1 . Long long ago, there were birds in the forest. The birds were very beautiful. One day, a man saw them. He caught them and sent them to the king.

The king liked the two birds very much when he saw them. He hadn’t seen such beautiful birds before. He kept both of the birds in a fine place and ordered his servants (仆人) to look after them well. The servants gave them fruit and delicious food. They were the center of attention (关注).

One day, another man brought a monkey to the king. The king was happy to see the monkey. Soon the monkey was the center of attention. People didn’t pay their attention to the two beautiful birds. The younger bird felt sad and became angry, but the other one didn’t lose his hope. He was much smarter than his younger brother. He told his brother,“We shouldn’t lose hope for life. We should remember the bad days will be over.”

One day, the monkey made the king unhappy. So the king ordered his servants to send the monkey away. The bad days of the birds were over. They became the center of attention again.

The smart bird said to his younger brother, “Nothing is permanent(永恒的) in the world and one should never lose hope.”

2 . My mother is a teacher, and I grew up with the challenges a teacher faces. I often asked her, “Why do you teach? What keeps you teaching?” The answer was always the same. “There is always that one child, that one moment that is worth.

Now, I am a teacher, too. But different from my mother, I teach students challenging activities outdoors. And when my mother asked me the similar questions, my answer was “it’s that one child, that one special moment.”

One of those moments happened recently. I was working with a group of girls in a four-week programme. Everything went on well through the “Team” events and we were moving on to a “High” one called the Wire(钢索)walk.

In the Wire Walk, each girl had to climb up the pegs(木桩)in a tree to a wire, 8 meters high, and then walk across it. Of course, everything was safe for sure.

When I asked who would try, a few girls raised their hands, and they finished the Wire Walk with little difficulty.

But when it was Susie’s turn, it seemed that she didn’t really want to. I asked Susie if she was ready. She answered softly, “I suppose.”

Now, Susie was at the foot of the tree. She started to make the long reach for the first peg. The other girls cheered for her. Then I found Susie was becoming nervous with every step. I realized she would not go much further.

Susie was halfway up. Then she stopped and held the tree tight, looking very afraid. Her eyes were closed. With her face against the tree, she cried, “I can’t.”

The other girls sat in silence. I talked quietly to Susie, trying to relax her. I talked for a long time till I ran out of words.

“I will still be your friend no matter what, Susie!” Mary broke the silence.

To my surprise, Susie lifted her head and looked up to the wire. Then she turned to look down at Mary and smiled. Mary smiled back.

Finally, Susie made it all the way across that wire. When she returned to the ground, the first hug she looked for was from ________.

We all cheered.

Moments like this keep me doing what I do. The young hearts continue to fill me with courage.

3 . When you are learning English, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also learn how to use these English words. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing.

Good reading tips:

Try to read at the right level (水平). Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to use a dictionary, it is not interesting.

Try to increase (增加) the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your notebook. But you don’t have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read: mark (标记) them with a pen. Then come back when you have finished reading to look them up in a dictionary and write them in your own vocabulary (词汇) book. Then try to remember them.

Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix (固定) a time to read and keep to it. You could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up or at lunchtime.

Read what interests you. Choose a book or a magazine about a subject that you like, because you are going to spend time and money reading it. So, choose an interesting book. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China. For example, 21st Century Teens. It is easy enough for you to understand. There is something interesting in it.

4 . It is necessary for students to learn some team skills like developing relationships, communicating well with others and solving problems. Here are two fun team activities.

Activity 1: Water Relay (接力赛)

Tools

Two large buckets (水桶) to hold water

One small bucket for each team member

Instructions

Fill one large bucket with water.

Make holes in the bottom of the small buckets.

Have the team members line up between the two large buckets.

Pass the water from one large bucket to the other, using small buckets. Try to keep as much water as possible.

Why It’s Fun

It’s fun to work out a way to lose as little water as possible.

It’s water. Isn’t it fun to get you wet on a hot summer day?

Activity 2: Truth and Lie

This activity will allow team members to learn about each other.

Instructions

Have each team member think of three pieces of information about themselves, and one of them is a lie.

Each team member tells the group all the three pieces of information. Let the other team members guess which is the lie.

Why It’s Fun

Students love talking about themselves and this gives them the chance to do so.

Members can learn about each other.

Members will be surprised at what others think of them.

6 . The COVID-19 pandemic (大流行) has made our lives very different. Some of us have improved our health habits. Others have learned how to cook. And more people have fallen in love with cycling.

Yang Xiaomeng lives 11 km away from her workplace in Beijing. The 26-year-old lady has been cycling to work for the last three months. “I used to take the subway before the COVID-19 outbreak. But now riding a bike seems to be a safer choice.” she said.

Yang has found that cycling is more relaxing and enjoyable than taking the crowded subway. “There’s more fresh air on the road. It’s also a good way to stay fit. I’ll keep cycling as my new habit,” she said.

Many people turned from public transport to cycling during the pandemic. The number of cyclists on Beijing’s bike-only lane(车道) from Huilongguan to Shangdi has gone up by 17.6 percent.

In other cities around the world, biking is also becoming more popular. London has closed large parts of the city to cars so that people can cycle safely. New York, Berlin and Montreal have created new and wider bike lanes for people to cycle. These cities believe that if there are safer and more comfortable places for cycling. More people will ride bikes in the future instead of driving. This will make the cities greener and cleaner, and their people happier and healthier.

7 . As a student, I was very afraid to answer questions in class, and I found that the students around were just like me. At the beginning of each class, when the teacher asked a question, I always lowered my head because I was afraid that the teacher saw me.

One day, in a foreign language class, Mr. Black gave us a lesson. He wanted us to be active in class. So he asked us some questions, but no one answered. “Let me tell you a story first,” he said.

“When I came to the United States to study, the university often invited famous people to make speeches. Before the beginning of every speech, I found an interesting thing. The students around me always took a cardboard (硬纸板) folded (折叠的) in half, wrote their names in bold (加粗地) with the most eye-catching color, and then put the cardboard on the seat. So when the speaker needed the answers from the students, he could see and call a listener’s name directly.”

“I couldn’t understand that. My classmate told me the speakers were all top people, who meant chances. When your answer was to his surprise, it meant he might give you more chances. In fact, I really saw a few students got great chances because of that.” After listening to the story, I understood that the chance will not find you itself. You must show yourself all the time so that you can find a chance on the card.

8 . Do your parents ever say “act like a lady” or “be a gentleman” to you? But in the eyes of today’s teenagers(青少年), what should a lady or a gentleman be like? Let’s take a look.

What is a gentleman? The girls have their ideas:

Huang Xiaoyu of Guizhou: A gentleman doesn’t always get angry. He wants others to be happy. He is always ready to help. There is a boy in my class and I think he is a gentleman. If I don’t do well in the English exam, he will say, “You will do better next time.” That makes me feel happy.

Chen Tingting of Shenzhen: A gentleman always says, “Ladies first.” When students clean up the classroom, he does the heavy work. He lets girls go into rooms first. Unluckily, when there is something to eat, the boys in my class always get them before girls!

What is a lady? Boys tell us what they think a lady is:

Wu Yifan of Dalian: A lady is quiet(安静的)and kind, but she’s not shy and she can talk about her ideas in front of others. To me, Han Xue, a film star, is a lady. She is pretty and bright. She does a lot for others.

Wang Lichao of Tianjin: A lady is not just beautiful but clever. She never says bad words. She is quiet and kind to others. I don’t think there is a lady in my class. Most of the girls are “wild beauties”, I think.