Once there was an elephant. She didn’t have any friends. For many days, she walked     1     the forest to look for friends.

One day she saw a monkey and asked, “Can we be friends?” The monkey     2     answered, “You are too big     3     you can’t swing(摇荡) in the trees like me, so I can’t be your friend.” The elephant     4     upset but she went on walking. Then she met a rabbit and asked the same question. The rabbit looked at the elephant and said, “You are much     5     than me. You can’t be my friend.”

The elephant asked many other animals on her way, but she always received the     6     answer. The bird told her she couldn’t fly and the fish told     7     she couldn’t swim as well as she did. The elephant felt very sad because     8     animals can make friends with her.

The following day, the elephant saw some animals running fast. She asked a bear, “What happened?” “A hunter(猎人) is coming!” the     9     bear said. The elephant wanted to save the animals, so she took all the animals to her house. They stayed there quietly     10     the hunter went away. After that, the animals said to the elephant, “You are just the right     11     to be our friend. We all love you.”

Zhang Junli, an amazing woman, is from Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. She has overcome life’s greatest difficulties to become one of the most famous     1     in China. She has been paralyzed (瘫痪的) for over 30 years. When she was six, Zhang had a     2     illness. At eight, she could not move 90% of her body. She can only     3     her shoulders and neck a little now.

However, being paralyzed never prevented her from     4     to follow her dreams. Zhang took up drawing at a young age and     5     learning painting in 2015. Though it is hard for her to pick a paintbrush, her love for painting is     6     pushing her to challenge herself.

“Painting has changed me. The first time I picked up a brush, I felt that I liked to draw,” says Zhang. “The world is so beautiful. Even if I am in poor     7    , I don’t want to give up the chance to live”. Now Zhang has created thousands     8     pencil sketches (素描). She also has an online shop     9     Zhang Junli’s Paintings, where she sells her works.

Zhang wants to use her     10     to encourage those who are like her, and to tell them never to give up. “Instead of crying and worrying all day, find your meaning in life. Live in the present,” says Zhang, a true inspiration.

If you travel around China, you’ll find dragons almost everywhere. For thousands of years, the Chinese people have had a deep     1     to Loong, the Chinese dragon. Many Chinese     2     have tried their hand at painting the dragon. One of them was Chen Rong, a great painter in Song Dynasty. He is widely considered the best of the dragon painters and his Nine Dragons was regarded as one of     3     paintings of the Chinese dragon.

Born in Fujian in 1200, he once served for the government in his home province. His career (事业) wasn’t going very     4    . However, he was known for his talent in poetry and painting.

Chen usually painted after drinking wine (酒). After getting drunk, he would shout, take off his scarf, put it in ink and spill (泼出) the ink     5     on Xuan paper. After that, the painter would use brushes to paint some details     6     his work.

Nine Dragons shows nine energetic dragons freely     7     among clouds, fires and mountains. There are both crazy drops of ink and very fine lines. They show both the painter’s feeling of great     8     with his career life and his great skills in brush work.

Nine Dragons     9     in the palace in the past. It’s said that Qianlong Emperor     10     praised it and he liked it so much that he ordered a palace painter to make a copy of it.