"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!

    O. Henry was a great writer. His pen name was O. Henry and his real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. When he was about 20, he went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, some people thought he was the thief, so he was sent to prison(监狱). During the three years there, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of the prison, he went to New York and went on writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor people there. And people liked his stories very much.

    Valentine's Day is a very old holiday. It goes back to the times of Ancient Rome (古罗马). One of the characters we often see on Valentine's Day is Cupid. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He shoots people with arrows (箭) of love. When a man and a woman are hit by his arrows, they will fall in love.

Today people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14. If a man and a woman are in love, they will give each other gifts. The most popular gifts are flowers (especially roses) and chocolates. Couples may also go to a restaurant for a very nice dinner or plan something else romantic.

    In the United States, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children make special Valentine's cards for their classmates. Families and friends may give candy or other small gifts to each other. It can be a fun day.

Essie is a fourth﹣grade student in Wisconsin. She was peacefully eating lunch when she saw another student needed1 . Essie immediately went over and found her classmate Sophia has something stuck in her throat when she was 2 . Essie wanted to do something to help her classmate. 

Essie felt a bit 3 and scared in the situation. She took deep breaths to help herself 4 so she could help her classmate. Later，Essie said to the school newspaper reporter， "I did what I had to do to save Sophia's life

Teacher Samantha was in the classroom when it happened. "It's hard to believe a fourth﹣grader can do this. "She said in 5 . Essie used the Heimlich Maneuver（海姆立克急救法） that she 6 from a video to help her classmate. 

After learning what Essie did，the school community 7 her success. The after﹣school program that Essie took part in held an "Essie Day"for her. Everyone felt 8 of Essie and started to learn Heimlich Maneuver. 

It is a（n）9 that Essie will never forget. She hopes she doesn't have to perform the life﹣saving skills 10 . Most importantly，she is thankful that her classmate is OK. 

Have you ever wondered how many ants there are on the earth? Scientists at the University of Hong Kong certainly have. In a new study, they estimated (估计) the number of the world's ants is about 20, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000(20 with 15 zeroes!

That means for every human, there are nearly 2. 5 million ants. If you put all the ants on a scale, they'd weigh more than all the wild birds and mammals (哺乳动物) on the earth. 

How did they count such a big number? In the past, many scientists have counted ants in different areas. They collected fallen leaves and earth and dried them to force the ants to come out for counting. Based on 465 studies that cover the whole land, the new study made the estimation. According to Wang Runxi, one of the authors, the number and distribution(分布) of ants can be valuable to show the environmental changes. 

"Ants play an important role in the ecosystem, " Wang told Science and Technology Daily. "They help loosen the soil, spread seeds, break down things and form a part of the food chain (食物链). They are everywhere on the earth except for the coldest places. "

"Compared with big animals, little ants are more sensitive (敏 感 的 ) to environmental changes, " Wang added. Most ants live in tropical (热带的) and subtropical(亚热带的) areas. But in recent years, ants have been moving toward the two poles because of global warming. Changes in forests, such as too many trees being cut down, also have influence on the number of ants, the study showed. 

"Our global map of ants allows us to better understand and predict ants' responses to worrying environmental changes, " scientists wrote in the study.