A long time ago, a king put a huge rock in the middle of a roadway, and then he hid (藏) himself to watch because he wanted to know who would move the huge rock out of the roadway.  Some of the richest people came by and simply walked around it. Many of them loudly blamed (谴责) the king for not keeping the road clean, but none did anything to get the rock out of the way.

    Then a farmer came along carrying a heavy bag of vegetables. Upon walking close to the rock, the farmer put down his heavy bag and tried to move the rock to the side of the road. After much pushing, he finally succeeded. After the farmer picked up his bag of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying on the road where the rock had been. The purse included many gold coins and a note from the king saying that the gold was for the person who moved the rock away from the roadway.

    The farmer learnt what many of us never know! Every obstacle (障碍) means an opportunity to improve our condition.

    There was once an ugly fairy living in a fairy country. She was the kindest and cleverest of all fairies. However, no one liked her, because they strongly believed that the most important thing about a fairy was her beauty. Every time she was ready to help a child or anyone else in trouble, before she could say a word they were already shouting at her, "Ugly! Get out of here!"

    Although she was little, she had great magic power. More than once she thought about using it to make herself beautiful. But she remembered what her mother had always told her, "My dear, you are what you are."

    One day, the witches (女巫) came and caught the fairies, putting them in prison. The ugly fairy, just before being caught, put a spell (咒语) on her pretty dress. Helped by her ugly face, she succeeded in making herself look like a witch. That way she was able to follow the witches back to their country.

    The fairy used her magic power to prepare a big party for everyone there. While they were enjoying themselves, she left quietly and let free other fairies. When all of them got out of the prison, they worked together on one big spell and succeeded in putting the witches inside the mountain for the next hundred years.

    From that day on everyone remembered the brave and clever fairy. And for the next hundred years, and more, when someone ugly was born in that country, everyone was filled with joy.

Many Chinese words include directions or positions. What is the Chinese history and culture hidden behind these words?

When we go shopping, we say "mai dongxi" instead of "mai nanbei" in Chinese. Going back to the ancient city of Chang'an, the national capital in Tang dynasty, there were two large markets, one was in the east and the other was in the west, which were called "eastern market" and "western market". People went shopping either in the eastern market or the western one. As time went by, people started to describe shopping as "mai dongxi".

We use "shang cesuo" in Chinese to express "go to the bathroom" and "xia chufang" to mean "go to the kitchen". Why? In ancient times, houses were built in a certain way. The gate of the house would face south, with the bathroom in the north eastern part of the house and the kitchen in the south eastern part. On maps, north is usually at the top while south is at the bottom. In Chinese, we talk about "the north" as "shang" and "the south" as "xia". So people would say they were going "up" to the bathroom and "down" to the kitchen.

Ancient Chinese not only used "shang" and "xia" to refer to directions, but also social status. "Shang" was seen to be honorable, while "xia" stood for humility (谦卑). For example, people used "huangshang" to refer to the emperor and "dianxia" to refer to the son or daughter of the emperor, who had a lower status than the emperor.

Some people think only school children argue with their parents, however, it is not true. Communication is a problem for parents and children of all ages. If it's hard for you to communicate with your parents, don't worry about it. Here is some advice for you to bridge the generation gap(代沟).

Don't argue with your parents. Don't get to your parents when you are angry. Your parents probably won't consider your ideas if you are shouting at them. And you can't express yourself well if you are angry. Go to some place to cool off. Make sure you understand why you are unhappy. Then think about what you want to say to your parents. If you don't think you can speak to them at the moment, try writing a letter.

Try to reach a compromise. Perhaps you and your parents disagree on something. You can keep your own points and try your best to accept each other. Michael's mother didn't allow him to buy a motorbike. They talked and discussed about it. Finally they came to a compromise. His mother agreed that Michael bought the motorcycle, while Michael agreed to drive it only on certain days.

Of course, your parents might refuse to agree on something. In these situations, it is especially important to show love and respect to them. Showing respect will keep your relationship. If you show your love and respect to your parents, you will find it's easier to communicate with them next time.

A good relationship with your parents can make you a better and happier person. It is worth having a try!

 Dear Bob, 

 How are you?

 Today I want to1 you something about my new school. My school is not 2 but very beautiful. It is 3 to the People's Library. There is a post office between 4 school and the park. There 5 three buildings in our school: the6 building, the teachers' building 7 a library. 

 There are many teachers in my school. They are kind and strict(严格的). There are also8 students here. We study hard in class. After class, we often do some sports or go to the music or art Club. Behind the students' building, there is a big playground. It is beautiful. On each side of it, there are tall trees and all kinds of flowers. On the 9 side, we can play volleyball. On the right side, we can play 10 . In the middle, we can play football. Every day we have fun together on the playground. 

Yours, 

Jack