Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. “That's a beautiful bird,” he said to the pet store owner, “But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual bird?”

    “No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk,” the pet store owner said.

    “I see. How can I make it talk?” the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, “Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?”

    “Yes,”the man answered.

    “Well, you pull those strings,” the pet store owner told him. “That will make the parrot talk.”

    The man asked, “Do you mind if I try?”

    “Not at all,” the pet store owner said.

The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, “Good morning.”

    The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, “How are you today?”

    “That's not very interesting, ” said the man. “Any parrot could do that.” Then he laughed, “But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?”

    “I'll fall off my perch, you fool!” the parrot said.

    My interest in cooking started when I was 11, partly thanks to my mother. She didn't really like cooking and when she did cook. I didn't like her food. Once I was watching something about cooking on TV and I thought I could do this, so I went to the bookstore and looked for the biggest cookbook I could find.

    During a year, I had made most of its recipes (食谱) and was ready for a bigger challenger (挑战). I wanted to create my own dishes and I started cooking for more people than just my family. To my happiness, my parents allowed me to build a test kitchen. I did much cooking test my dishes in it and my skill became better and better. Now as a teen chef (主厨). I have cooked in top-class restaurants around the country. I am not doing it for money, but because I love cooking.

    Now I know that when you stop caring whether you will be famous or do well, your happiness will come to you.

These days, a woman in Chengdu, Sichuan, is much welcomed on the Internet. Her name is Xie Hongying. She is 50 years old and people call her Auntie Xie kindly. You may want to 1 why so many people like her. Now you can find the reasons(原因) from her 2 . 

Auntie Xie sells 3 at the Chengdu Giant Panda Base. Her apples and figs are 4 and she sells them at very good prices. But these are not the only reasons. The Chengdu Giant Panda Base is a popular place to visit. Every day, Auntie Xie 5 many foreign(外国的) people come and go. And she finds it's 6 for them to buy things from the near stores. Because they can't speak Chinese. Then she thinks if she speaks 7 well, she can talk with them better. Also, she may sell more fruit. So she studies English hard when she is 8 . And when she has difficulty with a new word (单词), she opens her 9 and looks it up. Now, she can talk with the foreign visitors easily and her fruit sells much better than before. 

To have a better life, the 50-year-old Auntie Xie is brave enough(足够勇敢的) to 10 , study and try. That's the most important reason why so many people like her.

Do you know Borrowing Arrows （箭） with Straw（稻草） Boats？This is a famous{#blank#}1{#/blank#} about two smart men﹣﹣Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. 

One day，Zhou Yu gave Zhuge Liang an impossible task. He asked him to make 100，000 arrows in ten days. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}，Zhuge Liang accepted it at once. "No problem，" Zhuge Liang said. "I'll bring you 100，000 arrows in three days. "

Zhuge Liang asked his soldiers to fill 20 large boats{#blank#}3{#/blank#} many straw men. On the early morning of the third day，Zhuge Liang's soldiers sailed the boats towards the camps of Cao Cao's army on the other side of the river. The soldier shouted and beat their drums{#blank#}4{#/blank#} . 

While Cao Cao's soldiers{#blank#}5{#/blank#} sailing on the river，they heard the sounds. At that time，they{#blank#}6{#/blank#} they were in danger. But they could not see through the{#blank#}7{#/blank#} fog （雾） on the river. Cao Cao asked his soldiers to shoot arrows towards the sounds of the{#blank#}8{#/blank#} and the shouting. Zhuge Liang's boats were soon full of arrows. 

Zhuge Liang's soldiers then turned the boats around and shouted， "Thank you for{#blank#}9{#/blank#} arrows，Cao Cao. " Zhuge Liang took all these arrows to Zhou Yu. There were{#blank#}10{#/blank#} than 100，000 of them. Zhuge Liang made the impossible task possible. That's why the story is so famous. 

 Jane's grandparents live on a big farm. Jane often visits {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(they) at weekends. On the farm, there are many {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(kind) of animals, like chickens and ducks. Jane likes playing with them because it is {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(real) fun.

 There is a small dog on the farm. It {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(have) no mother. It never plays {#blank#}5{#/blank#} other animals. Jane often gives the poor dog some food to eat.

 Soon they become good {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(frieiïd). Every time, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the dog sees Jane, it runs up to her. Sometimes it runs after Jane to the lake. Jane can {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(count) ducks and the dog can swim in the lake.

 Her grandfather often asks her, "{#blank#}9{#/blank#} does the dog like you so much?""He likes me because I love him," Jane answers. "Yes, animals are our friends, so we should be kind to them," Grandfather says with {#blank#}10{#/blank#} smile.