In a huge pond, there lived many fish. They were arrogant (傲慢的) and never listened to anyone. There also lived ________ kind-hearted crocodile (鳄鱼) in this pond. He advised the fish, “It does not pay to be arrogant. It could be your downfall (衰落).” But the fish never listened to ________. “There is that crocodile advising us again,” they would say.

One afternoon, the crocodile ________ beside a stone when two fishermen stopped there. The fishermen wanted to drink the water in the pond ________ they were very thirsty. Then they noticed that the pond had many fish. “Look! This pond is full of fish. Let’s come here tomorrow ________ our fishing net,” said one of them. The crocodile heard this. When the fishermen left, he ________ swam into the pond and went straight to the fish. “You all had better ________ this pond. Tomorrow morning, two fishermen are going to catch you,” said the crocodile. But the fish didn’t take it seriously. They just laughed and one of them said, “I don’t believe ________. I do know we’ll be safe. There have been many fishermen who have tried to catch us. These two are not going to catch us ________.”

The next morning, two boats appeared and the fishermen threw their nets in the pond. Very soon all the fish ________. “If only we had listened to Mr. Crocodile. He had only wanted to help. For our arrogance we have to pay with our lives,” said the fish.

I agree that we can have an important influence on books we have read. Ten-year-old Orion Jean has always known that kindness is important. He often practiced it by _________ with his family.

Last year, after entering the National Kindness Speech Competition, he became _________ about it. Now he works to spread kindness everywhere through activities that _________ others. He calls his campaign (活动) the Race to Kindness.

When a teacher told him about the competition, Orion had only 24 _________ to write, memorize, and record his speech. In it, he talked about the importance of kindness. “Kindness is like _________ hugs around the world.” Orion said. He encouraged listeners to join him in doing small, kind acts for others. Orion’s speech won the competition. He used his $ 500 _________ to support his first Race to Kindness. He _________ 619 toys. After that, Orion wanted to make an even _________ impact (影响). Orion _________ collected more than 100,000 meals!

Orion believes that everyone wins this race. He says, “If you’re kind to someone else, it can make their day brighter and encourage them to pass on __________. And then it just grows and grows, and it can make the world a better place.”

Yours,

Rock

If you feel stressed at school, what can you do to make yourself happier? Some may eat their favorite food or listen to some music. Others may go for a walk or get some exercise. A new study found another great way to lower students’ stress—playing with dogs.

Scientists studied 105 students between the ages of eight and nine. Thirty-five trained dogs and their trainers also took part in the test. The children were divided into 3 groups. The students in the first group spent 20 minutes with a dog and its trainer. They watched the trained dogs perform and even played with them. They did this twice a week for 4 weeks. The second group spent the same amount of time (时长) doing exercise to relax. The last group did neither of these things.

During this time, the scientists recorded the students’ cortisol levels (皮质醇水平). Cortisol is a stress hormone (激素). The more stressed you feel, the more cortisol you will have in your body. What did the scientists find? Both the second and the third groups showed rises in cortisol levels. The first group, however, showed no big increase. And the children in this group had the lowest cortisol levels right after playing with the dogs.

According to the study, students enjoy playing with dogs, and it helps them become happier. The stress hormone falls over time this way, which is good for students’ health. But here comes the next question: Is 20 minutes of playtime with a dog the best amount of time? Scientists are going to keep working to find out the answer.

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