Mr. Dawson was a strange old man. Kids knew not to go into his yard to pick an apple, even off the ground, because he would come after you with his stick.
One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Dawson's house on the way to Amy's house. Like most of the children, Janet was afraid because of the stories she'd heard about the old man.
▲ Still Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man's house. When they got close enough, Dawson looked up with his usual
frown (皱眉), but when he saw it was Amy, a broad smile changed his entire face as he said, "Hello, Miss Amy. I see you've got a little friend with you today."
Amy smiled back and told him her friend Janet came and they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh picked apple off his tree. They gladly accepted. Dawson had the best apples in town.
When they went far away, Janet asked Amy, "Everyone says he's the meanest man in town. How come was he so nice to us?"
Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house, he wasn't very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she supposed he was wearing an invisible (it means "can not be seen") smile.
"An invisible smile?" questioned Janet.
"Yes," answered Amy. "My grandma told me if I supposed I wasn't afraid and thought he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, sooner or later he would really smile."
a. Janet got more and more nervous.
b. Amy shared her own experience.
c. Janet and Amy walked by Dawson's house.
d. Mr. Dawson gave Janet and Amy each an apple.
e. Janet and Amy stopped to talk with Mr. Dawson.
