阅读下列短文，从下面每小题的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将相应的字母编号涂黑。

    Zhou Youguang, known as the "father of Pinyin" was a Chinese. He was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, on 13 January 1906. At the age of ten, he and his family moved to Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. In 1918, he entered Changzhou High School.

    Zhou went to St. John's University in Shanghai in 1923. Then he went to Guanghua University in 1925. Later Zhou spent time in Japan as a foreign exchange student. After World War II, he moved to London, and then New York to work as a banker.

    Zhou returned to China in 1949 to help his country build a modern economy(经济学). In 1955, the government invited him to make necessary changes to the Chinese language. It took him about three years to design Pinyin, and it was a success.

    Today, with the wide use of computers and mobile phones, we use Pinyin to communicate with the world. The system is a bridge between China and the rest of the world."

    Zhou died on 14 January 2017 at his home in Beijing, a day after his birthday. At the time, he was the 17^th oldest living man in China.

    It was a rainy night in New Orleans, US. At a bus station, I watched a young girl cry as her baggage(行李) was taken down. It seemed she'd lost her ticket. She begged the bus driver not to leave her behind.

    “Losing your ticket is like losing money,” the bus driver said, and left her in the rain.

    But then an old man stood up and blocked the driver's way. “How can you leave that girl out there? You know she had a ticket. You can't just leave her here. You can't leave her in a city where she doesn't have a friend. You will meet your schedule(日程安排), but she might meet her end.”

    The driver showed no sign that he'd heard or even cared about the young girl's problem, or how her travels went.

    So the old gentleman said: “I'll pay for her ticket. I'll give her a little money to help her on her way.”

    He went and bought a ticket for the girl. “How can I repay the kindness you've shown tonight?” she asked. “We're strangers who won't meet again. A mere ‘thank you' doesn't seem right.”

    The old man said: “What goes around comes around. I've learned this with time. What you give, you always get back. Always be helpful to others and give what you can spare(分让).”

Recently, Huang Guoping's story has touched a large number of people in China. Born in a mountain village, Huang Guoping lived 1 poor life. It was usual for him to walk without shoes in summer and wear ragged (破旧的) clothes in winter.

When he went to school, his family couldn't 2 his schooling. What's worse, his mother left home when he was 12. He had to make money 3 raising baby pigs, catching eels (鳝鱼) at night and fishing on weekends. At that time, doing homework and reading books were 4 happiest part of the evening.

After going to high school, he got support from kind-hearted people, especially his teachers. However, his father died in a traffic accident when he was 17. And in the same year, his only remaining family 5 , his grandmother, passed away.

Huang Guoping didn't know 6 to give up. From the middle school in the mountains to Southwest University in Chongqing, and finally to University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, he could keep on 7 he followed his heart.

"I hope I can keep a(n) 8 heart after years of fighting than before. I hope I have the chance to discover the world again and live up to what I 9 through in my life. And I will feel it is worth if I can do something 10 someone else's life better," he said.

A little weed (野草) grows in a field. All around it stand tall and beautiful flowers. The weed didn't like them, because its own flower was tiny and 1 .

Children like to play in the 2 all year round. And spring is their favorite season because they can pick beautiful flowers. They come and go, singing and laughing.

One day, two sisters came to pick flowers for their grandma. They picked many and soon almost all the flowers were 3 " What about that one?" One said, pointing at the weed.

" 4 it!" said the other." That's just a useless(无用的) weed!"

It made the weed feel 5 " Am I really useless?" It asked itself." Why was I even put on this earth?" With all the nearby flowers gone, the weed felt lonely. Even though it didn't like them, it liked having them around.

The wind of 6 blew over the field, and it was soon followed by the snow of winter. The weed stood alone in the wild. Just then, it noticed some birds flying high above the field.

" We' re hungry!" They said." Where can we find 7 ?"

The weed felt sorry for the 8 birds and said to them," Down here! I have delicious seeds(种子) that you can eat!" The weed scattered(撒播) its little seeds across the 9 . The birds ate the seeds and 10 the weed." You' re so kind!" They said as they flew away. The weed was happy to help its new friends.

Three hours, thirty-five minutes and thirty seconds. It took Belachew Girma the 1 to set a world record (纪录). This man from Ethiopia didn't set a world record for running or jumping. He set the world record for laughing. That's 2 ! Belachew Girma laughed for more than 3 hours without (没有) 3 !

However, Belachew Girma didn't always like to laugh. In fact, he wasn't very happy in the past. After his wife (妻子) died, Belachew Girma thought he would 4 laugh again. Then, someone taught him how to laugh. Belachew Girma started to know: laughing made him feel good. So he wanted to laugh all the time.

Belachew Girma practiced laughing night and day. The only time he didn't practice laughing was when he was 5 . Someone told Belachew Girma about a laughter 6 and he decided to take part in it. He went on practicing his laughing 7 . After laughing for over 3 hours, Belachew Girma 8 the competition. He 9 a world record holder (持有人)! He didn't have time to be sad or to worry 10 he was always laughing.

Belachew Girma wanted to help 11 by laughing. He travelled around the world to 12 with people about his experience (经验). To Belachew himself, laughing saved his 13 . Today, he finds poor kids and teaches them to laugh. When kids laugh, it 14 their sadness. The laughing makes them feel much happier and 15 . It helps make their lives better.

Belachew Girma knows: The more he laughs, the more others laugh too. By laughing, he expects to make the world a happier place.

A small boy was trying to move a heavy wooden box out of his room. The box was much bigger than the boy. He tried his best to move it, but the box would not move at all. After resting for a short time, the boy tried to move it again. He pushed it with every muscle (肌肉) in his body, but he couldn't even move the box a little. He was very tired and upset (不安). 

The boy's father was coming home from work around this time. He stopped to watch his son's fruitless efforts (徒劳的努力). The father didn't help him, but instead (相反) asked, "Son, have you tried your best and are you doing everything you can?"

"Yes, I am!" the boy cried. "No, " his father said calmly (平静地), "you're not. You have not asked me to help you. "

Asking for help is not a weakness (弱点). At some point, even the best of us need help. It is important to know when to ask for help and understand why you need it. Never be afraid to ask other's for help when you're in trouble.