There was once a prophecy (预言). It said that when a prince ________ his palace, he would be the wisest king.

The king’s family used to live in a beautiful ________. However, an earthquake destroyed (摧毁) it and killed the king and the queen. Luckily, their sons, Noah and Alan, survived (幸存). Noah thought he might be the prince in the prophecy, ________ he decided to find his palace with Alan. ________ their travel, a wise man gave them a key to the palace. He said, “I don’t know where the palace is. You must try the key to find it by ________.”

They failed after trying many times. That let the brothers ________. Finally, they reached a poor village. With no money left, they had to live there and learn to grow cotton in the ________. Although life there was difficult, the brothers were happy because the villagers loved them very much. They ________ forgot the palace.

One night, while tidying up, Alan ________ the key and showed it to Noah. “The palace must hide in the forest, ________ us to find it,” said Noah. Alan answered, “We’ve traveled to many places to live the life of kings, but I was never ________ than I am now, although we don’t have much. If I had to find a palace, it would be this little house.” After saying that, he put the key into its lock.

Just then the place ________ completely. The room was filled with lights and music and there were gardens and animals outside. A wonderful palace appeared, which made the villagers ________. The only thing that ________ the same was the door. It reminded everyone how Alan, their wise king, found that the way to happiness________ in a simple life and hard work.

Life with my five-year-old autistic (自闭症的) son is always an adventure. There are times when it’s more fun than you can possibly imagine and then there are times when you feel hopeless, knowing there’s very little you can do to stop him losing his temper (脾气). You can’t help feeling a little shameful when other parents look at you as if to suggest you should be doing more to keep your child under control.

For the first time, I boarded a plane with him recently, knowing that there would be someone who knew nothing about our challenges sitting beside us for the next eight hours. Sure enough, our problems started before the plane had even taken off, as I tried to fasten my son’s seat belt and he started shouting. But far from feeling uncomfortable, the smartly dressed businessman sitting on the other side leant over with a smile and helped me with the task. The effect on my son was just like a miracle. He stopped crying immediately. He’d made a new best friend. I never got to know this man’s name or anything about him, but for the duration of the flight his charm worked wonders. Every time my son wanted to kick off, the man was able to calm him down before things got too out of hand. He even succeeded in getting my son to eat a meal.

Thanks to the kindness, patience and understanding of a man I’d never met before, we managed to get through the flight and, for once, I didn’t feel like a complete failure as a mum.

How many times have you found yourself distracted (走神的) in conversations with friends, family members or loved ones? This happens to everyone from time to time. However, it’s important for us to think about how often this happens in our lives.

Research has shown that most of us only remember 25% to 50% of what we hear. So why aren’t we good listeners? For one thing, we may care more about ourselves than about others. A study found there is a rise in the number of self-centered people among college students. So how can we work to become more caring listeners?

First, we can begin by changing our attitude (态度) towards conversations. As Stephen R. Covey said, “Most people do not listen with intent (意图) to understand; they listen with intent to reply.” A dialogue is a chance to learn, to see things differently, and to open your eyes to new information. However, many people just want to express their own ideas without listening.

Listening is one of the most important skills. Listening not only increases our knowledge, but also helps us understand people around us. An exchange in communication is helpful for a close relationship. If the talk becomes one-sided, we may be less connected with others. So when having conversations with others, we should listen patiently or politely until they are finished. Then we can say something meaningful.

Thankfully, we can all improve our listening skills. We can start by being open to the fact that maybe we aren’t as good listeners as we believe. When we start to question ourselves, we will be able to become better listeners, thinkers, lovers and friends.