Alex was a giraffe who lived in a zoo with his mum, dad and other giraffe friends. As Alex grew, he _______ his neck was much shorter than the others’. He began to get _______. But his mother told him that he was special. She said it did not matter how short or long his neck was.

Alex tried not to think about his short _______. But as his friends grew taller and taller, his neck _______ short. Sometimes the other giraffes _______ him, but his parents told him not to worry. They said that he should be happy with himself the way he was. He tried, but he could not even play in some giraffe sports. He was just too _______.     

One day, one of the zoo workers came and took Alex away. Alex was frightened. Would he have to leave the zoo just _______ he didn’t have a long neck? The zoo worker calmed Alex down and gave him some food. He felt better. Then he led Alex into another area of the zoo. There was a small _______ between the two areas. Alex was the only giraffe that could fit through it.

Soon Alex’s parents came to see him. “I told you that you were special,” his mother said. “The zoo has made a place just for _______ because so many people want to see how special you are!” She was right. Visitors pointed to him and screamed ________. They looked happy to see something so special at the zoo.

【推荐3】Once upon a time, in the area of Qian there were no donkeys (驴). Later, a man transported one by boat from somewhere else, but he found it of no use. So he left the donkey at the foot of a mountain and walked away.

A _______ in the mountain had never seen a donkey before. He thought this huge monster was a divine (神圣的) animal, and he felt rather _______. So the tiger hid himself in the woods and watched the donkey quietly. After a while, seeing the donkey stand there without movements, the tiger came out of the woods slowly, and reached it carefully, but couldn’t know what monster it was.

One day, while the tiger was watching, the donkey suddenly gave a _______ cry, which scared the tiger so much that he ran away quickly. He feared that the donkey would eat him. Yet when _______ his head, he discovered that the donkey was still at the same place, without moving.

The tiger again slowly reached the donkey, slowly got used to its cries and felt it wasn’t terrible at all. The tiger came nearer and nearer, and even tried to tease (逗弄) the donkey at times with his paws.

Being very much _______, the donkey gave the tiger a good kick. Then the tiger felt very pleased and said to himself, “So those are all the tricks it has.”

The tiger gave a big shout, jumped up and pounced (猛扑) upon the donkey.