Once a king got two nice falcons(猎鹰)from his son. He had never seen such beautiful falcons before. He loved them so much and he ordered the best falconer to train them to fly.

   After several months, the king came to see how the training was going on. He found that one falcon had already been able to fly high in the sky, while the other was staying on the branch(树枝) of a tree quietly, just keeping still.

   The king called all his falcons together and ordered them to try every way they could to make the other falcon fly. But none of them succeeded. One day, while the king was taking a walk in the forest, an idea came to his mind. Maybe someone who knew the natural environment well could solve this problem. He spent for a farmer who lived in the forest into his palace to train it at once.

   The next morning, the king saw the other falcon flying above in the sky freely. “ it is unbelievable !” shouted the king. How could you make it happen?”

   The farmer replied,“It's very easy. I just cut off the branch where the falcon rested.”

 It is always the same to human beings. We all have “two flying wings” in our hearts as well, but we often seem not to notice them and stay where we just for safety and comfort. We won't realize we can fly so high and freely until the “branch” we are resting on breaks.

     Nick and his friends were talking about things that can bring them luck. “I have a lucky red pen,” said Andy. “I have a lucky coin,” said Peter. “Every time I take a test, I carry my lucky coin.” Nick thought for a moment, and said, “My blue socks.” “Blue socks?” the boys were surprised and asked together. Nick said that every time he wore his blue socks to school before a test, he got a good mark.

    The next day Nick had a Chinese test. He was sad because he couldn't find his blue socks. “Mom!” shouted Nick. “Where are my blue socks? I have a Chinese test today, and I need to wear them.”

  “Don't be silly,” Nick's mom said.“They need to be washed.” “When I wear them, I get a good grade.” Nick said.

  “Did you prepare for your test?” asked Mom.

  “Yes.”

  “Then don't worry about it. Just do your best.” Mom encouraged.

    A few days later, Nick's teacher told him that he got 95 in his test. Nick was so excited that he couldn't wait to tell Mom he did well in his test. Mom said, “It wasn't the blue sock s that made you success. In fact, it was made by yourself.”

    Long ago, a wolf called Howler lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. He often tried to climb up the trees to eat the fruit, but couldn't reach.

    In the valley, an old man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very well. But as he was getting older, he noticed that he didn't have the strength to pick the fruit.

    Martin had the most beautiful fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. One day he decided to steal the fruit and started jumping up and down the tree.

    Martin looked out of the window and realized that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees. Howler jumped and jumped, but he couldn't reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

    Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of the fruit. Howler accepted the deal and began to collect the fruit. For the whole morning, he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit.

    Howler soon realized that he could eat all the fruit if he didn't give Martin some. He thought up a new and secret plan. Martin, on the other hand, trusted Howler and even began to think they would be friends forever.

But the wolf stole the ladder and went off to other trees in the area for more fruit.

    Realizing that the ladder was missing, Martin went looking for it. Martin felt very disappointed at the trick and no longer trusted Howler. Though he wasn't angry with the wolf and they became friends again, he never made any more deals with him.

    At last, Howler learned that he shouldn't trick people and he should keep promises. He also learned that if he had been honest and not greedy, he would still have been able to enjoy more delicious fruit.

    I once did a year of voluntary service in a residential(居住的) home for people with learning disabilities. It was set in an English village deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a little unhappy, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who had financial difficulties and maybe it was impossible for her to complete her university courses.

    So this friend of mine had sent all her money to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat and no money to go anywhere outside the village.

    I was so moved and I felt I had to do something. So, during my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into a shop. I didn't have much money left myself but I thought I'd buy her an extra box of chocolate we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman (also a volunteer) working in the shop and finally told her about my friend.

     The woman looked at me, amazed. "Does she eat pasta?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. She immediately started loading a bag with pasta, cookies, and other things until the bag was full. "Give her this for me. It's my treat!" I couldn't believe it but accepted with happiness. As I left the shop to go home with my unexpected bag of food. I asked the woman her name. "Just Gloria," she said.

    Imagine my friend's face when I arranged the gifts on my kitchen table and attracted her from room to see! I had never seen her so happy! A few weeks later she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her in person.

    These two extraordinary(非凡的) women really showed me what true kindness and compassion(同情) are, and the impression will stay with me for the rest of my life!

    Mr White works in an office. He is very 1 and has no time to have a good rest. Every evening, when he comes back from his office, he's always tired and wants to go to bed early, 2 his wife often has a lot of interesting things to tell him after supper. She doesn't stop talking until he falls 3. But it's usually too late and Mr White has to 4 early in the morning when she is asleep.

    One day the man felt terrible and couldn't go to work. He decided to go to 5. And Mrs White went with him. Before her husband said 6 was the matter with him, the woman had told the doctor all and the doctor said to her, "The bottle of medicine is for your husband and the pills are for you." "For me?" the woman said in surprise, "I'm fine. I don't need 7 medicine."

     "I don't think so, madam," said the doctor. "They are sleeping pills. Your husband will soon be all right if you take them."