There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them

enjoyed living there.

 There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated: an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made

the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turned the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not so beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn't know what had happened.

 A young man went to the king, and said he could explain what had happened. “This was because you cut the old tree down,” said the young man. “There were thousands of moths (飞蛾)which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave.

“Excellent!” said the king, “I'll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful again.”

“I'm afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance(生态平衡) to get back again,” said the young man.

 The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

    Mr Smith had a week's holiday, so he said, "I'm going to see the sea by train." He put on his best clothes, took a small bag, went to the railway station and got onto the train. He wore a beautiful hat, and he often put his head out of the window during the trip and looked at the beautiful scenery. But suddenly the wind pulled his hat off.

    Mr Smith took his old bag and threw it out of the window quickly too. The others in the train laughed. "Is your bag going to bring back your beautiful hat?" they asked.

    "N0," Mr Smith answered, "but there is no name or address in my hat, and there's a name and an address on the bag. If someone finds both of them, he or she will send me the bag and the hat.''

    From a young age, I've had a really deep connection with being outside. I've been skiing since I was eight or nine years old. I've been on expeditions(探险) in many places like China, Pakistan and so on. But it was in my home country, the USA, that I came closest to death.

    It was April 1, 2011. I was skiing in the Tetons with my friends Jeremy and Xavier, both experienced snowboarders. That day, l was the last person to ski. They were watching me from a safe area. Suddenly, I heard someone cry loudly. I turned around and saw the whole mountain start to move behind me. It was a massive avalanche( 大雪崩). The kind of avalanche that destroys trees, cars, buses, even houses! Tens of thousands of tons of snow were coming straight down the mountain behind me. I felt the snow push me forward, hundreds of meters, and then cover me. It was so heavy that I couldn't breathe. And then it pushed me forward again and up, out of the snowpack. I looked around, and for a few seconds I actually stopped being terrified. I had a moment to pause and to look at the power of the avalanche.

    I looked down into the bottom of the valley(峡谷). I could see trees that were 30m tall, because! Was so far away, and they looked tiny to me. "OK, I'm going all the way to the bottom!" I thought. Then the snow pushed me again down the mountain another 450m. I thought the force of the snow would destroy me; it was powerful. But in the end, I felt the avalanche slow down and I just popped ( 迸出 ) right out of the snow at the bottom of the valley.

    It took Jeremy and Xavier about 20 minutes to reach me. There was a pile of debris(碎片) across the bottom of the mountain 300m wide. They couldn't believe it when they saw me. I was so lucky.

    Has the experience changed me? Do I think about life differently? I don't know, maybe. But I do know that it's important to live your life with meaning. Life is a gift. So use it wisely.

    When I was 13 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.

    It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.

    Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt that my heart broke. I couldn't talk to anyone about my problem, and I didn't want my parents to worry about me.

    Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and turned back. He looked at me and without a word, smiled.

    Suddenly(突然), I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.

    That smile changed my life. I started to talk with the other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.

    One day, I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me! It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. Now I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think you are lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

    I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was 1 the teddy bears beside her father 2 she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokemon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand. However, it looked no more than five dollars at most. He was with his father, and kept picking up the Pokemon video games. Each time he showed 3 to his father, his father shook his head, "No".

    Rather disappointed, the boy gave up the video games and chose a book of stickers 4. After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokemon video games. She excitedly picked up one 5 on top of the others, and ran toward the check-out. I picked up my purchases（购买物）and 6 the girl and her father.

    Then, much to the little girl's satisfactory（满意）, the little boy and his father got in line 7 her and me. After the video was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back to the cashier（收银员）and said something to her in a low voice. The cashier smiled and put the 8 under the counter（柜台）. I was putting things in my bag when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier said, "Congratulations, you're my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize!" and she handed the boy the Pokemon game. The boy could hardly believe his ears. It was, he said, 9 what he had wanted! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway, and I saw the biggest and prettiest smile on that little girl I have seen in my life.

    I suddenly understood that the world is not 10 into the strong who care and the weak who are cared for. We must each in turn care and be cared.

There is a story behind the idiom tuibi sanshe. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Prince Chong'er of the Jin State ran away from his home state because of a conflict(冲突). He1 from the state of Jin and lived in exile(流亡生活) for years.

After many hardships, Chong'er came to the state of Chu. The king of Chu believed that he must 2 in the future. So he regarded him as an important guest and 3 him a feast(盛宴). The two drank and talked, and the atmosphere was very harmonious(和谐的). Suddenly,the king asked Chong'er, "If you rule the state of Jin one day, 4 would you thank me?" "It seems the state of Chu has various treasures you want. I have 5 valuable to offer you," Chong'er said. The king said, "You're too modest. But thanks should be given." Chong'er thought for a while and said,"If I could be a king one day, I'd like to have good 6 with you. And I'll ask my soldiers to retreat( 撤退) sanshe if we ever fight."

Four years later, Chong'er 7 to his home state and became its ruler. Under his rule, the state of Jin grew stronger and stronger. Unfortunately, both of the two went to war with each other in 633 BC.

Jin Wengong didn't break his 8 , and he ordered his soldiers to retreat sanshe in Chengpu. The Chu soldiers thought that the Jin solders were 9 to fight, so they followed them. The Jin soldiers took advantages of the Chu soldiers' weakness in looking down upon enemies, and surrounded(包围)them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}         10 , Jin won the war. This was the famous Battle of Chengpu. After this war, people used tuibi sansheto mean retreating avoid a conflict.