2 . Long long ago, there was a king who liked to write stories. He was so proud of his stories that he showed them to many people. Although the people didn’t like the stories, they were afraid to say that. Instead, they all said his stories were good.

One day he showed his stories to a well-known critic (评论家) . The critic said that they were bad. The king got very angry and sent him into prison.

After sometime the king sent his men to the critic to tell him that he was free. When the critic returned from the prison, the king invited him to his palace to dinner. Again he showed him some of his stories and once again asked him what he thought of them. The critic said nothing but turned to the soldiers who were standing behide him, and said, “Take me back to prison.”

6 . An elephant and a crocodile were once standing beside river. They were disputing which was the better animal.

“Look at my strength,” said the elephant. “I can pull up a tree, roots and all, with my trunk.”

“Ah! But your skin is not nearly so thick as mine,” replied the crocodile. “No knife or tooth can cut through it.”

Just as they were coming to blows, a lion happened to pass.

“My dear friends !” said the King of all animals, going up to them. “Let me know the cause of your disagreement.”

“Will you kindly tell us which is the better animal?” cried both at once.

“Certainly,” said the lion, pointing across the river. “Do you see the soldier’s metal hat on that wall?”

“Yes!” replied the beasts.

“Well, then,” continued the lion, “go and get it, and bring it to me, and I shall be able then to decide between you.”

Upon hearing this, off they started, The crocodile, being used to the water, reached the opposite side of the river first, and was soon standing beside the wall.

Here he waited till the elephant came up. The elephant, seeing that the crocodile had no way of reaching their goal, raised his long trunk, and took down the hat quite easily.

They then made their way together back again across the river. The elephant was trying to keep up with the fast-moving crocodile in the water and became careless. When he was forced to turn sharply to avoid a floating tree branch, the elephant dropped the hat and it fell to the river bottom. The crocodile noticed the accident, so down he dived, and brought it up in his huge mouth. They then returned, and the crocodile laid the metal hat at the lion's feet. The King took it up, and turning to the elephant, said:“You, because of your size and trunk, were able to reach the hat on the wall but, having lost it, you were unable to get it back. And you,” said the lion to the crocodile, “although unable to reach the hat, were able to dive for it and save it. You are both wise and able in your own ways. One is no better than the other.”

7 . Johnny was a lizard (蜥蜴). One day, some boys_______Johnny , and he could only escape from their hands by losing his tail and running to_______

The children watched his tail moving about, but they soon felt_______and left. Johnny came out to look for his tail , but could find no _______of it. He decided to_______doing everything else and spending all his time_______his tail. Months passed , and Johnny kept looking , asking everyone_______they had seen his tail.

One day , he asked a boy and the boy_______replied ,Why do you need two tails? After hearing this, Johnnya_______and saw that he had grown a new tail. He suddenly realized it was silly to waste so much time ________a problem like it.

On the way home he suddenly found his old tail.Johnny was________to have it back. He picked it up and was about to________his journey. Just at that moment , an idea________him that he shouldn't worry about the past since it was not useful.

He then decided to ________his old tail there. As he moved on, all he took with him were thoughts of the ________and the future.

As we know, it's not good to look at the past, unless it helps in the future.

8 . There was a king who loved art very much. One day a(n) _______came and said, “Please let me _______a picture on a wall.” The king happened to have a big new hall_______. So he_______the artist to work on one of the walls.

At the same time, another artist came and asked to work on the_______wall. He promised he would make the same picture as the first artist’s_______looking at the first artist’s work. The second artist asked to have a thick curtain_______between the two walls_______neither of them could see each other.

The following day they began to work. The first artist brought in a(n)_______supply of paint, oil, water and so on. The second one came with a________and a bucket (桶).

A month later, the first artist’s work was________, and the second artist said, “My wall is ready too!”

The king went to________the first artist’s wall. He was pleased with it and gave the artist a large________of money. He then asked people to open the curtain.

________! Each line was________the same as that on the opposite wall.

The king was quite satisfied and gave him double money. However, he________how the second man had made it.

“I just________the wall with the cloth,” the man said briefly.The wall was made________white marble . He made it shine like a mirror. The reflection (倒影) of the first painting________up on it!

The world is a reflection of you too. If you are sad, the world will be________. If you are happy, the world will be happy.

9 . It was a mid April－a time when the planet Earth turns under the hot rays of the Sun. There was a large desert in Africa with no trace of _______ except a little rose. There was not a bird or a tree in _______ . The sand dunes(沙丘) became piles of burning coal as the days _______ . But the little rose _______ the cruelty of the Sun. The Sun was very _______ to have seen the rose’s ability to _________ such unfavorable conditions.

One afternoon, the Sun said to the little _______ , “Dear Rose! I am the supreme power in this universe. I have the _______ to give and take life. Thousands of living things _______ every day, as they are not able to bear with my heat. But, you have been weathering even my hottest rays ________ any complaint. May I know the source that gave you this great ________ ?”

“Oh, mighty Sun,” the little rose said ________ , “I don’t know much about this desert. But it appears ________ and there seems to be no one else in the whole world my eye could stretch. I began to feel ________ for the loneliness of this desert and ________ to help it as possible as I could. And in this process, I never ________ anything that causes pain to me. My whole ________ has been to be a good friend to this desert and ________ its loneliness.”

________ by the little rose’s care for the large desert, the Sun offered a(n)________－millions of other roses filled the desert with their sweet smells and thus turned the entire stretch into a great oasis of life.

10 . Long ago there was a poor farmer in Russia. He had been very ______ with everything he had. However, when he found his elder brother was ______ than him, he felt disappointed. So he ______ hard about how he could also be richer. Finally he got an idea. He started to spend less money on food and clothes to ______ some money to buy more land. Once he had enough money, he started ______ for land.

He ______ that on the neighboring land, there were some nomads (游牧民) living there. He bought some gifts and went to ______ their head. He presented the gifts to the head and told him the ______ of his visit. The head welcomed him, accepted the gifts and agreed to his ______ to get the land. The head told him that he could have the land ______ giving him anything. He can take as much land as he could ______ by walking through the land before sunset (日落). He should start in the morning and whatever distance he could travel during the ______, he could have it.

The farmer became very ______ when he heard this offer. Now he could have lots of ______ without paying anything. He came ______ the next morning and started running, not walking,______ he could cover the largest area. To reach his goal, he neither ate food, nor drank water, nor had any rest. He just continued ______. Without eating, or drinking, or resting he just got very ______. When he came back to the head in the evening, he ______ right on the spot. Sadly his son buried him in a piece of land about 6 x 4 feet.

Don’t be greedy (贪婪的) or you will ______ everything finally.