Once there was a young lion named Leo who loved to play. He often played with his brothers and sisters. Sometimes his mother would play with him, too. But Leo wished for ___ more. He wanted to play with other ___.

So one day Leo walked up to Millie the monkey. “Would you like to play with me?” he asked.

"I cannot play with you,” said Millie. “Lions are __.”

Then Leo asked Fred the fox to play. But Fed’s mother had told him to __ lions. Pat the pig said that lions did not make good friends.

Leo had tears in his eyes as he went along.

Leo heard a __ sound as he was walking home. Someone seemed to be crying. Then Leo saw Zip the zebra. The poor little zebra was caught in a __ net. And Zip cried even more __ when he saw Leo coming.

Leo told Zip that he wanted to __ him. He used his sharp teeth to chew a hole in the net. Soon Zip was free. He jumped out of the net and licked Leo’s face.

The next morning Leo saw Zip’s mother standing close to Zip.

"Hi, Leo,” called Zip.

"Thank you for __ my child,” said Zip’s mother.

Then Leo saw the other animals. All the animals invited Leo to play with them. Leo __ the day playing with his new friends. They played tag, hide-and-seek, and follow the leader. Leo’s wish had come true finally.

One day, 100 people were attending a speech. The speaker was making a speech about happiness. However, after a few hours, people began to lose their attention. The speaker thought of an idea. He stopped his speech and asked all of the people to take part in a group activity.

He gave each person a balloon in the room. Each person was asked to write his or her name on the balloon with a black marker (记号笔). Then, all of the balloons were collected and moved to another room.

The 100 people were then let into the room and told to find the balloon with their own name.

Everyone rushed around, crazily searching for their own balloon. People were bumping into and tripping (绊倒) over each other.

But after about five minutes of searching, no one could find their own balloon.

After seeing this, the speaker asked each person to collect a balloon and try to find the person.

whose name was written on it. Everyone started talking to each other and asking each other for their name. In just a few minutes, everyone had his or her own balloon.

"Can you see what happened?” the speaker said. “The balloons are like the happiness we look for in our own lives. Everyone is busy looking for their own happiness, not caring what happens to others. But sometimes the best way to find happiness is to help others. Help them find happiness and you can find your own.”

Do you want to spend your summer holiday in a meaningful way? Do you want to make a difference to the lives of children? Join us now and become a volunteer teacher of English!

We are a charity and we help children in poor areas in India. We need volunteers to join us and teach English to these children, and help make their lives better.

Volunteer teachers will work with children aged 6 to15 and teach classes up to 30 children.

We welcome volunteers with or without teaching experience. We will organize a two-week training programme before you go to India.

This is a special chance to gain important life experience. You will meet other young people from all over the world, and learn more about Indian culture. Most importantly, you will make a difference to a community in need. Education can change a child’s life forever. Help us make that change today.

What our volunteers say:

“This has been a wonderful experience. I loved teaching my class and India is a beautiful country. I’ll never forget the three months I spent here!”

—Jane

"After my 2-month volunteering experience there, I realize how lucky I’m at home. Some children in India live in very poor conditions, but they’re very hard-working. They want to improve the lives of their families in the future. I’m very happy to be able to help them in some small way.”

—Mike

To join us, you can email us at teachervolunteers@yahoo.com or call us on 60998979. Come and be a member of the big family!

“Look here, Watson,” Holmes said after we finished lunch. “Please sit down. I want to talk to you. I don’t know what to do, and your advice is important to me. You smoke your cigar (雪茄烟) while I explain.”

“Please continue,” I said, as I lit my cigar.

“Now there’re a few important points in young James’ story. One, his father cries Coo-ee before he sees him. Two, he talks about a rat (老鼠). I think young James is telling the truth (真相).”

“So why did Mr. McCarthy shout Coo-ee then?”

“Well, he was not shouting Coo-ee to his son. It was by chance that James heard. The Coo-ee was to call the person he was meeting. But Coo-ee is an Australian cry, Australians usually say it when they meet to catch attention. Perhaps Mr. McCarthy was meeting someone from Australia.”

“I see. But why did he talk about a rat, then?” I asked.

Holmes took a piece of paper from his pocket and put it on the table.

“This is a map of Australia,” he said. He put his hand over part of the map. “Now, Watson, what can you read there?” he asked me.

“ARAT,” I read.

“And now?” Holmes moved his hand.

“BALLARAT,” I read.

“Yes. That was the word the dead man said. It’s a place called Ballarat. His son only heard the ‘rat’ part of the word. Old Mr. McCarthy was trying to say where his murderer was from, the town of Ballarat. The grey cloak is point No. 3. If James is telling the truth, there was a grey cloak (斗篷). So now we have an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak.”

“Great!” I replied.

“And it’s someone who lives nearby, as the Boscombe Pool isn’t open to the public. Only people from the farm nearby or the Turner house can go there,” said Holmes.

“That’s wonderful, Holmes!” I exclaimed.

If you are visiting England, you will notice that the English have many customs (风俗) and traditions (传统) that are different from those in China. Here’s a guide to visiting England. It provides help for anyone who visit England for the first time.

Standing in the queue

English people like to form queues. They think it is the fair way to behave. People wait in a queue in shops or at bus stops. People will think you are rude if you don’t join the queue.

Please, Thank you, Excuse me and Sorry

It is good manners to say “Please” and “Thank you”. If someone is in your way, say “Excuse me” and they will move. If you bump into someone or you are in their way, say “Sorry”. They will probably say sorry, too, even if it was your mistake. Saying sorry does not always mean you are wrong. Sometimes it is a polite thing to say.

Meeting a new person

When people meet for the first time, the usual custom is to shake hands. The next time you meet that person, you can just say hello. English people don’t usually hug or kiss if they don’t know each other really well.

Talking to people

English people find it difficult to start conversations with strangers. If you are on buses or trains, they usually sit as far away from other people as possible. If you want to start a conversation, the topic that English people are always happy to talk about is the weather. So you need to be able to say “Isn’t it warm (sunny/windy/wet/foggy) today?” or “Do you think it’s going to rain/clear up?” Avoid topics such as politics, religion or how much people earn!

Just behave politely. Remember: When you are in England, just do as the English people do!

Once, a student complained to his teacher about his unhappy life. The teacher decided to teach him a lesson.

One day, he asked the student to get some salt and a glass of water.

The student returned with a glass of clean water and a handful of salt. The teacher asked the young man to put the salt into the glass and drink it.

"How does it taste?” the teacher asked.

"It tastes bitter (味苦的),” the student replied.

The teacher didn't say anything else, but asked the young man to get the same amount (数量) of salt and follow the teacher to a nearby lake.

"Put the salt into the lake,” the teacher said. The young man did what the teacher said.

"Now, taste the water from the lake,” the teacher said.

As the water dropped down the young man’s chin, the teacher asked, “How does it taste?”

"Fresh and a bit sweet,” the student said.

"Do you taste the salt?” the teacher asked.

"No,” the young man shook his head.

The teacher sat beside the young man and said, “The pain of life is like salt — no more, no less. However, the amount of bitterness you taste depends on the container (容器) you put the pain in.” The amount of pain in life stays exactly the same. So when you are in pain, the only thing to do is to open up the mind. Stop being a glass, become a lake.

A greener city, a better life