Yours

Jack

    Once upon a time in Greece, there lived a young man called Narcissus. He lived in a small village on the sea and was famous in the land because he was quite handsome. Villagers would turn up on the streets to stare at the beautiful child.   

    When he grew up, people always said "How handsome Narcissus is!" Villagers thought that Narcissus could not be any more handsome than he already was. But as years passed Narcissus became a teenager. His beauty grew and became so great that he was known all over country of Greece.

    As he grew, Narcissus was very proud of his good-looking face.

    "Oh! You are so handsome, Narcissus!" Narcissus said one day as he looked into a pool. "There's nobody more handsome in the whole world! I'd love to kiss you. And that's just what I'll do!"

    He leaned closer to the water. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell into the pool.

    Narcissus tried to reach the bank of the pool, but he could not swim and he drowned.

    A horse fair is an interesting place. There were young horses from the country, little Welsh ponies and many beautiful horses too. But there were also a lot of poor, thin horses, tired from hard work. I was very sad to see them.

    At the horse fair there was a man with a gentle voice and kind grey eyes. He offered 23 pounds for me, but they refused. Then a man with a very loud voice came. I was afraid he was going to buy me, but he walked off. Then the grey-eyed man came back again and said:

    "I'll give 24 for him."

    "Done," said the salesman. "He's a quality horse and if you want him for cab (出租马车) work, he's a bargain."

Half an hour later we set off for London, along country roads, until we came to that great city. There were streets to the right, and streets to the left. We went into one of the small streets, and then into a very narrow street, with small, old houses.

    My owner stopped at a house. The door opened, and a woman, a little girl and boy, came out.

    "Is he gentle, father?"

    "Yes, Dolly, as gentle as a kitten; you can pat him."

    Dolly, the little girl, patted my shoulder without fear. It felt so good! They led me into a comfortable, clean stable, and after a delicious meal I lay down to sleep, thinking "I'm going to very happy here".

    My new owner's name was Jerry. His wife was called Polly and they had two children, Harry and Dolly. The next morning they came to see me. I loved it when they patted me and spoke in gentle voices.

    "Let's call him 'Jack', after the old horse, shall we, Harry?" said Dolly.

    "Yes, let's," said Harry.

    The first week of my life as Jack, the London cab horse was very hard. The noise and the people and the traffic on the streets scared me. But Jerry was a very good driver, and that helped a lot Jerry soon found that I was ready to work hard and do my best, and he didn't whip (鞭打) me.

    He kept us very clean, and gave us as much food as we wanted. But the best thing was that we had Sundays off.

Pandas are one of China's treasures. They are so lovely that many foreign tourists come to China to see them every year. 

Some of the foreigners even choose to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} pandas. Abe Nobuko from Japan, is one of them. She came to Sichuan many years ago and worked {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a panda keeper. When Abe Nobuko was three years old, her grandmother bought {#blank#}3{#/blank#} a toy panda. The little girl {#blank#}4{#/blank#} it very much. She went everywhere with it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Abe grew up, she learned a lot about pandas. 

One day, her mother {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to her, "You like pandas so much, Why don't you find a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} that has something to do with pandas?" Abe thought it was a great idea. In order to work in the panda zoo, Abe learned {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in college. After graduation, she came to China to study about the animal protection. Three years later, she started working at a panda base in Sichuan. 

Abe does her best to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the pandas at the base are healthy and happy. The job is {#blank#}10{#/blank#} , but Abe never complains (抱怨). "I love pandas and I love this job," she says. 

Do you like pandas? If you do, then try to learn as much about pandas as you can!

Helen Keller was both blind and deaf. 1 she had these disabilities, she became a skilled writer and speaker.

Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was 19 months old, she became very 2 and the illness left her unable to see or hear.

When Keller was 6, she got a teacher named Anne Sullivan. Sullivan used Keller's sense of 3 to teach her. She handed Keller a doll. Then she traced(摹写) the letters of the word "doll" on Keller's hand. Keller 4 the connection between the letters and the object she was holding. Then she learned that things had names.

With Sullivan's help, Helen made progress 5 . Soon she could 6 sentences by feeling raised words. A few years later she learned Braille(盲文), a special system of writing for the blind that uses raised dots(凸起的原点). People read Braille with their fingers.

Even though learning to speak was a bigger challenge, Keller decided to face it bravely 7 giving up. Keller 8 to do it by touching the lips and throat of a person who was speaking. Then she could feel the way the lips and throat moved. At the same time, someone spelled out the words that were being spoken.

Keller was very 9 and learned quickly. She graduated(毕业) from Radcliffe College in 1904. Then she wrote magazine articles and books that told people about blindness. In 1913, Keller began giving speeches, mainly for the American Foundation for the Blind. Her efforts have a great 10 on the whole world with more and more disabled people being treated nicely and fairly.