1 . There was a beautiful garden. Every year the king would go to the garden to decide which flower was the most beautiful one.

For the last few years, the rose (玫瑰花) was always Number One. Because of this, the rose Gulaab became arrogant. It would never let birds stay on its flower. Then all the birds started staying away from Gulaab.

Behind Gulaab, there was a little yellow flower. People called it Junglee. Junglee wasn’t more beautiful than Gulaab, but it welcomed the birds to stay on its flower. All the birds in the garden liked it. This year the king went to the garden as before. The gardener pointed at the rose and said to the king, “Your favorite flower, my king.”

Of course, the king also saw the yellow flower behind it and asked, “What flower is that?”

“Oh! That’s Junglee, a wild flower.”

“I didn’t see a flower like it before. There are so many birds on it. I think it’s much more beautiful than the rose. It will be the King Flower of this year!” said the king.

3 . A cold is a common (普通的) illness. It often starts with a sore throat. You sneeze (打喷嚏) and your nose runs, you usually have a headache, too. It’s not a serious illness, but you can feel very bad.

What should you do when you have a cold? You should have a good rest. It’s good to drink a lot of water, too. You can see a doctor and take some medicine. Maybe you can try some Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine is now very popular all over the world.

Where does Chinese medicine come from? A long time ago, when people were not feeling well, they found that some plants could make them feel better. They ate the leaves, the roots (根), the fruit or the seeds (种子) of the plants. Today people make much Chinese medicine from those plants.

4 . Long ago, Chinese people used to eat with their hands. In Shang Dynasty, the last king, Zhou was cruel (残酷的). He always killed people because the food was too hot or too cold. It made people afraid to serve him. His favorite Daji was also afraid.

One day Daji served King Zhou his meal. When she tried the dish for the king, she found that it was too hot. Daji felt very nervous because the king would be angry. Suddenly she had an idea and she used two pieces of her long hairpins (发簪) to put the food to the king’s mouth.

The King Zhou found it so interesting to eat with two long sticks that he forgot how hot the food was. After that, Daji thought it was a good way to solve this problem and asked people to make two long-thin gold sticks. People found it better to eat with sticks than with their hands. But they were too poor to afford the gold sticks. Then they found bamboo was good material to make chopsticks. Since then, people have invented chopsticks.

5 . Steve is very interested in painting. He plans to become an artist when he grows up. Drawing makes him feel very happy. He often reads some books about painting to find his feelings. In the painting class last week, he drew a duck with one leg. It has a strange shape. When he showed his works to his teachers and classmates, they were surprised. They didn’t understand. It made Steve shy and nervous. After class, his teacher told him to prepare the works to display in the next class. Mr. Green cared for him and comforted him. Steve thought he was kind. He drew a flying horse with wings.

It’s time for the painting class. Steve was very anxious. He was afraid that his classmates would laugh at him.

Mr. Green said to the students with a smile on his face, “Good morning, class, we are going to paint…”

While waiting, Steve guessed what the teacher would say. Suddenly the teacher smiled and said, “You can play freely. Your painting makes people feel happy.”

“Yes! Great!” said Steve excitedly.

Steve started to paint a running horse easily on a large piece of white paper. It was not a flying horse. It was really beautiful. It looked like a real horse. The whole class cheered for him and felt proud of him.

From that day on, Steve was never nervous about art classes.

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6 . Most of us like to know where we are and where we’re going. It can feel strange to be lost—sometimes very uncomfortable, too. But that’s not always the case.

When I was about twelve, we were on holiday in Venice. My dad’s a photographer and he said that he was going to get up the following morning at 5 o’clock to take photos. Mum wasn’t interested, but I said I’d go with him, only because he promised I could have the biggest ever bowl of Italian ice cream if I did. Why else would I rise so early?

So at 5 a.m., we left the hotel and started walking. There was almost no one in the streets. As the sun began to come up, Dad started taking photographs and I just looked around. Every time he walked off, I followed him, down small streets and over little bridges.

After about an hour and a half, I found we lost our way and felt a bit scared, but Dad just smiled and laughed. “We’re lost!” he said. I told him to get out his map or phone. He looked at me. “Map? Phone? I only brought the camera. Come on, let’s get more lost.” He laughed again.

His laughter relaxed me and made me feel safe. We started to walk again. People were appearing on the streets—shops and cafes began to open, and as the sun came up, the narrow streets started to fill with light.

Finally, after about four hours of wandering (闲逛) around, we were back. Mum asked worriedly, “Where have you been?” I said with a big smile, “We got lost.”

These days we have so many things to stop us from getting lost—maps, GPS, apps on our phone s and so on. But Dad showed me that being lost can sometimes simply be something to enjoy.

Should parents ask their children to do chores (家务)?     1    . They think that children are not born to cook or clean for themselves or their parents. But many people think that children can get a lot from doing regular chores. They help children learn to do some housework that they have to do when they live on their own, and     2    .

Most experts (专家) think     3    . Parents shouldn’t ask a schoolboy to cook when he is doing his homework. If the child has activities after school, the time left to do chores may be short. Perhaps     4     . When a child does what his parents ask him to do happily, he will probably have the feeling of growing up. Chores can be useful. They are a teaching tool (工具). Parents use the tool to teach children so that they can care for themselves someday. And please make sure that parents also do chores. If     5    , children won’t find any reason to do chores.

8 . A little boy always thought of himself as the unluckiest child in the world because he was born with a lame (瘸的) leg. He was so inferior that he seldom played with his classmates and always lowered his head without a word.

One spring, the boy’s father gave each of his children a small tree to plant. “Whoever grows the best tree will get a favorite gift,” he said to them. Seeing his brothers and sisters watering the trees happily in the garden, a terrible idea hit the boy’s mind: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So he never cared about it.

A few days later, he was surprised to find his tree not only didn’t die, but also grew some fresh leaves, and it looked greener and healthier than the others. He got a favorite gift and was told by his father: from the tree he planted, he would become a great botanist (植物学家).

One night, looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, he suddenly remembered what his teacher once said, most plants grew at night. Why not go to see the lovely tree? When he came to the garden, he found his father was watering his tree carefully. At that time, he understood: his father has secretly taken good care of his small tree! He returned to his room with tears rolling (滚动) down his face and decided to be brave enough to face anything from then on.

Many years passed. The little boy didn’t become a botanist, but he was known as a great president (总统) of the United States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.

9 . At 8, 844.43 meters high, Mount Qomolangma is the tallest mountain on Earth. While it is famous for its beautiful views, parts of the mountain are facing a problem——rubbish. Every year, thousands of visitors throw away tons of rubbish, such as bottles and plastic bags.

According to the UN, over 140 tons of rubbish has been left on the mountain. To reduce (减少) rubbish, China is limiting (限制) the number of people who are allowed to climb up the north side of the mountain. Only 300 people will be allowed to climb it, and only during spring.

Local people cleaned the mountain last year, removing rubbish at a height of 5, 200 meters. They collected about 8.4 metric tons (公吨) of rubbish.

This year, the local (当地的) government plans to spend 4 million yuan on a new clean-up activity. The local government is also setting up stations to sort (分类 ), recycle and break down rubbish collected from the mountain. A group of artists will also try to turn the rubbish into art works. They will show these works of art to remind people not to leave rubbish when climbing the mountain.

10 . Long long ago, King Swan (天鹅国王) had a beautiful daughter. On her 15th birthday, she wished that when she was old enough, she could choose her own husband. King Swan agreed with her.

When the princess (公主) was old enough, King Swan called all the birds to his home. Birds came from everywhere, even from far away. King Swan asked his lovely daughter to choose one she liked. She looked over the many birds. Finally, she chose a green long-necked peacock (孔雀). She told her father, “This bird, the peacock, will be my husband.”

Hearing that the peacock was the lucky one, all the other birds crowded around to congratulate (祝贺) him. The excited peacock said nothing but held his head high. Later he began to shout and show his beauty in a strange dance. The other birds started to laugh.

King Swan was angry. Standing in the middle of the birds, he said, “Sir Peacock, your voice is sweet, and you are really very pretty. But you are not modest (谦逊的) at all. I will not allow my daughter to marry you!”

The princess also learned she was wrong. Then King Swan married his daughter to a modest bird. The peacock flew away, having lost a beautiful wife.