I was going to Paris, which I’d always wanted to see. But now I was frightened to travel alone. I arrived at the train station in Paris. I hadn’t spoken my college French for twenty years. On my first metro ride, I came across an incompetent（不胜任的）thief. I just stared at him, and he stopped his hand from my purse and disappeared into the crowd. Somewhere in this confusing city was my hotel hidden, but the directions suddenly weren’t easy to find. When I finally found the hotel, my heart was beating heavily, and I was sweating like a basketball player. I couldn’t stay. Could I? The wallpaper looked like it had been through a fire. The bathroom was downstairs, and the window looked out onto the brick wall of another building. Welcome to Paris. I sincerely wanted to die. I missed my friends. I was entering my third week away from home and my kids, and I had arrived in the most romantic city in the world, alone, lonely and frightened.
The most important thing I did in Paris happened at that moment. I knew that if I didn’t go out, right then, and find a place to have dinner, I would hide in this small room my entire time in Paris. I might never learn to enjoy the world as a single individual. So I went out. Evening in Paris was light and pleasant. I walked along a path, listening to birds sing, watching children float toy boats in a huge fountain. No one seemed to be in a hurry. Paris was beautiful. And I was here alone and suddenly not lonely. My sense of accomplishment overcoming my fear and weakness had left me feeling free. I wore out two pairs of shoes during my week’s stay in Paris. I did everything there was to do, and it was the greatest week of my European vacation. I returned home, becoming a believer in the power of traveling alone. Now when I meet difficulties I just say to myself, “If I can go to Paris, I can go anywhere.”
What happened on my first metro ride?

A．I came across a skillful thief.

B．I bravely caught a thief trying to steal

C．The thief successfully stole my purse

D．I scared away a thief trying to steal

The room in the hotel where I lived ______.

A．had just gone through a big fire

B．was in very poor conditions

C．had a good sight through the window

D．was very small and untidy

Which of the following is NOT true?

A．I was not lonely when I got to Paris.

B．I felt frightened travelling alone in Paris at first.

C．I then felt not lonely for the people around me in Paris.

D．I had a lot of walking during my stay in Paris.

The lifestyle of French people can be considered as ________.

A．hasty

B．relaxed

C．anxious

D．aggressive

As to the writer, the power of traveling alone is _______.

A．the power of being independent

B．the power of feeling free

C．the power of becoming optimistic

D．the power of overcoming difficulties