In the summer vacation, I decided to volunteer to teach the kids in a small village. The village is located in the mountain area.

When I reached the bottom of a mountain, a couple of people from the village took me to their place. They were so kind that they made me feel at home.

I gathered (聚集) the children and created a schedule for teaching them. On the first class, I placed a box full of chocolates near a tree at a distance (距离) of 200 meters. I announced that the child who runs fast and reaches first would get all chocolates. I wanted to encourage the children to be active through the competition. Then I counted “one, two and run!” But what happened then was a real surprise! All children ran towards the chocolate box together holding each other’s hands. There was only one winner and it was all the children. The children then happily shared the chocolates among them. I asked the children why they did that. One boy replied, “We can get the most happiness by sharing with others.”

At that time, I realized that these children had taught me more than I could ever teach them. I continued to teach them knowledge, but I also learned the true meaning of kindness from them. That is __________________

Once upon a time, there was a king. He only had one leg and one eye, but he was very smart and kind. Everyone lived a happy and healthy life because of the king. One day, the king was walking through the palace hallway and saw the paintings of his ancestors (祖先). He thought that one day his children would also walk in the same hallway and remember all the ancestors through these paintings. He wanted his children to remember him, too. So he invited many famous artists to his palace.   

All of the artists began to think about the king’s physical disabilities (生理缺陷). How could his painting be made very beautiful? It was not possible. They weren’t sure what his painting would be like. So one by one, they all started to politely refuse to make a painting of the king.

But suddenly one artist raised his hand and said he would make a very nice painting of the king. The king became happy hearing that. Then the artist started painting. After a long time, the painting was ready.

When the artist showed the painting, everyone was shocked. In the painting, the king was sitting on a horse, on the one-leg side, holding his bow (弓箭) and aiming (瞄准) something with his one eye closed. The king was very happy and gave him lots of money.

As we all know, no one is perfect. So we should try to focus on (关注) others’ advantages (优势) instead of their disadvantages. Just take an optimistic (乐观的) opinion of the event. Everyone can do a good job.

In Tongcheng City, Anhui Province, a very popular historical place named Liu Chi Xiang is attracting visitors. This narrow road holds a hidden story. During the Qing Dynasty,a high-ranking official named Zhang Ying received a letter from his family back in his hometown one day. The letter showed a disagreement between his family and the Wu’s family, their neighbor over the house boundary (边界). The Zhang’s family members wrote a letter to Zhang Ying, hoping he could put pressure on the Wu family. However, Zhang answered with surprising smart thinking and he wrote a poem in the letter as back saying. Writing a letter from home, miles away, just for a wall. What harm is there in giving them one meter? Looking at the ten-thousand-mile-long Great Wall. Long gone is its builder Emperor Qinshihuang. In the letter, he pointed out that a wall should not cause fights. After reading the letter, the Zhang’s family members realized that the relationship with their neighbor was much more important than the wall. They moved their wall one meter back for the neighbor to show friendliness. The Wu’s family was deeply touched by what the Zhang’s family did and moved their wall one meter back as well. So it created a two-meter-wide road between the houses. Since then, the story has shown us the importance of being kind and tolerant (宽容).

Zhang Yun, who comes from the same family as Zhang Ying, uses this smart thinking to help with problems in the community. He thinks giving in a little stops small problems from getting bigger. These ideas are also used outside of China by Chinese leaders, matching its worldwide view on peace and working together. And the story of Liu Chi Xiang still reminds us that ________

【推荐1】My name is Linda. I’m a fourteen-year-old girl. I have three good friends Judy, Alice and Dave. Both Judy and Dave are at the same age as me, but Alice is one year younger than us. We four always spend a lot of time together because we have a similar interest—reading books.

Judy and I like reading history books, so we are better at history than Alice and Dave. Alice usually reads science books and she wants to be a scientist (科学家) when she grows up. She knows more about science than us. Dave is talented in drawing. Most of his drawings look fantastic. He really loves art. That’s why he reads much more art books in his free time. I think he can be an artist in the future (未来).

Four of us often go to the city library to read books together on weekends. Sometimes we are so interested in our reading that we even forget to eat lunch. After reading, we share our feelings with each other. We feel so lucky to have each other as friends.

As teachers, we often love to encourage (鼓励) our students to try new things at a young age. However, I think this is a huge mistake—learning new things at any age is important and it can help us become better.

Take myself as an example. I did not start playing ice hockey until my early 40s. My son is a huge sports fan and he often asks me to take him to watch games between the big teams. Later, I fall in love with the sport, and after a few months, I decide to give it a try.

To be honest, it is the hardest sport I’ve ever done. There was so much to learn. I needed to learn skating skills, I needed to learn how to pass and shoot, too. I saw a lot of players go to the ice and learn it quickly and easily.

But I was an exception (例外). I was so terrible at skating, but I never thought about giving up. So I took a skating training course, then joined a hockey team and trained hard in my free time. I finally mastered (掌握) the skill, though it took me a really long time.

Learning hockey has also helped me be a better teacher in some ways. Because I am bad at hockey, I understand those students in my class who have difficulty in learning English. I am not stupid—it just takes me longer to learn a skill before I’m able to do it. Some students are like that too—they need a few more days of practice.

It’s good to learn new things, whether they come easily to you or with more difficulty. Maybe you didn’t use the past year to improve yourself or to learn a new skill—but that’s OK! It won’t be late to start anything at any time.

The writer’s story (一空一词)

Hello, my name is Alisa. Anna is my sister. Tas and Tanvi are my friends. Here are three photos of their rooms.

	Hello, my name is Anna. This is a picture of my room. Here is a purple desk. A blue computer is on it. A cat is under the desk. The cat is Coco.
	Hi, I’m Tas. This is my room. I’m tidy. In my room, you can see some flowers(花). They are on my desk. My schoolbag is under the desk. Some books are in it. I have a cat and her name is Kokos. She is 3. She and I are on the bed in the picture.
	Hello, I’m Tanvi. My books are everywhere. Some are on the sofa and some are on the bed. I have a TV(电视) in my room. I can watch TV in the evening with my cat Mishi.

【推荐1】

There was a farmer who lost his watch in his barn（谷仓）. It was not an ordinary watch because it had great value to him. After searching in the hay（干草）for a long time, he gave up and asked a group of children who were playing outside the barn to help him look for it. He promised them that whoever found the watch would be rewarded（酬劳）.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn and searched the whole place. But none of them could find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.” So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while, the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was happy and surprised. He asked the boy how he succeeded while the rest had failed.

The boy answered, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.” A peaceful mind can think better than a restless mind. Give yourself a few minutes of silence every day and see how it can make your life a bit easier and happier.

My husband and I bought a house in our fifties. One of the reasons we bought it was that it was so attractive. It had a big Japanese red pine, which looked beautiful in our front yard. For 20 years, it was a beauty to all who passed by. Raccoons（浣熊）climbed its trunk and squirrels played in its branches. It shaded（遮挡）the bright sun over my small garden of roses and bushes that I’d planted for bees.

Early last year, a heavy snowfall hit our city. While we were enjoying a quiet Saturday morning, the house shook and we heard a loud crash. The tree had fallen, taking out most of the bushes in our yard. So we called forestry workers, who cut off its truck and branches and took the wood away. After a week, the yard was still a mess, with wood shavings（木屑）and holes everywhere.

In March, I bought a few new bush and rose seedlings（幼苗）to replace those that I thought hadn’t lived. But in May, plenty of new flowers were growing in the yard! As the sun shone down, the flowers were able to grow and attract bees. My old bushes grew back and were healthier than ever before! Our yard turned into a beautiful garden. And this summer, one year later, all of the plants are three times bigger than they were before.

Life might be hard for you at the moment, but you never know what the future holds. It might just be much brighter.

Mr. and Mrs. Zipster like to be the first one for everything, but their daughter Maddie is always last. She arrives last for breakfast, because she has to say good morning to her fish. At school, Maddie is the last one to leave the library, because she puts all the books in the reading area(区域) onto the bookcases. In math tests(考试), Maddie is the last one to hand in (提交) the math paper, because she never forgets to check(检查)her answers. After art class, Maddie is the last one to go out of the art room, because she closes(关闭)all the paint jars(颜料瓶) so the paints won’t dry.

It’s the day for Maddie’s parents to meet her teachers. “I’m sure the teachers will ask: Why is Maddie always last?” says her mom. They get to the school and talk with Maddie’s teachers. Mrs. McReady works in the library. She says, “Maddie is a big help.” The math teacher Mrs. Lerner says, “Maddie does really great work.” The art teacher Mr. Clay says, “Maddie always thinks about others.” But no one asks why Maddie is always last.

On their way home, Maddie’s parents are happy. “Sometimes it’s good to be last,” says Maddie’s mom. Maddie’s dad smiles and says, “Maybe we should try it sometime.”