A farmer had a faithful（忠诚的） horse who was old and couldn't do much work. So the farmer no longer wanted to give him anything to eat and said, “If you can bring me a lion here, I will keep you.”

    The horse was sad, and went to the forest. There he met a fox. After the fox heard the story, he said. “I will help you. Just lie down, as if you were dead, and do not move."

    The horse did what the fox asked, and then the fox went to the lion and said, “A dead horse is lying out there. Just come with me, and you have a rich meal.”

    The lion went with him, and they were both standing by the horse, the fox said, “Now let me tie the horse to your tail and you can take it home and eat it.”

    The fox's words made the lion very happy. But the fox tied the lion's legs together with the horse's tail. When the fox finished his work, he said to the horse, “Pull the lion to the farmer.”

    Then the horse pulled the lion away with him at once. The lion was very angry but he couldn't do anything. When the farmer saw the lion, he was in a good mood（心情）, and said to the horse, “ You can stay with me." And he give him enough food to eat until the horse died. 

Beethoven, a famous musician in the world, was born in Germany in 1770.

In his childhood Beethoven didn't have a happy life. His father was a singer. When he was only four, his father began to make him practise hour after hour on different musical instruments (乐器). If he did not put his heart into it, his father would beat him or make it hard on him.

Beethoven loved music and he learned so fast that he was able to go around to give concerts, when he was only a boy of eleven. At the age of seventeen, lie won high praise from Mozart, the greatest musician at that time.

    Beethoven was often poor and in during his life. After one illness, lie suddenly found he couldn't hear at that time, he was only thirty-one. It was a great blow (打击) to him.

    But he still went on working and writing music pieces. To people's surprise, he wrote some of his best pieces after he lost his hearing.

In 1827, the great musician died. He leer more than 300 pieces. But people still remember his name today.

    Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. “That's a beautiful bird,” he said to the pet store owner, “But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual bird?”

    “No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk,” the pet store owner said.

    “I see. How can I make it talk?” the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, “Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?”

    “Yes,”the man answered.

    “Well, you pull those strings,” the pet store owner told him. “That will make the parrot talk.”

    The man asked, “Do you mind if I try?”

    “Not at all,” the pet store owner said.

The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, “Good morning.”

    The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, “How are you today?”

    “That's not very interesting, ” said the man. “Any parrot could do that.” Then he laughed, “But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?”

    “I'll fall off my perch, you fool!” the parrot said.

    Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor's Palace. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.

    Marco was amazed by how beautiful China was. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was..."The walls were covered in gold and silver and the hall was so large it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner.

    There were inventions and developments in China which couldn't found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people paid for goods with gold and silver. He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!

    In 1291, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco returned to Italy. He was now a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best - selling books in Europe.

    Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco's stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, "Was it all true?" And this was his answer, "I have only told a half of what I saw!"

    Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night, I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived at the place, I saw a small woman in her eighties standing before me. I took the woman's suitcase to the car and then returned to help her. She took my arm and we talked slowly toward the car.

    She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

    "Oh, you're such a good man," she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked." Could you drive me throughout the downtown?"

    "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

    "Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said," I'm on my way to the hospice(收容所). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time." I quickly shut off the meter(计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, and the neighbourhood where she had lived. Sometimes she asked me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

    As the day broke, she suddenly said," I'm tired. Let's go now."

    We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

    "How much shall I give you?" she asked.

    "Nothing," I said.

    "You have to make a living, "she answered," Oh, it doesn't matter! I have other passengers to pick up." I answered.

    Almost without thinking, I bent sown and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly and said," You gave an old woman a little moment of happiness."

Do you feel guilty(内疚的) for something you did? Maybe you made a mistake that hurt someone. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Either way, the simple words "I'm sorry" can help you and others feel better. It's not always easy to admit(承认) what you did is wrong. But you can't learn from your mistakes without admitting them.

Apologizing(道歉) is an important part of personal growth. When you apologize, the other person knows that you understand his feelings. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But in fact, it shows that you are strong enough to put others before yourself. After apologizing, you may become closer to your friend than before.

But even after you decided to apologize, you may not be sure how to do it. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

①Show that you feel guilty and understand how the other person feels. For example, you could say, "{#blank#}4{#/blank#} I feel terrible for talking to you like that."

②Don't keep doing what you apologized for.

③Don't put off(推迟) making an apology.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Apologies can be hard, but they are necessary for healthy relationships.