Once there was a village. People there didn’t like to share. One day, a traveler came to the village. He was very tired and hungry. He stopped at a house and knocked at the door. A woman opened the door. The traveler asked, “May I have something to eat?” The woman shook her head, and then she closed the door.

The traveler picked up a stone and knocked at the door again.

“Perhaps you’d like to have some of my stone soup!” said the traveler.

“Stone soup?” the woman was surprised.

“Yes. Just lend me a pot of hot water, please,” the traveler smiled. Though she didn’t want, the woman still did so. The traveler placed the stone in it. “It’s good,” he said. “But if you had just a little salt and butter, the soup would taste better!”

A little angry, but the woman got some salt and butter. At that time, some neighbors started to gather around the traveler.

“It’s almost done,” the traveler said. “But it would be even nicer if there were some carrots and potatoes.”

“I have potatoes,” volunteered an elderly lady.

“I have carrots,” cried a young man.

Minutes later, these were added in. Soon, the air was filled with the nice smell. “Is it ready?” the first woman asked. “Yes, but I remember that adding in some broth（肉汤）to the stone soup will taste better,” he replied. “I have broth,” shouted a neighbor who was watching from a window.

Having all things in the pot, the traveler tasted a spoon of the soup. “Perfect!” he cried. Then, he served a bowl of stone soup to everyone. “It’s delicious!” the villagers all cried happily.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been passed down for more than 2,000 years in China. TCM includes acupuncture (针灸), medicine, exercise such as tai chi and qigong, and other treatments. Today TCM is not only widely used in Asia, but also more and more popular in the USA.

In New York City’s Chinatown, a lot of patients visit Wu Yigiao, a TCM master from Zhejiang. Some of them are Chinese, and some are Americans. Wu has been practicing TCM in the USA for 28 years. Before that, he practiced it in China for 15 years. He has a deep understanding of TCM. “TCM, acupuncture and other TCM treatments are of great help to patients,” Wu said. “They can help reduce the pain without surgery (外科手术).”

TCM is so helpful that some Americans have also chosen to work on it. Frank Griffo has been an acupuncturist in California for about 18 years. In 2015, he graduated from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. He then spent seven years studying the best acupuncture methods.

“There are over 60,000 acupuncturists in the USA right now. Chinese medicine has grown rapidly in recent years,” Griffo said. Before the 1970s, most American people didn’t know acupuncture. But now TCM is playing a bigger role in their life as a sale and noninvasive (无创的) treatment for a lot of problems that Western medicine has difficulty providing good results or treatment choices for. “Acupuncture has been widely accepted in this country,” Griffo added.

In today’s class, the teacher handed out every student a list of endangered animals. Seeing that, Aidan asked Jacob in a low voice, “There are so many animals in ______. Do you know any of them?”

Jacob nodded. “Yes. I know blue whales. My sister is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals in the ______. She once told me about blue whales. They’re the largest animals ______ known to be on the earth.”

At once, Aidan became interested, saying, “Whoa! That ______ they’re even bigger than dinosaurs (恐龙).” The rest of the school day, Aidan couldn’t ______ thinking about this great animal.

As soon as he came home, Aidan used his computer to ______ blue whales. He learned that an adult blue whale weighs around 200 tons. That’s about forty times ______ than an African elephant. It only averages (平均为) 5 tons.

While Aidan was ______ the information online, his mother came. She saw what Aidan was doing and asked, “Why do you show a sudden ______ in blue whales?”

“We’re learning about endangered animals, and the blue whale is one of them,” said Aidan. “People hunt them for meat and oil. Some ships even ______ them by creating noise in the ocean to interfere (妨碍) with their communicating. ______ there are fewer of them now. It’s a ______ that the beautiful whales may become extinct (灭绝的) in the future.”

“That would be ______,” replied Aidan’s mother.

Thinking for a while, Aidan said excitedly, “Mom, I know ______ I want to be when I grow up—a biologist! I’ll help save blue whales and make a difference to ______.”

His mom smiled and said, “Yes, I’m sure you will.”

Laughter is good for you, and that’s no joke! A good laugh helps you right away. When you laugh, changes happen in your body. For example, you take in more air     62     usual, which is good for your heart. A good laugh increases your heart rate. When you laugh, your brain also releases (释放) a chemical     63     makes you feel happy. Laughing can also make you feel relaxed for up to 45 minutes.

Laughter can also reduce pain. You probably don’t want     64     chuckle (偷笑) when you’re hurt, but laughter helps the body make its own natural medicine. Laughing     65     also great exercise! Research shows that laughing 100 times is as good as riding     66     bike for 15 minutes.

So why don’t you try laughing out loud every day?