In a faraway kingdom, there was a river. It was the home to many golden swans (天鹅). The swans spent most of their time in the river. Every six months, the swans would leave a golden feather (羽毛) as a paying for using the river. The soldiers of the kingdom would collect the feathers and gave them to the king.

    One day, a homeless bird saw the river. "The water in this river seems so cool and nice. I will make my home here," thought the bird.

    The minute the bird landed near the river, the golden swans noticed her. They came shouting, "This river belongs to us! We pay a golden feather to the king to use this river. You can not live here."

    "I am homeless, brothers. I will also pay. Please give me a place to live in," the bird pleaded (乞求). "How can you pay for it? You do not have golden feathers," said the swans, laughing. They added, "Stop dreaming and leave at once." The poor bird pleaded many times. But the arrogant (傲慢的) swans still drove the bird away.

"I will teach them a lesson!" decided the bird, feeling angry.

    She went to the king and said, "Oh, my king! The swans in your river are rude and unkind. I pleaded for a home but they said that they had paid to live in the river with golden feathers."

    The king was angry with the arrogant swans for having driven the homeless bird away. He ordered his soldiers to bring the swans to his palace. In no time, all the golden swans were brought to the king's palace.

"Do you think our kingdom depends on your golden feathers? You can not decide who lives by the river. Leave the river at once or I will kill you!" shouted the king.

    On hearing the king's words, the swans flew away sadly. The bird built her home near the river and lived there happily. She gave homes to all other birds who came to the river.

    Jeff Black has only one leg. When he was 12 years old, he got cancer. The doctor had to cut off most of his right leg to save his life.

    Every day Jeff walks with all artificial(人造的) leg. With the help of the leg, he can ski, ride a bike and play tennis. He can even run.

    When he was 22 years old, Jeff ran across the United States. He ran 5,150 kilometers. That was about 9.6 kilometers each day. Jeff wore out 36 pairs of running shoes and five artificial legs.

    On his way, people in every city gave Jeff some money. The money was not for Jeff himself. It was for a project, which helps people with cancer. Jeff talked to people about cancer and his disability.

    Though Jeff is disabled, he can do lots of things like a healthy man. He has finished college and now he is studying to be a lawyer. He says, "I want people to know that I ran not only for the disabled but also for everybody. I hope my spirit can cheer others up."

    Lei Haiwei, a 37-year-old fast food courier(快递员) from Hunan Province, got first place in a televised Chinese poetry knowledge competition. He beat other competitors, including a master's degree（硕士学位） graduate from Beijing University, in the third season of the Chinese Poetry Conference on CCTV on April 4, 2018.

    "My interest in ancient poems began as early as I was six years old. My father hoped I would grow up to be a man who keeps the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas in mind," the courier said.

    In 2001, the younger Lei found a job in Shanghai and began to read books related to ancient poems at bookstores or libraries in his spare time, since he didn't make much money. The young man also developed a habit of reciting poems he liked and writing them down after returning home.

    Though Lei works as a fast food courier in Hangzhou later, his love for poems never died. Even on his busiest work days, he used any available moment to recite poems. "For example, I am used to reciting poems when I wait for food at restaurants, and traffic lights on my way to deliver food.  Reciting poems not only enriches my knowledge, but also makes my job less boring. As for my future plan, I will stick to reading and reciting poems," Lei said.

    Jerry, 30 years old, owned a pizza restaurant. He lived in a flat about one mile north of the restaurant. He walked to and from work. When it was raining, he took the bus.

    Jerry loved gangster（匪徒）movies. When a new on came out, he would go to the theater and watch the new movie three or four times. Then, when it went to video, Jerry would buy the video at Tom's Video Store. Jerry had a home collection of over 1, 000 gangster videos. Old ones, new ones; coloured, black and white; English, Spanish, Japanese-he loved them all. He could tell you the name of the movie, the director, the stars, and the story.

    Jerry finally decided that he would like to own a gun, just like the gangsters. So he saved his money and one day he went to a gun store and bought one for $300. On Saturday morning, he went to the gun club to practise shooting 射击）. He was in the club for only 10 minutes when he accidentally（偶然）dropped his gun. The gun went off, and the bullet（子弹）went into Jerry's right knee（膝盖）.

    Jerry now walks with a walking stick, just like some gangsters.

I spent ten days on vacation with my parents and it was great.

My parents take part in "Euro bike" activities every day. They often ask me to1 , but I always say no. This year I wanted to make a2 . I was tired of my job and my life. I3 to change my life. So when my parents asked this year, my 4 was " Yes!" Then I went to Paris a week before my 5 arrived, just to visit my favorite city by myself, and then I 6 them in Versailles to start the activity. It was wonderful to7 about a week with my parents.

First of all, they 8 thought I was a little girl. Every night before I left their hotel room and walked to9 , my mom said "good night" and "be careful"10 me, I felt like I was still their little11 .

Second, the vacation was12 .We talked about13 in our lives like music, sports, jobs and so on. They were14 because I took a vacation with them. 

If you have time, I hope you can have a15 with your parents, too. I'm sure it will be very different.