Once a traveller came into a village which was suffering from hunger. The villagers asked him to leave, for they feared he wanted them to give him food. They told him that there was no food. The traveller explained that he didn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with them instead. The villagers watched suspiciously as he built a fire and filled a pot with water With great ceremony(仪式), he pulled a stone from a bag, and dropped the stone into the pot of water. After a moment, he smelt the soup and shouted with excitement, “How delicious the soup is!” As the villagers began to show interest, he mentioned how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brought out a cabbage to share. This episode(情节) repeated itself until the soup had cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets—indeed, a full pot of soup that could feed everyone in the village was ready. This story describes when there are not enough resources(资源), humans will store things. We do not want to share. The story of stone soup helps us realize that, in doing so, we often prevent ourselves and everyone else from having a feast(盛宴).The meaning of this story goes far beyond food. We keep to ourselves ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer, but in fact we make the world, and ourselves, poorer. The traveller was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the ability to inspire(激发) them to give. In this way, they created a large meal that none of them could have created alone. Are you like one of the villagers? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a feast that can feed many.

    Lost Underground is a story about four school children who went on a trip to some caves. These caves were very large and people could go into them only with a guide. However, four children decided to explore on their own. They went in the caves with a group, but left the group and walked down the tunnel. They thought it would be fun to explore the cave alone.

    Soon they came to a hole in the wall. They climbed through the hole into another part of the cave. Then they decided to turn back, but they could not remember the way. They were lost in the caves. When the guide led the other children out of the caves, he counted them. He discovered that there were four children missing. He had to go back into the caves to try to find the missing children.

    The children who were lost moved deeper into the caves. The deeper they went, the more lost they became. They were frightened. They started shouting for help, but the guide didn't hear them. How dangerous!

    Soon they came to an underground river. They guessed that the river must flow out of the caves. The water was very cold and deep, but the children kept on swimming. For a long time, they swam in darkness, then they saw a light ahead of them. The river was flowing out of the caves into a big river and the children were able to leave the caves. They climbed out of the river onto the riverbank. They saw the bus with the other children in the distance.

    One day, a little monkey and a little fox went out to play. They saw an apple tree on the other side of the river. There were many big and red apples on it. But there was no bridge over the river. The monkey thought hard and had an idea. They pulled down a tree and put it over the river as a bridge.

    The monkey said, "My old friend, you go there first." But after the fox went to the other side, he kicked(踢)the tree into the river and ran to the apple tree. "How can I get there without the tree?" cried the monkey. The fox laughed and said, "You just stand there and watch me eating the apples." The monkey was very angry.

    Suddenly it began to rain. The water level(水位)in the river rose(上涨)and the tree flew away with the water. "You can eat all the apples. But you can't come back, "shouted the monkey. The fox stopped eating and looked at the monkey sadly.

    John, David and James were three brothers. Every year on their mother's birthday, they sent her expensive presents. They liked to show her how rich they were.

    The oldest brother , John, decided to give his mother a perfect(完 美的) present. He thought it must be more expensive than his brothers'.

    So he put an advertisement(广告) in the newspapers: WANTED THE PERFECT PRESENT FOR A RICH WOMAN. For many days people phoned him from all over the country. Each of them wanted to sell him" the perfect present". But John didn't like any of them.

    Then, less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage with a large bird in it. "This bird," the man said," can speak ten languages (语言) and sing any popular songs. There's no other bird like it in the world." With these words, he asked the bird to speak to John in French, tell him a joke in Japanese and sing a famous popular song. John was very happy.

    "I'll buy it. How much do you want?" John said." One hundred thousand dollars," the man said. This was a lot of money, but John paid him. Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

    The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her." Well, Mother," he asked," what do you think of the bird?" "Oh, very delicious, dear," she answered.