A well-known old man was being interviewed and was asked if it was correct that he had just celebrated his ninety-ninth birthday.

     “That's right.” said the old man. “Ninety-nine years old, and I haven't an enemy in the world. They're all dead.”

  “Well, sir,” said the interviewer, “I hope very much to have the honour of interviewing you on your hundredth birthday.”

     The old man looked at the young man closely, and said, “I can't see why you shouldn't look fit and healthy to me!”

    If you are walking through Newyork's Central Park on a fine summer day, you might come across a group of children listening to a story. The storyteller will be sitting beside a statue of a kindly looking man holding an open book. Although this man never actually visited New York, his fame as a writer of fairy tales and children's stories has spread far beyond his homeland.

    Hans Christian Andersen is recognized as a key figure in 19^th-century romantic fiction. He is, without question, the best-known writer Denmark has ever produeed. His stories continue to delight children and adults the world over. Classic tales such as The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The emperor's New Clothes are loved for their humor and imagination. They are loved for the simple but meaningful messages they often contain.

    Born on April 2, 1805, in Odense, Demark, Andersen was an imaginative child. His father, a poor shoemaker, died in 1816. With a mother who was unable to read or write, the boy received little education as a child. At 14, Andersen traveled to Copenhagen. He was lucky enough to spend some time with the Royal Theater, but when his voice changed, he had to leave. Luckily, one of the directors helped him by arranging his education.

    Andersen went to the University of Copenhagen in 1828, and his literary career began soon afterwards. He hoped to achieve success with poems and plays, and made too low an estimate(估计) of the kind of stories which have made him famous. Though not particularly fond of children, he had a gift for entertaining them. This led a friend to suggest he write down the stories he invented.

    Many of Andersen' s tales are based on folklore(民间故事), and many are products of his own imagination. All of them are told in a humorous and informal style that children loved from the start.

    Before his death in 1875, Andersen regularly traveled around Europe, and was warmly welcomed everywhere he went.

    Nowadays, of course, Hans Christian Andersen is a household name. Whether he would have liked or not, millions of children and adults will always be grateful for the magie his stories have brought to their lives. The young listeners in Central Park are proof of that.

By Anna Matteo

28 January, 2019

    A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home with his family. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers (救援者) that he was not alone in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend — a bear.

    The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends near his grandmother's house in North Carolina. When the other children returned but Casey did not, the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police.

    Police formed a search team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and—no Casey.

    Then on January 24, someone called the police saying he heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. He was in good health.

    Casey told the rescuers he had hung out with a black bear for two days, a bear he called his "friend".

    The police officer Chip Hughes spoke with reporters from several news agencies. He said Casey did not say how he could survive in the woods for two days in the cold, rainy weather. "However," the police officer said, "he did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear with him."

    Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts, including some 600 volunteers, police and members of the army. Doctors at the medical center gave Casey some examination. He was then sent to his family on January 25.

    His mother talked with reporters and thanked everyone who joined the search for her son. "We just want to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took the time out to search for Casey," said his mother. "He is up and talking He's already asked to watch cartoons."

    Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains(锁链), no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.

    He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn't try to get away." Well,' the trainer said," when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free."

    How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn't.

    Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed at it once before?

           We should never give up the struggle(斗争) in life.