Long long a 90, two geese(天鹅) went to a pond to eat fish. A lonely tortoise lived in the pond. The geese had a chat with him. They chatted happily and became good friends.

One day, the geese realized there were no more fish in the pond, so they decided to move to a new pond. They told their decision to the tortoise. The tortoise wanted to go with them. The two geese agreed.

    The tortoise was delighted, but he had a problem. “How can I go with you? I cannot fly.” The geese came up with a plan. They said to the tortoise. "Don't worry. We will hold a stick between us. You can bite the stick. This way, we can fly to our new place, but you must be careful. Never open your mouth."

When they flew through a village, some villagers looked up and saw the tortoise. They shouted excitedly, "Look at the tortoise! It can fly."

    When the tortoise heard the words, he was proud and forgot the geese's words. He opened his mouth and couldn't help laughing. As soon as he opened his mouth, he fell down.

    Huang Qingyun spends her life telling stories to children. Now though she is in her nineties, she has no plans to stop.

    "I did this for children, from the first day I started to write stories. I am old now, but I still want to go on telling stories to children," Huang said.

    Born in Guangzhou in 1920. Huang spent her childhood in Hong Kong and her favourite hobby was making up stories for her elder sister.

    In 1935, Huang went to university and studied Chinese. During this period, she was greatly influenced by the well-known Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi and decided to become a primary school teacher. However, instead of being a teacher. Huang found another way to educate children. During World War Ⅱ, Huang often told stories to homeless children at the Little Children Society, a charity (慈善机构) set up by a professor from the University of Hong Kong.

    Huang also started a column (专栏) called "Sister Yun's Mail Box" in Xin Er Tong, a children's magazine set up in Hong Kong in 1941. From then, Huang officially started writing and created a large number of stories for children. Huang spent about 30 years at the magazine working as chief editor (主编) in Guangzhou.

    Huang retired in 1987. She moved to Hong Kong and went on creating stories for children, including I Love Hong Kong, Children from Hong Kong and Shoes Brothers.

    "What l wrote were all for children, and for me, writing fairy tales is my favourite," Huang said.

    Some years ago on a hot summer day in South Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming lake behind his house.

In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind his shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam towards the middles of the lake, an alligator(鳄鱼) was swimming towards the shore.

    His mother in the house was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer. In extreme fear, she ran towards the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.

    From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched(夺取) his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war(拔河). The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate. A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.

    After weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. The newspaper reporter asked if he would show him his scars(伤疤). The boy lifted his legs, then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. T have them because my mum wouldn't let go."

    Some scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds are because love has refused to let go.

    There was once an ugly fairy living in a fairy country. She was the kindest and cleverest of all fairies. However, no one liked her, because they strongly believed that the most important thing about a fairy was her beauty. Every time she was ready to help a child or anyone else in trouble, before she could say a word they were already shouting at her, "Ugly! Get out of here!"

    Although she was little, she had great magic power. More than once she thought about using it to make herself beautiful. But she remembered what her mother had always told her, "My dear, you are what you are."

    One day, the witches (女巫) came and caught the fairies, putting them in prison. The ugly fairy, just before being caught, put a spell (咒语) on her pretty dress. Helped by her ugly face, she succeeded in making herself look like a witch. That way she was able to follow the witches back to their country.

    The fairy used her magic power to prepare a big party for everyone there. While they were enjoying themselves, she left quietly and let free other fairies. When all of them got out of the prison, they worked together on one big spell and succeeded in putting the witches inside the mountain for the next hundred years.

    From that day on everyone remembered the brave and clever fairy. And for the next hundred years, and more, when someone ugly was born in that country, everyone was filled with joy.

    The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809.As a boy, Charles liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He enjoyed watching nature, and comparing what he saw with everything he had read in science books. He also liked collecting very much. He collected many things, such as birds, eggs, stones and leaves.

    At sixteen Darwin was sent to the University of Edinburgh to become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature.

    Then he was sent to study in the University of Cambridge. There he studied until 1831.

    Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and wanted a scientist. His teacher advised him to go. So when the Beagle left England in December, 1831, Darwin was on it.

    The trip lasted almost five years. Darwin saw many new plants and animals. He collected all kinds of plants.

    In 1842 Darwin went to live in Kent, and there he continued his studies of change in nature. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change.

    By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book The Origin of Species. It made a great hit in the world of science. He was opposed(反对)by the church and even by some scientists. But later, more and more scientists agreed with him.

    In1871 Darwin wrote another important book. Darwin continued his studies in science until he died in 1882.