There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them

enjoyed living there.

 There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated: an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made

the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turned the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not so beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn't know what had happened.

 A young man went to the king, and said he could explain what had happened. “This was because you cut the old tree down,” said the young man. “There were thousands of moths (飞蛾)which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave.

“Excellent!” said the king, “I'll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful again.”

“I'm afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance(生态平衡) to get back again,” said the young man.

 The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

阅读理解。

A

    Tim was a little boy of nine years old. He was busylast Saturday morning, because he went to the park with his friends to paint.

    He returned home very late. It was nearly half past twelve, but nobody was in. He found that there was a note on the table. Itread:  

    Tim didn't want to follow his parents everywhere. He felt so good that he could be a real big boy and look after himself.

    Thinking there was nothing important out there, he cooked some noodles for himself and also helped himself to some apple juice.

    Then he started to do some housework. He was really a good helper to his mother. When his mother was away, he could always find some housework to do, like sweeping the floor and washing the dishes. He felt it quite right for him to do some housework at weekends.

    In the late afternoon, his parents came back. He asked them what happened.

    “Why? You forget? It's Grandmother's birthday today.”

“Uh, gee! I simply forgot! I must telephone Grandmother.'

     He picked up the phone.

    “I'm terribly sorry, Grandma, that I forget about your birthday. Anyway, anyone will forget one thing or another. So I won't get worried if you forget my birthday next Tuesday.”

    Carol and Linda took a trip to San Francisco last July. They went there to visit Nick. Nick is a friend from their old neighborhood in Rome. He moved to San Francisco five years ago. They went there by train because they wanted to see more of the United States.

    They arrived in San Francisco in the evening. Nick met them at the train station. They were so delighted to see him. He looked the same as before. They gave him a big hug(拥抱).The next day, they went sightseeing(观光).They saw the Golden Gate Bridge. They had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. At Fisherman's Wharf, they saw the fishing boats come in. The next day, they visited the University of California at Berkeley. Nick teaches music there. Carol and Linda liked the school. They thought that it was very big and very beautiful.

    They saw all of San Francisco before they left. Nick took them everywhere! They went back to New Orleans by plane because they didn't have time to go back by train. Nick was sad(伤心的)to see them go and they were sad to leave.

    All in all, Carol and Linda had a wonderful trip. They traveled(旅行)across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. They visited all of San Francisco. They had a great visit with Nick. They both wanted to go again next summer!

    One day. Many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist in England, David was brought into my office. His face was pale(苍白)and he looked at his own feet.

    David lost his father when he was two years old and lived with his mother and grandfather ever since. But the year before he turned 13, his grandfather died and his mother was killed in a car accident. His teacher told me that he refused to talk to others from then on.

    How could I help him?

    David didn't say a word. As he was leaving. I put my hand on his shoulder.

    "Come back next week if you like, "I said.

    He came and I suggested we played a game of chess. He agreed. After that we played chess every Wednesday afternoon in complete silence. Usually, he arrived earlier than he agreed. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why didn't he ever look at me?

    "Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with." I thought.

    Months later, when l was looking at his head, he suddenly looked up at me. "It's your turn, "he said. After that day, David started talking. He finally had friends in school and he even joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times. Now he had really started to live his life.

    Maybe I gave David something. But I learned a lot from him. I learned how time makes it possible to overcome(克服)what seems to be so painful. David showed me how one without a word—can reach out to another person. All it takes is a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch and an ear that listens.

    Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown work in the same office (办公室). One day Mr. Jones says to Mr. Brown, "I will have a small party at our house on Monday evening. Would you and your wife like to come?"

    Mr. Brown says, "Thank you very much. I'd love to, but let me ask my wife first." So Mr. Brown goes to the other room and telephones his wife. Then he comes back and looks very worried.

    "What's the matter?" asks Mr. Jones. "Is you wife there at home?"

    "No," answers Mr. Brown." She isn't there." My small son answers the telephone. I say to him, "Is your mother there, David?" and he answers "No, she isn't in the house." "Where is she?" I ask , "She is somewhere outside(在外面). ""What's she doing? ""She is looking for me."