There was once a wise old woman who lived in the hills. All the children nearby always went to ask     1     all kinds of questions. It was easy for her to     2     them all strange questions.

There was a naughty (淘气的) little boy among the children. One day a tiny bird was     3     by him and he held it in his cupped (凹的) hands. Then he gathered his friends around. He said, “Let’s trick the old woman. I will ask her what I’m     4     in my hands. Of course, she’ll answer that I have a bird. Then I will ask her if the bird is living or dead. If she says the bird is dead, I’ll open my hands and let the bird     5     away. If she says the bird is alive, I’ll quickly crush (挤压) it and show her the dead bird. Either way, she’ll be wrong.”

All the children enjoyed having such a good idea. Up the hill they went to the old     6     hut (小屋). “Granny, you are so     7     that we all believe you, now we have a question for you,” they said with a smile. “What’s in my hands?” asked the little boy. “Well, it must be a bird,” replied the old woman. “But is it living or dead?” The old woman     8     for a moment and then answered, “it is as you will, my child.”

All the     9     looked at each other in surprise. But the old woman smiled and added, “I have     10     you the right answer already.” Then the old woman disappeared in the hills.

A little girl thought she was not beautiful as the     1    , and nobody liked her. So she was always unhappy. Her mother gave her a lot of gifts,     2    , a hair clip (发夹). She liked wearing it. She     3     to wear it to school. At the     4     of the school, she found that everyone smiled at her.     5     of her classmates said “hello” to her, but this never happened before.

She thought that the     6     hair clip made her more beautiful. When she went back home after school, her mother asked her, “Did you know you dropped (掉落) your hair clip? I found it near the door.” It is not     7     what we wear. The most important is how we think about     8    .

Reading books is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons.     1    , reading books is fun. You can always keep     2     happy if you like reading. This is especially useful     3     the weather is bad. It is a relaxing hobby too. You can really become lost in a book.

Next, you can read a book almost     4    : in a car, in a waiting room,     5     the plane, in bed—even in the bath. All you need is a book! Reading is     6     convenient hobby as it is easy to stop and then to start again.

Another good reason for reading books is that it is useful. If you keep reading     7     a hobby, you will get better and better at it. This means that you will read faster and become better at     8     what you read. As your reading     9     improves, you will probably find that your schoolwork becomes much     10    . Many school subjects depend on good reading. And as you read, you will learn more and more.

Peggy was a good girl, but she didn’t like talking to     1     . It changed when she and her family moved to a new place. At the new place, Peggy found an old house near     2     . There were many old things in it. She found an old book. It could shine. Then Peggy took the book to her room. That night, she sat     3     her dog and started reading it. It was a storybook.

Then her dog suddenly started speaking to her, “     4     an interesting book!” Peggy couldn’t believe it, but the dog went on. It told her many things and asked her     5     . Peggy was surprised and asked, “How can you speak?”

“I don’t know,” answered the dog. “     6     it was the book that did it.”

Peggy showed the book to some other     7     . They     8     started talking, too. Soon Peggy talked with a dog, three cats, two doves (鸽子), a parrot, and five lizards (蜥蜴). She found it was fun     9     to others. Then she began to talk with other children, trying to know more about their lives. Finally she had more friends and became     10     .