A young man from a village called Nawalapitiya married a young woman from Maiyuwa, a small village. They lived with the man's big family-his parents, his brothers, their wives and children.  The family kept an elephant, in which the woman soon took a great interest. Every day she fed it with fruit and sugar.

    Three months later, having quarreled with her husband, the woman went back to her parents' home. Soon the elephant refused to eat and work.  It appeared to be ill and heartbroken. One morning after several weeks the animal disappeared from the house.

    It went to the woman's home. On seeing her, the elephant waved its trunk and touched her with it. The young woman was so moved by the act of the animal. So she went back to her husband's home.

    When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings (缺点). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn't a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with (忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

    He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, "Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said."

    I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.

    I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. "That's just for you," he said. "You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be helpful to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right."

    Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure (珍惜) all your life!

A man was walking in a forest. He was holding an axe (斧子) in his hand. A little tree stopped him and said, "Please use your axe to 1 those tall trees, my friend. Because of them, the sunlight cannot fall on me, and I have no room at all to spread myself. Without them, I'll be the tallest tree in the forest."

The man 2 to help the little tree. He used his 3 to cut down the trees. Then the little tree had 4 room. The little tree felt happy and said 5 to the man. When the Sun came out, the little tree lost water and it became very 6 . Later when a storm came, the little tree 7 all its leaves and branches. "Oh, poor little tree!" a bird said 8 "You shouldn't ask the man to cut down the trees. The tall trees protected you so that you didn't worry about heat or wind or rain. Time went by and you would 9 . When you get tall and 10 , you can have enough strength to fight against the Sun and the storms. So I don't think you should do that." After hearing the words of the bird, the little tree felt regretful (后悔的).

Jim had no patience and often changed jobs. His parents were worried and they took Jim to Frank, a wise（明智的）man in their village． After listening to Jim＇s1 ，Frank asked Jim to take a walk with him. 

"What's your favorite2 ?"Frank asked. "Strawberries, " Jim said. 

Frank gave Jim some seeds and said, "Plant them in the garden. " After doing this, Jim got 3 so they went back. 

An hour later, Frank said, "Jim, go outside and see if strawberries have come out!"

"But. . . how can strawberries come out so4 ?"asked Jim. "OK, then5 . Go and see later. "said Frank. 

After a while, Frank asked Jim to go outside again to see if strawberries had come out. 

Later, Jim returned and said, " Nothing6 !"

Hours later, Frank said. "Jim, this time strawberries must have come out. " Jim returned with the same7 , "The plant hasn't come out!" "Let's change the seeds this time, " said Frank. 

Jim was8 and said, " After planting a seed, you have to9 it and wait for a long time to get fruit! Don't you know that?"

Frank smiled, " This is what I want to tell you. "

Jim realized his problem. He started a new job with10 and hard work. In the end, he became a successful man. 

 Ava had been out of school for a long time because of the holiday break. School was just two days away. She was 1 about all the new things she had to learn and the new friends she had to make.

 Ava's mum saw her change and 2 what was wrong. Ava told her mum about her mood. Her mum had a(n)3 . She could bring her stuffed bear(毛绒熊) Teddy with her to school.

 On the first day of school, Ava put Teddy in her 4 and headed off to school. After getting into the classroom, she was a little nervous. Then she 5 Teddy. She took him out of her backpack and hugged(拥抱) him,6 soon she felt a lot better.

Throughout the day, Ava held Teddy whenever she felt worried. Teddy always made her feel better.

 One day, Ava saw another child playing with a stuffed dog. He was Lucas, and Bingo was the dog's name. Lucas said Bingo helped 7 feel calm and brave, just like Teddy did for Ava. The two 8 playing together, and they became good friends.

9 Teddy and Bingo, Ava and Lucas made new friends and felt more confident and comfortable at school. They even started the Stuff Animal Club to10 those like them.

Ye Lianping is a 96-year-old retired teacher from a village in Anhui Province. He has been teaching left-behind children there for free during the past 24 years.

Teaching has always been an important part of Ye's life. After he retired, he began offering free English-language classes to left-behind children. He first set up a classroom in his own house. Later, with the help of the government, he got another two classrooms. To provide education for more children, he also set up the Ye Lianping Scholarship Fund with almost all his money and the donations (捐赠物) from others. So far, it has helped hundreds of left-behind children.

Ye is quite generous to these children, but he spends very little money on himself. He lives a very simple life. He lives with his wife in a house built over 30 years ago. He never buys any drinks. And he has been wearing the same jacket for over 40 years.

Although he is getting older, Ye is never tired of teaching. In 2018, he got hurt while riding a bicycle to buy vegetables. Instead of resting in bed for recovery, he quickly returned to class with a walking stick.

Ye is racing against time to spend as much time as possible on left-behind children's education. People call him "the candlelight of the village". But he said, "I'm just a firefly (萤火虫), making little light, not as much light as a candlelight can give."