To celebrate his friend’s birthday, Luke Fortune drove from a small town in Central Oregon to Portland, where he parked his car in a paid garage overnight. The next morning, he discovered that the car’s window had been smashed, along with his dreams for the future: His backpack and computer were gone.
“Everything important to me was on that computer,” said Fortune, 21, who is studying to become a paramedic.
Two days after the theft, another young man was standing outside his apartment, also in Portland. Masoud Almazrouei, 29, was an exchange student from the United Arab Emirates. He had been approached by a man who said he had a computer for sale. Only $200. Almazrouei, who had been in the United States for only a year, admits now that he was naïve. But he needed a computer so he bought it, took it home, and turned it on. Within seconds, he saw files and photographs.
“I wondered who would sell a computer with all of this on it,” he said. “I realized it could be stolen.” Almazrouei found what appeared to be the owner’s cell phone number and called it.
Fortune didn’t trust this guy with a thick accent and thought it was a scam.
Soon after, a police officer called Fortune to say that a man had dropped the computer off and had said he was sorry. He passed along the man’s number.
Fortune called and thanked Almazrouei and insisted on paying him a reward of $200, the money he was out. Almazrouei refused. He said it was his mistake to buy the computer from someone he didn’t know. More important, he said, it was his honor and duty as a Muslim to return the property to the rightful owner. “I saw a photo of this man in his paramedic uniform,” Almazrouei said. “They help people. He is a good man. I don’t want my money back.”
Still, the encounter produced its own kind of rewards. For Fortune, it was a lesson in cultural awareness amid the sometimes bitter national debate about immigrants, especially from the Arab world. “I’m from a small mainly white town,” Fortune said. “I’ve never met a Muslim. He’s a good man.”
Almazrouei’s lesson was perhaps more complex. When a story about the two young men’s encounter made it to the local papers, Almazrouei received a call from Wim Wiewel, the president of Portland State University, where Almazrouei is studying economics.
“We thought since you gave back the laptop, we should give you a laptop so that you’ll have one,” Wiewel told him. “We’re very proud of you. It was a great story, but you did the right thing.”
4. What is the correct order of the events that happened?
①The computer was stolen in a paid garage.
②Almazmouei found a lot of files and photographs in the computer.
③Unsuspecting, Almazrouei bought the computer at $200.
④Almazrouei called Fortune but it didn’t work.
5. The underlined word “
scam” in Para. 5 is closest in meaning to “_________”.
A.trick | B.game | C.gamble | D.accident |
6. What does the author mean by saying “
Still, the encounter produced its own kind of rewards” in Para. 8?
A.Kindness will eventually pay off one day. |
B.Almazrouei got admitted into a renowned university. |
C.Fortune could seek his dream with his computer back. |
D.Both of the young men learned something in their own way. |
7. What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Theft is common in Portland. |
B.Almazrouei was short of money. |
C.Fortune could not realize his dreams without his computer. |
D.Fortune used to discriminate against Muslims. |