upstairs — it was from myJust as I entered my house, I heard a sound coming from the bedroom upstairs — it was from my favourite violin.

    “Thief!”

    I rushed upstairs and saw a boy in dirty clothes pulling my violin down. At first sight, I found a new pair of shoes missing. It seemed he was surely a thief.

    However, when I saw his eyes full of fear, my anger disappeared. I smiled and asked, “Are you Mr. Ram's student Rubens? I'm his butler（男管家）. I've heard Mr. Ram said his student would come. It must be you.”

    “Has my teacher gone out?” the boy said, “I think I'd better visit him again in a while.”

    I nodded and asked him, “Do you like playing the violin?”

    “Yes, but I'm too poor to afford one.” the boy replied. 

    “Then, I'll give you this violin.” The boy looked at me in surprise, but he picked up the violin. While going out of the room, he suddenly saw a huge photo of me playing the violin at the Grand Theatre of Sydney on the wall. His face turned pale. He stood there for a moment and ran out. He must have understood what had happened because no master would put up the butler's photo on the wall of his living room.

    A few years later, at a music competition in Melbourne, I was invited to be the judge. Finally, a violin player called Merritt won the first prize.

    After the prize-giving, Merritt ran to me holding a violin box, his face red, and asked, “Mr. Brian, do you still know me? You gave me this violin, which I have treasured ever since! Today, I want to say sorry and give back the violin to you without regret…”

    He was just the “Mr. Ram's student”!

    My grandfather is eighty years old now．He always complains about how fast things have changed, and he often says that life used to be better．

    Families aren't families they used to be．A lot of families have broken up．If husband and wife have problems with their marriage, they no longer stay together．And mothers used to stay at home and take care of their children, but now not any more．Everyone is busy working．Mother used to spend all day cooking in the kitchen．But now the family don't eat home-cooked food any more．

    And the cars! No one walks any more．More and more people drive．Students used to walk 5 miles to school every day, even in winter．But now students don't．And in school, children don't have to think any more．In math class, for example, they used to add, subtract, multiply and divide(加减乘除)in their heads．Instead, they use calculators(计算器)．

    And people today have TV and computers, and they don't talk to each other any more．They are too busy to talk, too busy to eat, too busy to think…．

    Life used to be simple, but it isn't any more．

    Look! This is a picture of my family. I have a big family. They are grandparents, my parents, my sister and I. The old man on the left is my grandfather. He is a farm worker. He likes flowers. There are many flowers on the farm. The old woman next to my grandfather is my grandmother. She likes cooking. My father is on the right of my grandmother. He is 40 years old. He likes playing basketball with his students. The woman next to my father is my mother. She is a manager of a hotel. In front of them are my sister and I. My sister is a student. We are in different classes but the same grade. She is in Class One, Grade Seven. I'm in Class Four, Grade Seven. My sister likes drawing and I like reading.

    Last month, a common graduation ceremony (毕业典礼) was held in Tianjin University, but it received much attention. Xue Minxiu, born in 1937, graduated with excellent grades after working hard for 4 years.

    Going to a university has always been a dream for Xue. But for some reasons, she didn't have the chance when she was young. Even so, she never forgot her dream. In 2014, she was accepted by Tianjin University and finally her dream came true. Since then, Xue has been a model for the people around her. She got up at 5 o'clock every morning. Then she studied for a while before brushing teeth and having breakfast. Her room was filled with books and newspapers. Wherever she went, she would take books with her.

    In fact, for her age, Xue had many difficulties during the four years. But nothing could stop her. Whenever she had problems, she would either solve them by herself or ask teachers for help. Through her hard work, she passed the exams and was named "a star student" during the first period of her college life.

    "I think the true meaning of our lives is to challenge (挑战) and improve ourselves whether we are old or young. Xue said at the graduation ceremony. "For me, learning something I enjoy is a lifelong journey. I want to thank Tianjin University for giving me the chance to achieve my dream. Our lifetime is short, so we should make good use of it."