One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said. “Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn't worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the pennies he bought some grapes.

    It was very hot, and there wasn't a house or a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time. his father dropped a grape on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another grape and once again. His son picked it up and put it in his mouth.

    And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the grapes and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the grapes, his father said to him. “My dear son, if you had bent down early to pick up that horseshoe. It would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the grapes, always remember the lesson(教训):  A person who does not worry about the little things

    will find that he can not do the great things.”

    One day when Jack was walking in the park, he saw a woman, who lived a few miles away, sitting on a bench(长凳) with a dog beside her. The dog was looking up at the woman.

    Jack walked up to the woman and said, "Hello, Sue, how are you? May I sit and talk with you for a while?" "Of course, please sit down," Sue said. Jack sat down next to Sue on the bench, and they talked quietly together. The dog continued to look up at Sue, as if waiting to be fed.

    "That's a nice dog, isn't he?" Jack said, pointing(指着) at the animal.

    "Yes, he is. He's handsome. He's a bit of a mixture(杂交品种), but that's not a bad thing. He's strong and healthy."

    "And hungry," Jack said. "He hasn't taken his eyes off you. He thinks you've got some food for him."

    "That's true," Sue said. "But I haven't."

    They both laughed and then Jack said, "Does your dog bite?"

    "No," Sue said, "He's never bitten anyone. He's always gentle and friendly."

    Hearing this, Jack decided to hold out his hand and touched the animal's head. Suddenly it jumped up and bit him.

    "Hey!" Jack shouted. "You said your dog didn't bite."

    Sue answered in surprise, "Yeah, I did. But this is not my dog. Mine's at home."

Boys and girls, this summer vacation is the time for you to take your mind off homework and prepare for the future. The following is some advice on how   {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(make) your vacation meaningful and colourful.

Take regular exercise. You  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(work) most of the time already. So you need to join in outdoor 

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (activity), which can bring your whole body into action. You can keep  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(health) by doing different kinds of exercise, such as playing basketball, jogging and mountain climbing.

Learn some basic life skills. One day, you will live by  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(you). You can't depend on your family any longer.  {#blank#}6{#/blank#}you should learn to cook, wash and other practical skills.

Go for a journey. Travel to places of interest. In this way, you'll understand cultures that are different 

{#blank#}7{#/blank#}those of your home town. Beautiful sights can also make you  {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(total) relaxed.

Enjoy family time. Don't always sit in front of  {#blank#}9{#/blank#}computer. It's great fun for family members to sit around the table, discussing sports, clothes or other common topics.

 {#blank#}10{#/blank#}you follow the advice above, your vacation will be full of joy and meaningful. We wish you a wonderful time!

Nature was Chen Rui's "childhood home". The 37-year-old researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Zoology was not able to talk until he was 4 years old because of the way his brain processes sensory (感官) information. 

This made him "strange" in some people's minds. So, he didn't have friends who were around his age, which led him to turn his attention to nonhuman things around him. He became enraptured by the world of insects. "The happiest time of my childhood was in the farm fields," says Chen. "I squatted there, observing the actions of insects. I had so many questions about their activities and was full of curiosity about this world." These experiences planted a seed in his heart. 

Many years later, he's an expert in life-science research. He has visited the Amazon rainforest several times, and has found around 100 new species (物种), many of which are named after him. 

"I was a child who was ‘cured (治愈)' by nature," he says. "I wanted to grow up to share the power of nature with more young people and to popularize understanding of animals, including insects. I wanted to start classes to bring children to learn in the open air and experience the gifts nature gives." These led him to recently publish the popular science book, Du Chong Ji (Reading About Insects) 

"Insects were the earliest creatures that could fly and feed themselves by farming. They have survived three mass extinctions (大规模灭绝). No other living things have won such victories." He hopes that people will learn and draw inspiration from the "superpowers" of insects and use it to improve their own lives. 

My brother Claudio is one of the people I love most. He is smart and always helpful, taking care of me and our younger sister, Sarah. The day when he left home to go to college, he taught me the importance(重 要性)of being a man. 

It was a sunny Saturday morning in August. Sarah was playing the piano. The sound woke us up as usual. In the kitchen, there was a surprise for Claudio—his favorite pancakes. 

Mom gave us a big smile and told us to sit down for the breakfast. Happily, we sat down at the table and had breakfast. After breakfast, Claudio called me to his room. "It's time, brother, "he said. I thought he was saying that it was time for him to leave the house, but in fact he told me that I should do more for Mom than before after he let. 

I thought about his words twice and then understood everything. When he left home, I would learn to take care of the family just as he did before. That day I learned about family, love and duty(责任)