“You have saved my horse,” Queen Olivia told the young boy standing before her. “Now you shall have a prize!” Peter ________ ran his fingers through his brown hair. The frightened horse ran past him ________ he worked in the field that morning. Without thinking, he rushed out and controlled it. He never expected to get a prize because he would help the horse ________ it belonged to the queen or not.

Two of the queen’s pages (侍从) appeared. One carried a small pillow ________ a mirror sitting on top. Red jewels were shinning on the top of ________ mirror’s silver frame (镜框). ________ page carried a wood cage and there was a clucking (咯咯叫) chicken inside it.

“Only one prize can be ________,” The queen said. “Choose wisely.” “That’s easy,” Peter said. “I ________ the chicken.” Some of the people in the court laughed. It was clear that they thought he had made a foolish choice.

“And why did you choose the chicken?” the queen asked. “Well, I don’t know much about jewels and things,” Peter answered. “________ I do know about chickens. The chicken will provide eggs for family for a long while.”

Queen Olivia smiled. “Then you did make a wise choice,” she said. “That mirror ________ look beautiful. But the jewels ________ you see are only colored glass, and the frame ________ silver. The chicken is much ________.” Peter took the chicken. Then he said. “Thank you.”

“You are a smart child,” the queen said.” I could use a smart boy ________ take care of my horses. Would you like a job?” Peter smiled. “Thank you very much!” he said excitedly. A job for the queen paid well.

All because he was kind to help others and smart enough to make the right ________ now his family wouldn’t worry about their food anymore.

When it comes to November 11, the young generations will consider it as the Singles’ Day as well as the online shopping Carnival (狂欢节).

Online shopping has been much more ________ especially after Jack Ma, the CEO of Tmall and Taobao, had the ________ of “Double Eleven”. The advantages of online shopping include cheaper pieces, fast searching, comparing between products, and saving ________. Before the shoppers make their decisions, they can check requirements and recommendations about the products from other buyers. It is truly global so people can buy the best products from all over the world. Distance is no longer a ________ because most sellers provide an express service (快递服务) and goods will be sent straight to the door ________. You don’t even need to ________ out of your house or go to the shops. You can stay at home with a nice cup of tea and just click your mouse to choose the article you like.

Online shopping is very ________, but there is always a trap. Shoppers who buy products online are ________ that the products may be different from what they have expected. Online shopping has proved to be ________ enough. Online shoppers have to fill in their personal information and credit card information, which can be stolen and used by skillful hackers. It will increase the risk of losing money.

So we should be ________ enough to avoid these problems when we enjoy online shopping.

Two years ago, I watched the film Everest, in which adventurers get stuck on the mountain during a snowstorm. I immediately knew I had to start climbing. It’s not the reaction most people have to that film; maybe I just needed more adventure in my life. And six months later, I climbed my first mountain, Mount Whitney, in California — North America’s highest peak.

In the summer of 2017, I decided to climb the highest peak in every European country.

Growing up in Sweden, I was encouraged by my father to be outdoors all the time, but I wasn’t a serious adventurer. I wanted to see if someone ordinary like me could climb mountains.

I didn’t do any preparation for the first mountain, which was Mount Elbrus in Russia. It was exhausting, but I thought I would get fit climbing the rest, and I did.

Climbing mountains is an experience that is hard to put into words. You are in a beautiful environment and, when you reach the top, you feel incredible (不可思议的). But you also have to climb down, which is when most accidents happen. I don’t climb mountains that I am not ready for, but each one I climb takes me to the next step.

I wanted to end the project at home, on Sweden’s highest peak (2,097m). It has two peaks: the north is rocky, and the south is icy. So alongside my camera assistant, I climbed both while wearing a superhero suit. It didn’t feel as special as I’d hoped when I reached the top, but when I posted on Instagram, people started congratulating me. I felt proud.

In total, I spent about €50,000 (378,240 yuan), which is double what I had planned, but I eventually climbed 61 mountains in Europe.

You have to work on your weak sides while climbing. I don’t like not being in control, but you cannot control anything on a mountain. It’s made me a better person, When you’re on a mountain for hours alone with your thoughts, it’s like meditation (冥想). It makes you so much stronger, physically, and mentally.

My goal now is always to have a mountain in my calendar. One day I will climb Mount Qomolangma (known as Everest by the West) when I’m ready for it.

You are visiting the pyramids in Egypt, but the next second you are in France. Then, suddenly you may see dinosaurs, animals that no longer exist. But you are not in a wonderland. This is what might happen in the near future, with the help of virtual reality (VR, 虚拟现实) technology.

VR is a computer technology that creates an environment and allows users to see and even interact with it. Just wear a pair of VR goggles (护目镜) connected to your computer and you can experience a lot of things without stepping out of your room.

“The most attractive part of VR is that it offers an immersive (身临其境的) experience,” said Wang Bing, leader of the Chinese entertainment company Funshow. “That’s why VR movies are popular among users. You become a part of the story.” According to the Report on Chinese VR Users’ Behavior published last month, over 960,000 people in China have bought VR products and 83.2 percent of them have watched VR movies..

The use of VR is not only limited to entertainment. VR can help train pilots and miners before they have to actually risk their lives in highly dangerous working environments. VR also helps treat patients with acrophobia by making them think they are standing on top of a tall building.

However, VR technology is still far from perfect. Users report experiencing motion (移动) sickness, headaches and feeling sick while wearing VR goggles. Wang Hui, the 31-year-old product director of Fusion The Vision Golden Co Ltd, a VR research company in Beijing, thinks that it could take a while for VR to be widely accepted.

“When every new technology is first introduced, the technology itself is the driving force. But for it to really blend (融入) into people’s lives, meeting basic and practical needs should be the main aim,” said Wang.

I’m a virus (病毒) for the common cold. Here are some of my diaries below.

Monday, January 21st

It has been a long time since I infected (感染) humans last time. Today I tried to infect a boy in a primary school all day.

His name is Sam. I waited on his desktop, and when he touched the desk, I jumped on his finger. Unluckily, Sam didn’t touch his eyes, mouth or nose. Then, right after class, he washed his hands, Now I’m full of soap and sitting in a sink!

Tuesday, January 22nd

This morning I jumped into the nose of Sam’s best friend, Bill. Unluckily, the mucus (粘液) in his nose caught me. I thought it was over for me, when suddenly Bill sneezed while he was talking to Sam.

I knew that would send me right into Sam’s face! However, Sam quickly gave Bill a tissue and Bill sneezed into that instead! Infecting people is harder than I imagined.

Wednesday, January 23rd

I’m feeling very unhappy today. Some scientists caught my friend Harry and put him under a microscope. Harry is a flu virus and he’s a dangerous little guy. Besides, Sam ate all his vegetables today. He’s exercising, and he’s getting eight hours of sleep every night. His body is too strong for me!

Thursday, January 24th

I tried to infect Sam again today, but he washed his hands five times and never touched his face! He also gave tissues to every student in his class who was sneezing. It’s impossible to give him a cold! So I have to give up and I’m moving to another school.

Have you ever heard of a famous charity called Operation Smile? We hope we can help you understand how we are trying to help children all over the world.

    41     In 1982, together with some volunteers, they went to Philippines to help children who had holes in their lips or inside their mouths. It was very difficult for them to eat and drink. These volunteers worked very hard.     42     They were short of money! So they decided to start a charity so that they could help these needy children. They called it Operation Smile.

Operation Smile works in more than twenty developing countries and has cured over 10,000 children who have problems with their mouths. Operation Smile has won many prizes for its work and in 1999 they even started a special event called “The World Journey of Hope”.     43    

On the other hand, Operation Smile trains local doctors and nurses in developing countries.     44     As to the children with much more serious problems, they will send them to America for further treatment.

    45     You can send your donation to Operation Smile at local banks. Many thanks from the children who can smile now will come to you.