Tambun Gediu, now badly hurt and staying in hospital, says it was his wife that saved his life from the mouth of a tiger.

    "I was 1 a rabbit in the forest not far from my home and was ready to catch it when I saw the 2. That's when I realized that I was being followed," said Mr. Gediu. The tiger jumped at Mr Gediu at once.  He stood there with great 3 so that he did not know what to do for a moment, and then he tried 4 a tree to keep away from the animal, 5 he was pulled down by the tiger.

    His wife, 55-year-old Han Besau, who was in the kitchen, heard the noise, realizing it was coming from the 6 where her husband was looking for rabbits and she 7 the nearest "weapon (武器)" -a wooden ladle(长柄勺)-rushed out of the 8 and into the nearby forest. Seeing her husband 9 hard to stop the tiger tearing（撕裂）him into pieces, she ran 10 to the animal, shouting at the top of her voice and hitting its head with the ladle until it ran off.

    Tambun had to wait more than 3 hours before he could be taken to hospital in the nearest town, Gerik, because his village was very far.

    It was the first time that a tiger had attacked someone in the village.

    People can hardly believe that Fred Carey is one of the best students in his class. He1a trouble maker and often drove his teachers mad.

    Fred's father died when he was just a 2 boy. Life became 3for him. His mother had to work to pay for his education. As a result, she was seldom at home. She tried to look4him well, but Fred caused a lot of problems for himself and his family. He had no 5 in studying and often got into trouble with the police. Luckily, his mother was very patient and didn't give up 6him. 7 the end, she made a difficult decision 8 him to a boy's boarding school. Fred hated it at first and caused even9 trouble. He told his teacher he wanted to leave the school. Even the teacher agreed that Fred was wasting his time.

    The headmaster suggested that Fred should have a talk with his mother. "It was exactly10 I needed." he said. "My mother helped me understand how much she had given to me." She also told me that 11 my father was no longer with us, he was watching me and would always be proud of everything 12I had done. That's the time when I decided to change. I realized that since my father died, I had been afraid of being alone, and had tried to make my mother 13 more about me.

    Now Fred has really changed. He has been working hard. How was he able to change? His mother's love helped him to feel 14about himself, and as Fred himself says, "15 very important for parents to be there for their children."

    After school on Friday, I waited at the school gate to walk home with Jemma, as usual. Then I saw 1 talking and laughing happily with some other girls. She glanced (瞥了一眼) at me and left me alone there. I knew right then that I had 2 my best friend.

    At dinner, Mom asked, "Is Jemma coming by tomorrow?"

    I shrugged (耸肩) and said nothing.

    The next morning, Mom asked, "Today is 3, what are you and Jemma going to do?"

    I shrugged again. "4 is Jemma?"

    Mom took a look at me. Then she said, "Will you take these magazines to Grandma, please?"

    5 I walked down the street, a new girl in the neighborhood came towards me, smiling. But I just went 6 her.

    Grandma welcomed me at the door with a warm hug.

Sitting on the sofa, I noticed a (an) 7 of kids in old-fashioned clothes on the table. Grandma pointed at a girl with short fair hair.

    "That's Beth Lambert," she said. "My best friend. Until a week before we took this photo."

    I was 8 at that.

    "Beth and I were best friends in school. We did everything 9. Then one day, she made new friends and said she didn't want to hang out with me anymore. Nothing hurt 10 that."

    I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I knew I'd start 11 if I opened my mouth.

    Grandma hugged me again. "Simone, sometimes friends grow 12. It might happen to anyone," she continued. "Then, see him?" Grandma's finger 13 to a boy with glasses in the photo. "He lived near me. When I was walking home by myself 14 this boy was, too, I said ‘hello'. And we became friends."

    "So, if we want to start a new friendship," she smiled. "One 15 is all it took."

    As I was heading home, that new girl appeared again. I went towards her and spoke, "Hello."

    People already know a lot about animals. However, there are still some things about animals that may surprise you. Here are {#blank#}1{#/blank#}about animals you probably didn't know.

    Cows do have best friends and feel stressed when they are separated. Scientists have found that cows are very social animals and that a cow always {#blank#}2{#/blank#}other cows. When a cow is with its friends, it feels relaxed, compared with when it is alone.

    During a breeding season, a male penguin will offer a small stone to a female penguin as a gift. If she takes it, they will become partners. When the female penguin lays an egg, she and her partner may carry it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, because some penguins don't build nests.

    Crocodiles (鳄鱼) swallow (吞) stones. Crocodiles always swallow their food instead of eating it like other animals. They swallow stones which break the food into very small pieces in their stomachs. These stones may stay in their stomachs {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Elephants use plants to treat pain or other illnesses. Scientists once found a pregnant (怀孕的) elephant in Africa who ate a kind of plant which was not part of her normal food. Four days later, she {#blank#}5{#/blank#}a baby elephant. The same plant was used by the local pregnant women.

Give water, save lives

A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.

Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked(裂开), and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.

After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.

Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.

The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water. Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou, Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.

"I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don't have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. "I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water," he said.