"You have saved my horse," Queen Olivia told the young boy standing before her. "Now you shall get a gift for what you did." Peter nervously ran his fingers through his brown hair. That day when he was working in the field, the shocked horse ran past him. Without thinking, he rushed out and controlled it. He didn't know it was the Queen's horse and never expected to get a gift. But he still felt happy for getting one.

    Two of the queen's men appeared. One carried a mirror. Red jewels(珠宝) shone on top of the mirror's silver frame(框架). The other carried a wooden cage with a chicken inside it.

    "Only one gift can be yours," the queen said. "Choose wisely." "That's easy," Peter said. "I'll take the chicken." Some of the queen's men laughed. It was clear that they thought he had made a foolish choice.

    "And why did you choose the chicken?" the queen asked. "Well, I don't know much about jewels," Peter answered. "But I do know about chickens. The chicken will provide eggs for my family for a long while."

    Queen Olivia smiled. "Then you did make a wise choice," she said. "That mirror may look beautiful. But the jewels you see are only colored glass, and the frame is painted silver. The chicken is much more valuable." Peter took the chicken and bowed. "Thank you, your majesty."

    "You are a smart child," the queen added. "I could use a smart boy to help take care of my horses. Would you like to take the job?" Peter smiled. "Thank you very much!" he said excitedly. A job at the castle paid well. Now his family wouldn't worry about their food any more--all because he was kind to help others and smart enough to make the right choice!

    Once upon a time, there was a little bird named Birdie. She was afraid to fly and always hid in the bushes. Some big crows(乌鸦) often made fun of her by saying, "You can't flyyyy. You are afraid to flyyyy. " Near the bushes, there lived some squirrels (松鼠). Every day, they would "fly" around the branches and "fly" up and down all the trees in the forest.

    One day, these squirrels asked Birdie to join them. Birdie came out of the bushes and wanted to have a try. The crows noticed that and started to laugh at her. They cried, "You can't flyyyy. You are afraid to flyyyy. " Birdie was so sad that she began to flap (拍打) her wings and shouted loudly, "I can fly!" The little bird flapped her wings so hard that she began to fly. These squirrels couldn't believe their eyes. They shouted cheerfully, "Birdie, you're flying! I'm flying?" Birdie said, "I am flying!" She was so excited that she flew up and down, and in and out of all the branches. Then she flapped her wings as hard as she could and flew all the way to the top of the tallest tree. Birdie wasn't afraid of flying anymore, and those big crows never came to bother her ever again.

From Asia to America and everywhere in between, Swing—an energetic form of dance that includes six-step and eight-step rhythms(节奏) — has taken the world by storm. Making a recent comeback, swing dance floors have popped up all over the world. Many clubs make fans of Swing happy by holding nights when swing music is played, and sometimes even offering classes to attract customers.

Though Swing is now popular worldwide, it first appeared alongside the jazz movements of the 1920s and 1930s in New York City. While listening to jazz, the young black people of that time developed the movements of the Lindy Hop — a style of dance that is best known for a break away or 'swing out' move and sudden improvisation(即兴表演).

It was reportedly given this name when a reporter was interviewing a man at the dance hall who was watching other couples dance. When asked what that dance was called, the watcher looked at a newspaper next to him that had an article about Lindbergh— the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic(大西洋)—which was titled, 'Lindy Hops the Atlantic'. Then the watcher announced that the 'Lindy Hop' was the name of the dance, and it has stuck since then.

    In 1926, the Savoy Ballroom was the first large business to offer a place for people to listen to swing music and dance. With its huge dance floor, the Savoy became a big success overnight, attracting some of the best dancers and musicians in the New York area.

    Within ten years, the Lindy Hops was sweeping through the United States and became a symbol of unity, as young people of all racial(种族的) backgrounds crowded into dance halls to swing the night away. Traditional dance teachers did not welcome it because they thought it was not even a real dance and were quite sure about its demise but Swing has proved them wrong; it continues to be one of the world's most fun dances.

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mum came in and asked, "Why not invite John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he had already got better grades in math than anyone else in class. I wrinkled(皱起) my nose," Mum, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mum said nothing. The next day, Mum gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mum said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, kids arrived, dressed differently. John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice," Now it's time for the great prize game. It's the following riddle..."It was a math game. None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went on well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    When we help others, we need to find a proper way, or we may hurt them in another way.

    William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in English literature. His plays can be divided into three categories: histories, tragedies (悲剧) and comedies. Shakespeare wrote eighteen comedies, although two were lost. These comedies usually have happy endings and a light-hearted tone and style that are quite different from his tragedies.

    All of Shakespeare's comedies have five acts and the most important or exciting point always takes place in the third act. The hero does not appear until after other characters have talked about him. Shakespeare had some themes that he usually wrote about: the fight between good and bad, love's great effect on people, and the difference between first appearance and a person's true personality or face. Shakespeare also wrote his play in a certain style. For example, Shakespeare used words in such a clever and humorous way that they had more than one meaning. Some of the characters changed their appearances so that people didn't know who they were.

    Even though the tone is lighter in these plays. Comedies in Shakespeare's day were quite different from modern-day comedies because their purpose was not to make people laugh. Shakespeare's comedies are very emotional (有感染力的) and often include serious topics to think about.

Back home, Qian at once {#blank#}1{#/blank#} helping China develop a space program. He started the Institute of Mechanics in Beijing, where he trained young scientists. He worked on many important space {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In 1960, China's first rocket and first missile were launched(发射) {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. In 1970, China launched its first satellite. It is largely because of Qian's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} that China so quickly developed a space program, and became only the third country to send a manned rocket into space in

2003. 

Qian watched this rocket launch on television. He was by he will always be {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for his great contributions(贡献). He working so hard for his country, even through difficult times, helping develop the space program that pushed China into the future.