Once there was a young boy. He had no family except for an old llama. Each day the boy and his llama walked many miles, looking for a home. Each night they curled up (赌缩）and slept. But on one starry (满天星斗的）evening, the old llama died. The boy buried (埋葬）his friend next to a small icy river. Then he sat under a tree and cried. What would he do? He had no family and no home.

The boy cried for a very long time. But there was no one to comfort (安慰）him. There were only the stars in the sky.

Suddenly, the sky filled with bright light. The boy held his breath. He was afraid to move. One bright star fell to the ground. Slowly, the star took the shape of the old llama. She bent her head and drank from the river. She looked at the boy and smiled. As she jumped back into the sky, bits of llama wool fell. As the sun began to rise, the boy picked up the soft, warm wool. It gave out light in his hands like starlight. He carried the wool to the city and sold it. With the money, he bought a house. He bought two young llamas. He never forgot the star llama. And he was never lonely again.

    Dereck and Beverly are wildlife animal filmmakers(电影制片人). They have made lots of films about animals and plants.

    Their job is to keep and protect the big cats of Africa from damage(伤害). Beverly also takes photos of the lions and her pictures have appeared in National Geographic magazines.

    When they were kids, Dereck was quiet and healthy, he was good at math and science. Beverly had a twin brother. At that time, her brother and she often got their mother into trouble! Beverly was a dancer, an athlete, played the piano (not very well), and was a class leader. Her favourite subject was science and she always got excellent grades in her science exams.

    When in the field, their work starts at around 4 am. After drinking a cup of tea, they drive out into a bush(灌木丛)to find their subjects. Sometimes that is a lion pride(群). Lions are family animals, they usually live in groups of 15 or more. Sometimes that is a single leopard(花豹). They follow the animals for the day, filming, researching, and collecting facts, information or pictures. They don't stop working even when they have lunch. They are often back in camp by 8 pm.

    When talking about the favourite places to explore, Dereck says, “We live in it!” Beverly thinks being in nature is her favourite. Dereck thinks running or taking a swim in the Okavango swamp(沼泽)—especially swimming close to crocodile(鳄鱼)is great fun, but Beverly says, "Swimming is fun but crazy in these waters."

    There were many plants in a forest. When spring came, a pine tree saw a red rose nearby and said, "What a beautiful flower! I wish I were that lovely. "

    The rose proudly said, "It seems that I am the most beautiful flower in this forest." Then the rose looked at a cactus (仙人掌) and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns（刺）! "

    "What a proud flower!" thought the trees.

    As the days passed, the red rose often looked at the cactus and said bad words about it, like "This plant is useless. How sorry I am to be his neighbor!"

    The cactus never got angry and even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

    Spring passed, and the weather became very hot. As there was no rain, the red rose began to wilt（枯萎）.

    One day the rose saw birds put their beaks (喙) into the cactus and then fly away. The red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds were getting water from the cactus.

    "The cactus has water?" asked the rose.

    Yes, you can also drink some from it. The birds can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help. "

    The red rose felt too ashamed to ask for water from the cactus. But finally it did ask for help. The cactus kindly agreed.

    The rose learned a lesson and never judged (评价) anyone by their appearance again.

    Alan Smith is blind. He teaches blind children in his country. To show the world that the blind can also do something amazing, he walked across the world's largest salt desert, Salar de Uyuni, only with the help of a GPS.

    Walking across the desert is not easy for an able-bodied person, let alone(更不用说) a blind man. Before setting off, Alan spent three years training for the journey. He studied everything he could find about the place and asked for advice from other travelers. During his journey, he only took water, food and sleeping bags. He walked about 20 kilometers a day. He showed great perseverance(毅力)and finished the 140-kilometer journey in just seven days.

    The brave teacher thought his week-long journey was wonderful. He said, "The journey was quite good. There were snow storms and winds, but luckily I made it."