After Columbus discovered the New Continent(新大陆) and 1 back to his motherland, Spain, he was warmly 2. But not everyone felt  3 at Columbus' Success. Some people thought Columbus was only a 4 and what he had done could be done by any other seaman. One day, at a dinner, some self-important men did what they could to 5 Columbus unhappy, saying that he had only done the 6 thing in the world. Hearing this instead of jumping up angrily, Columbus took an 7 from a dish and asked,“Look, here, gentlemen, is there anyone here who can make this egg stand upright?” They tried one by one but none could. Then the egg 8  back to Columbus. He broke it a little, put the egg on the table and it stood upright. “What can be easier than this, gentlemen?” he said, “Now you will say it's so 9 that everybody can do it. Of course, because I have shown you now.” They looked at each other and talked 10.

    Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember, for often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Here is a story to tell you why.

    One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped by to watch. “What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors. “I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!” the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh, telling him that it was impossible to do it. Then they left.

    The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He collected them and put them into a glass jar (罐) patiently. Humming (哼唱) a song, he went on digging. The jar was full soon. Then he talked to himself calmly and proudly, “Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process (过程) of digging!”

    The boy's goal (目标) was too difficult, but it did cause him to go on, in other words, to cause us to keep working!

    Not every goal will be achieved. Not every job will end up with a success. Not every dream will come true. But when you can't achieve your goal, maybe you can say, “Yes, but look what I've found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!” It is in the digging that life is lived. It is the unexpected joy on the journey that really has a meaning.

    We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.

    “When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”

    “They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”

    “Do you live here in peace?” I asked.

    “There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”

    “Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.

    “Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight.”

    As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.

    Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.

    A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don't want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）

    A year ago I paid no attention to English idioms though my teacher said again and again that it was important.

    One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner shook his head, saying, "You don't say! You don't say!" I was surprised. I thought, perhaps this is not a proper topic. Well, I'd better change the topic. So I said to him, "Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?"

    "Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at mc if I leave China without seeing it. It was great."

    I said, "The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. It is a place of interest. "Soon I was interrupted again by his words, "          "

    I couldn't help. "Why do you ask me not to talk about it?" "Well, I didn't ask you to do so," he answered, gently surprised.

    I said, "Didn't you say' You don't say!'?"

    Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to shout, "'You don't say!' actually means 'Really?'. It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don't pay attention to English idioms."

    Then I knew I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idioms.

    One dark night, two blind men were going home from work. "I need to buy some 1." said one of them suddenly.

    "OK!" replied the second man, "I think I'll buy two or three pairs for 2, too"

    In the shop, the salesgirl asked them. "What size do you wear, sir, and what color would you like?

    "Size eleven. Give me one pair of black socks and two pairs of white, please, answered one of them. "And you, sir?" the salesgirl asked 3 customer. "The same for me. I wear size eleven, too, And the same color the same 4, said the second blind man.

    A moment later they were back in the 5 streets. But just then, a boy riding a bicycle bumped into (撞上) them.

    The blind men dropped all the socks on the ground! All the six pairs- black and white all mixed up. The boy quickly said sorry and left. The two blind men 6 all the socks but couldn't tell which were black and which were white. 7 could they be sure that each of them got one pair of black socks and two pairs of white?

    They tried to ask for help. But 8 else was in the streets.

    One of them soon 9 the problem Can your guess how he made it? They separated each pair of socks and both took one sock 10 each pair. When they got home, each of them had two black socks and four white ones —just what they wanted. Weren't they smart?

Love is the most (最) important thing in the world (世界). We need love in. our life and the world also needs love to get better.

When I was a little girl, I thought that my father didn't love me. He let me do everything by myself. I was afraid of darkness (黑暗)，but he let me walk home alone. When I did well in my study, he only said," Be better. "I couldn't understand (明白) him. Where was his love?

But one day, I understood his love. It was a rainy day. School was over. At first I was not happy because I didn't have an umbrella.

But then I saw that my father with a big umbrella walking in the rain. He kept me away from the rain with the umbrella and we ran home together. He was all wet. On that day, I knew my father loved me very much. I understand what love is.