Long long ago, there was a swan（天鹅） with golden feathers（金羽毛）. She lived in a lake. A woman lived in a small house1the lake with her two daughters. They were very poor. They worked hard all year round, 2 still, they lived a hard life and sometimes they even didn't have enough3to buy food.

    The swan was4to see that. She said to herself, "I'll give one of my5to them each day, then they can live a happy life with the money selling my feathers." That evening, she6to the poor woman's house and left a golden feather on the table without saying7. From then on, the swam came every day and gave them a feather. The woman was very happy because their life was much8 than before.

    But day after day, the woman became greedy（贪婪）. She said to her9."The swan may fly away one day. If so, we will be poor again. We should take all10feathers when she comes next time."

    "Oh, no, Mom!" cried the daughters, "This will11the swan. She helps us a lot!" But the mother wouldn't listen. When the12came as usual, the mother caught her and took all her feathers. But suddenly, the golden feathers13chicken feathers. Then, the Golden Swan said, "Poor Woman, I came to14you, but you wanted to kill me. Now, I am leaving and will15come back. Never be greedy!" With these words, the swan flew away.

    Peng Jiangya was born in a poor family of Guizhou. 1 she was a child， she fell into a fire stove(火炉) at home. She lost her2 .

    “In order to hold chopsticks(筷子)，my parents taught me to use them for a long time. It was really3 but I did my best to solve it. From then on， I knew if I wanted to succeed(成功)， I had to put great efforts into what I was doing，” Jiangya said.

    Life was 4 to her， but nothing could 5her. With the help of her teachers， she 6learned how to hold a pen and managed to finish junior high school. One day， Jiangya saw others 7 cross—stitch(十字绣) outside their doors. She decided to try it for 8. Holding a needle(针) without fingers（手指）was not easy， but she never 9. Now she can do it well and take good care of her family.

    As for her future， Jiangya said， “I will work 10 some other people to embroider (绣) the beautiful scenery of our hometown for tourists. At the same time， we can make more money.”

    Muller was a butcher（屠夫）. He worked in his father's shop for many years. His father1working when he was very old，and Muller worked2. He had to work harder.

    Muller worked five and a half3a week. His shop closed at one o'clock on Thursday，and it was closed the whole of Sunday. Saturdays were the4days.

    One Thursday a young woman came into the shop at five minutes to one. "I'm5. I'm late. "She said, "Some friends called me just now. They wanted to come to6tonight and I need some more meat. "

    Muller had only one piece of good meat in the shop. He had sold all the rest7 in the day. He took the piece out and said to the woman, ""This is six pounds."

    "It's too 8, "the woman answered." Have you got anything bigger?"

    Muller went into the room behind his shop, opened the fridge, put the piece of meat into it, took it out again and closed the fridge with a lot of9. Then he brought the piece of meat back to the woman and said, "This piece is bigger and more expensive. It's 8 pounds. "

    "Good, "the woman answered with a smile." Give me10, please."

Joel Sartore is a writer, teacher, and photographer. His words and beautiful images show his love of photography and of the natural world. 

Question 1: How did you become a National Geographic photographer?

My first job was for a newspaper. After a few years there, I met a National Geographic photographer. He liked my photos and said I should send some to the magazine. So I did. That led to a one—day job. And that led to a nine—day job, and so on. 

Question 2:     ▲    

To get into National Geographic, you have to give them something they don't have. It's not enough just to be a great photographer. You also have to be a scientist, for example, or be able to dive under sea ice, or spend maybe several days in a tree. 

Question 3: Is it hard to get a job as a photographer today?

It's now harder to work for magazines. Technology makes it easy to take good pictures, which means there are more photos and photographers. Also, the Web is filled with photos from all around the world that are free, or cost very little. These photos are often good enough to be put in books and magazines. What the magazines need to do these days is to pay for these photos. 

Question 4: I want to be a photographer. Do you have any advice for me?

Advice? Well, work hard. Be passionate (热情的)about every project you work on. Take lots of pictures in different situations. Look at others' photos thoughtfully and learn from them. And be curious about everything. There's something to photograph everywhere. 

Almost every Saturday morning, Molly pulls a table into her front yard. On the table she lays out some 1 in season, such as carrots and tomatoes. They are all from her garden and free for her neighbors to 2 . "It's just lovely, like you walk by and get a beautiful gift around the corner," said a neighbor.

Molly started doing this in the summer of 2020. Earlier that year, a fire broke out in her house. Molly's 3 had a hard time. "People in the community came to 4 . They brought us food and often called to make sure we were doing fine. I was deeply 5 ," Molly said.

Then the pandemic(疫情) came. Molly and her family had much time to 6 in their garden. They decided to 7 what they grew in their garden.

 No one knew about it at first. But 8 , people got into the habit of coming around. They would stop by and leave with some vegetables. Molly's yard became a 9 place.

One thing Molly has learned from this experience is that people have to work together when days are 10 . She is glad that love has spread in this community.

I like traveling alone. I have been to the Terracotta（兵马俑）, Disneyland and the Bird's Nest（鸟巢）. Attracted(吸引) by the beauty of the Great Wall, I flew there by myself this time.

At the entrance (入口), one short old woman followed me all the time. She wanted me to buy some cards. Finally, I became angry. "Don't you understand the meaning of ‘No'?" I shouted at her and left.

As soon as I walked along the Great Wall, I felt very excited. Then, when I was halfway, I found I was on a very dangerous road, and there were no walls. When the cold wind came, I was afraid. Suddenly, I heard a soft voice behind. Someone told me not to be afraid and she would help me. As I felt a pair of hands trying to keep me safe, I calm down(镇静).

Half an hour later, we arrived at a safer place. Feeling better, I turned around to see who she was. She was the short old woman. I felt humiliated for what I did and gave her a big hug (拥抱).

Through this experience, I learned that we should be kind to others because we never know what situation we'll be in and when we'll need help.