There once was a wise man who was very respected for his wisdom. This great man was called the Wise Circle Maker. His people believed that he had special powers to make it rain.

    But the Wise Circle Maker did not know everything about life often, when he saw things that he did not understand, he would ask questions, hoping to find the answers.

    One day, he noticed a man panting a fruit tree. He asked the man, "When will this tree bear fruit? How long will it take?"

    The man said that it would take 70 years for fruit to come to the tree.

"And how old are you now?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am almost 50 years old" replied the man.

"And do you think you will live to taste the fruit from this tree?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am already old and will never taste the fruit from this tree I plant. But when I was born, I saw many fruit trees like this planted by my father, and his father. And I ate the fruit from those trees." replied the man.

    "This tree is for my children, my grandchildren and for their children too. They will taste the fruit of this tree. That is why I am planting it not for me, but for them."

The Wise Circle Maker was impressed. He could easily see the meaning He walked away happily, knowing that he still had much to learn about life.

    Once there was a good vegetable patch (菜地), and there grew avery big tree. Both the vegetables and the tree1 the place wonderful. But no one knew that thevegetables in the patch and the tree couldn't2 each other for a long time. The vegetablesdidn't like the tree's shade (树荫) because it stoppedthem from getting enough3. The tree, on the other hand, hated thevegetables. The4 wasthat the vegetables drank nearly all the water before it could get to him,leaving him a little water.

    They kept this situation5 the vegetables got completely bored with thetree one day. Then they decided to use up all the water in the ground so thatthe tree would die.

    What would the tree do? Without question, thetree answered back6 refusing to shade the vegetables from the sun.It was so hot that the vegetables became dry. Before long, all of them7died.

    At that time, thevegetables and the tree realized that it was8to help each other than to fight. Theylearned that they should9 those around them. From then on, they decidedto work together, using both the shade and the water to grow. Before long, theytogether showed10 a beautiful picture.

Why Live Near the River?

Imagine pioneers traveling west in the 1800s. In those days, it was hard to find running water and shops where to buy things. As time went by, most pioneers had to make their homes near a river so that they could get water easily.

How did rivers help people live in the past?

Back in the pioneer days, people grew their own food, caught their own fish, and collected their own water.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}People also used rivers as roads, traveling on boats. Traders shipped goods (货物) to people from other areas.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

When building many factories right next to rivers for the water's power to make machines work, some people choose to live near a river for working. They use the river to ship large goods, and some of them work at these factories where power factories provide electricity for homes and businesses.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Who wouldn't want to live near a river?

Some people are nervous about living near rivers because rivers can cause floods (洪水). Every once in a while, floodwaters rise higher than a house, ruining (毁坏) many things in the house.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Such waste causes water to smell bad and pollutes the crops (作物) we eat. Water and crops in polluted areas can make people very sick.

How do people decide where to live?

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Rivers can provide jobs and fun activities in a beautiful place. However, those living by rivers should be willing to accept possible problems as well.

I am Mandy and I live in the city with my parents and my little sister. The city life is boring sometimes. I love going to my grandmother's village(村庄). 

It is so much fun living in the village. I like collecting leaves (收集树叶) there. I usually do it on my way to the only shop in the village. They have many different shapes. Some are like a heart and some are like a hand. . . I can make a lot of things with leaves. One fun thing is making leaf pictures. 

This is how I make a leaf picture. I take a leaf out and I also need paper, glue (胶水), a brush(刷子) and paints (绘画颜料). First, I glue the leaf onto the paper and wait for an hour. Then, I paint over the leaf and the paper and let the paints get dry(变干). Next, I take the leaf off the paper. There it is—a beautiful leaf picture on the paper!

I sometimes make birthday cards or other things with the leaf pictures. My friends like them very much. I tell them，"They are not just gifts from me. They're gifts from my grandmother's village！"

My name is Gina. I'm twelve. I have some 1 . They are Mike, Jack. Mary and Kate. We are in Yuying Junior High School. This is 2 Green. He is our English 3 . We like him very much. This is4 classroom. You can see many(许多)desks in the classroom. They are green. I like the 5 very much . A blackboard(黑板)and a6 of China are on the wall(墙). On the desk you can7 some pencils. The red one is8 . The green one is Kate's. Mary's pencil isn't there. Her pencil is in her9 . Look! This is my desk. You can see some 10 on it. They are my new books.