“Snowflake boy”has a new home

浙江宁波市姜山中学 王 岚

Many things about Wang Fuman's life have changed since he became an international sensation a year ago.Then，he was an 8-year-old who had to walk for an hour in a thin jacket from his grandmother's mud hut to his freezing cold，poorly resourced school.His father was working far away，and his mother had deserted the family.

Now， Fuman has a new house， a warmer school and his mom came back at home.

Despite the change in circumstances that the nickname brought him，Fuman still likes to be known by his real name.

“‘Snowflake boy’ is just a nickname，” the 9-year-old said in a video shared this week by a newspaper in the Yunnan provincial capital of Kunming. “In my hometown， my classmates treat me as an ordinary person，and I think of myself as an ordinary person.If I were treated as a star， I would feel awkward.”

Fuman was one of the 61 million“leftbehind” children， youths who are left in their poor hometowns while their parents seek work in the big cities.Fuman and his older sister，Fumei，lived with their grandmother in a mountainous region of Yunnan province，in southwestern China.To get to school，he had to walk three miles in temperatures as low as 16 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once he got there，the school had no heating and little in the way of educational resources.That all changed after that photo that his teacher posted showing Fuman with windchapped cheeks and frozen hair.After the photo of “snowflake boy”went viral，Ludian County received a lot of donations and government aid.They raised$47，000 within a week.

Hisschool， Zhuanshanbao Elementary，has been equipped with proper heating and new teaching facilities.

“Our classroom is very warm now.I usually stay in the school so I do not have to go home every day，” the boy told China Daily this month.

The Wang family now lives in a small twostory house closer to school.

“Our old house was a bit dirty， but the new house is clean，” Fuman said. “In the old house，there were a lot of old memories because my grandfather built it.But in the new house，there are new memories because my dad built it.”

His father was given a job at a construction site in Kunming.He can earn almost$600 a month there.Better still， their mother， who had been working in restaurants in the east coast province of Zhejiang，also returned home in the middle of the year.

“Fuman is doing well at school，” Vice Principal Fu Heng told the People's Daily.“He is in the top three for mathematics and the top five overall，” he said. “He also has a good relationship with the other pupils.”

Fuman's improved fortunes have warmed online hearts in China.

“What a warmhearted ending.May every child be treated gently by the world！” wrote one Weibo user with the screen name Hangxiaoye.

“There's money to improve the situation once being reported，” wrote one. “How about getting rid of poverty like is usually said？ Are they getting rid of the true poverty？”

——From www.msn.com

Reading Check

Decide if the following statements are true （T） or false （F）.

（ ）1.Wang Fuman's life was rather hard before his photo went viral on the Internet.

（ ）2.Wang Fuman felt natural to be an online star.

（ ）3.The condition in Wang Fuman's school used to be terrible.

（ ）4.Both of Wang Fuman's old house and new house were built by his father.

（ ）5.Wang Fuman's story has a happy ending and leaves the world with further reflection.

Language Study

may引导祈使句表示祝愿

愿每一个孩子都被世界温柔地对待！___

_______every child _______by the world！