The following are two tricks you may find 【小题1】(amuse).

Trick 1:

James’s father, who really loves his car, expects everyone 【小题2】(admire) it all the time. Jame’s sister hates playing this game. So on one April Fool’s Day, she 【小题3】(write) a note saying “Sorry, I didn’t see the car. I apologize 【小题4】the damage. Please call me and I’ll give you my insurance number”, and put it on the car. After this, James and his sister hid behind a tree and watched their Dad, 【小题5】went on going round and round the car, 【小题6】(try) to find the damage. Even when they came from behind the tree laughing, their Dad still couldn’t stop looking at the car for he still wasn’t sure if the car was OK!

Trick 2:

Jack never stops playing practical jokes on others. And one day he played one on Mr. Simmons, his maths teacher. Mr. Simmons had to leave the room, leaving his laptop on his desk. In the absence of Mr. Simmons, Jack unplugged the mouse of the laptop 【小题7】 installed a wireless mouse on his computer, which was connected to a projector. When he came back, Jack started moving 【小题8】wireless mouse on the palm of his hands, and he clicked on various 【小题9】(application) on the computer. Mr Simmons was just sitting there, watching the screen and trying to move the cursor where he wanted it to go, but of course it didn’t work. It seemed he didn’t like not having an 【小题10】(explain) for what was going on, so he got quite angry. But then when he found out, he couldn’t stop laughing.

A man 【小题1】(stay)in a hotel. He 【小题2】(talk)to a friend and tells her he 【小题3】(have)a drink in the bar at 7 and asks her to join him there. Then, he goes to the bar and 【小题4】(order)an orange juice when he hears a voice, “That’s a nice tie.”

The man 【小题5】(look)around but nobody is near him. Then he hears the voice again, “Nice shirt, too.” The man 【小题6】(think) that maybe the barman 【小题7】(talk)to him, but the barman 【小题8】(clean)glasses at the other end of the bar. Suddenly the man hears the voice again, “Your jacket is really smart.” Knowing that his friend 【小题9】(arrive)soon, the man wonders if it is her, but there is no one he recognises around.

The man can’t understand where the voice 【小题10】(come)from, so he asks the barman about it. “Excuse me. 【小题11】(you talk)to me?” “No, sir,” says the barman. “That’ll be the complimentary peanuts.”

If someone said they’d pay you 1,800 dollars to stay off social media for six years, would you do it? Could you? Sivert Klefsaas did just that.

In 2016, Lorna Goldstrand Klefsaas challenged her 12-year-old son Sivert to stay off social media until he was 18. If he completed the challenge, she 【小题1】 (award) him the cash on his eighteenth birthday. On February 19, 2022, Sivert claimed his prize.

Lorna got the 【小题2】 (inspire) from a challenge she heard on the radio called the “16 for 16”, where a mother gave her daughter 1,600 dollars when she turned 16 if she stayed off social media.

Sivert said it wasn’t too difficult to live 【小题3】 social media, and he didn’t think about it much during the six years. As a 12-year-old Sivert said he wasn’t using social media much anyway. 【小题4】 only app he had before the bet was Snapchat, 【小题5】 he deleted a day after trying it out.

Lorna said she never had to check for any of the apps probably 【小题6】 (download) secretly on his computer. “He’s so 【小题7】 (compete) a boy. 【小题8】 (definite) it was more for proving a point.” she said.

After Sivert’s success, Lorna took to Facebook 【小题9】 (share) the challenge. She said it was some of the best money she’d ever spent. Other parents have seemed interested in trying it out too.

“We are certainly not against social media,” Lorna noted. “It’s about not letting yourself get weighed down by it, addicted 【小题10】 it, or affected by things that people post.”