Once upon a time, there was a swan(天鹅). She lived in a lake. A woman with her two daughters lived in a small house ________ the lake. They lived a hard life. Sometimes they didn’t have enough money to buy food.

The swan was ________ to see that. She wanted to help them. Every day she came to the woman’s house and left a golden feather without ________ anything. The woman sold the feather ________ bought food. She was happy because her life was ________ than before.

But the woman became greedy(贪婪). One day when the swan ________ , the woman caught her and took all her golden feathers. Suddenly the golden feathers ________ the common(普通的) feathers.

The swan said, “I came to help you, but you wanted to kill ________ . I will never come back. Never be greedy.” With these words, the swan disappeared(消失).

Hippos（河马） live in Africa. Their sweat（汗水） is red. Sometimes they walk a long way to find water. In fact（事实上） hippos walk in the water. They can’t swim.

Hippos love to play in the water in the day. They like to eat plants（植物）at night. They never eat meat. They are easy to be angry.

An adult（成年的） hippo is about 3,000 kg. He can run very fast. But he cannot run a long way. His longest（最长的） tooth is about 60 cm. His open mouth is big. A child can get into it.

Crocodiles （鳄鱼） eat young hippos. But they cannot hurt adult hippos. So the mother hippos often go with their children.

Different cultures have different ideas about why people catch colds. For example, in the United States, some people think that you can catch a cold if your feet get cold. So, mothers tell small children to wear warm shoes in winter. In other places, including parts of the Middle East, some people believe that strong winds cause(导致) colds. So, on buses, people don’t like to sit next to open windows. In parts of Europe, some people think that wearing wet clothes will give you a cold. T hey say that after you go swimming, you should quickly put on dry clothes. Today, scientists know that colds are caused by a virus(病毒). But the old ideas are still very strong and many people still follow them to avoid(避免) getting ill.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most popular cartoon artists in Japan though he is not famous outside Asia.

He was born in Tokyo on January 5,1941. His family had a factory. The factory made planes. And he was very interested in planes and flying at an early age. In his most works, you can see the planes. Miyazaki became to be a cartoon artist in 1963. Then he set up his own company with his friend. Then, he began making carton films. And a lot of his films won awards（奖）. His film, Spirited Away, was the first cartoon film to win an American Academy Award.

It is an amazing adventure of a ten-year-old girl Chihiro. She travels with her family. On the way, Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs. In order to save her parents, Chihiro meet a lot of difficulties. Luckily, with the help of her friends, she finds her parents and turns them into humans again.

For many foreigners, Chinatowns give them their first impression（印象）of China. What are Chinatowns like in their eyes? Three foreign writers share their stories.

LIFESTYLE

Jordon Shinn, 28, the US.

In a local public park, groups of middle-aged Chinese women dance in rows in loud music. Next to the big lake, some people are playing different instruments, like guitar, violin and erhu. Two women sing along to the music in Cantonese（粤语）.

At that time, I feel like I am in a public park in China.

FOOD

Murray Wenzel, 29, Australia.

Almost every big city in Australia has a Chinatown. Chinatown in Brisbane is full of restaurants, just like Beijing. But the food is quite different from “real” Chinese meals. Both of cookies and crackers（薯片）are in every Chinatown restaurant. But I seldom saw them in Beijing.

BUILDING

Hani N. Khan. 26. Singapore.

When you walk into Singapore, you can see different signs（招 牌 ）in Chinese everywhere. Three-floor houses stand along the streets. They are like the qilou buildings found in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. In the past, homeowners would live on the upper floors. They had a small shop on the first floor.