Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s. The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach (菠菜) to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 per cent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people's diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.

    Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not-true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetables.

    People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.

    Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.

    It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.

    One day a poor farmer was taking a bag of rice to the town. Suddenly the bag fell down from his horse on the road. He didn't know what to do about it because it was too heavy for him to lift (举起) it by himself. He only hoped that somebody would soon pass (经过) by and help him.

    Just at this moment a man riding a horse came up to him. But the farmer was very disappointed(失望的)when he saw who he was. It was the great man living nearby. The farmer had hoped to ask another farmer or a poor man like him for help.

    But to his surprise, the great man got off his horse as soon as he came near. He said to the farmer, "I see you need help, my friend. How good it is that I'm here just at the right time！" Then he took one end of the bag, the farmer took the other. They together lifted it and put it on the horse.

    "Sir, " asked the farmer, "how can I pay you？"

    "It's quite easy, " the great man answered with a smile, "Wherever (无论在哪里) you see anyone in trouble, do the same for him. "

Summer is my good friend.However, we often argued(争吵) on some 1 things. And once we argued again and we stopped talking with each other. Later, our school held a special2 —Winter Play. We both acted in the play. 

At first, we practiced singing and acting without 3 with each other. Then one day, our director Mr. Jackson said to us, "Summer and Grace, I'd like to talk to you after the practice today."

I wondered whether I would be 4 out of the play，so my heart started beating fast. 

But when I 5 heard what Mr. Jackson said after the practice, I was moved! "Girls, you're 6 and I want you two to team up and sing the song together. You can say no, but I 7 you two can do better together."

I thought Summer might say no.To my 8 ， she agreed and we said yes at the same time. Leaving the office, I looked at Summer and she smiled at me and then we had a hearttoheart talk.

We suddenly had an idea to act the song in a 9 way. And it looked like we were arguing. We laughed many times when we practiced. On the day we showed our play, the audience(观众) couldn't 10 laughing at all.

After the play, I realized that through proper communication methods, we could find a surprising way to keep friendship.

National parks are large areas of public land. They provide a safe home for local plants and animals. They help keep the air and water clean. They also provide us with the best trip. Forbes has listed 12 of the most beautiful ones in the world that will surprise you with their amazing landscapes, geographic wonders and colourful plants and animals. 

The Grand Canyo n National Park of the US is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It is best known for its size and depth. It is about 446 kilometres long, up to 29 kilometres wide, and 1. 8 kilometres deep. The immensity of the canyon makes people think big. Every year, about 5 million people visit there. The South Rim offers visitors the park's full view, while the North Rim shows beautiful wild flowers. 

If you love animals, you'll like the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The "Big Five" live there. They are the lion, the African elephant, the African leopard, the black rhinoceros and the African buffalo. The name "Big Five" comes from the five animals that are the hardest to catch. Now they are what people most want to see in the wild. If you visit the park, you should never miss the migration(迁徙) of tens of thousands of wildebeests and zebras every year. This is the most famous site of the park.