As a volunteer teacher, I traveled a long way to a small village school in Longzhou, Guangxi. On my way there, I thought about the village, the school, and the children there. However, my heart sank when I arrived there. It wasn't what I expected. It didn't look like a school at all! The school had only three rooms, one for Grades 1, 2 and 3, and the other for Grades 4, 5 and 6. There was a third one for me.

    The children welcomed me warmly on my first day. They asked me a lot of questions, and I told them stories about myself and my life in Beijing. The next day, I gave them a test to find out their level（水平）. To my surprise, though the test was very easy, over half of the students couldn't pass it. I knew they needed me.

    I was busy preparing lessons, reading test papers every night. I enjoyed teaching these lovely and hard-working children, and I could see that they were making progress with my help. I have also learned a lot from them. I understand their lives better, and we are now good friends.

    I have worked in Longzhou for a year now. I'm happy, and the experience has been very useful for me. I love the small village and the children. In fact, I would like to continue working here.

Scene 1

    (The setting is a room in the palace of the Queen of Sheba. The Queen sits at one end of the room on a chair. Zahrah stands on one side of the chair. Amram is showing some silks to the Queen.)

Amram: Would your Majesty be good enough to feel this silk? See how fine and soft it is!

    (Amarm comes a little closer to the Queen and holds out some purple silk. She feels it.) 

Queen: Yes, it is. And I like this bright purple color very much. (She turns to Zahrah.) Zahrah, what do you think of it?

 Zahrah:  I like it very much, and it is a good color for a queen, your Majesty. (She folds up the silk and puts it to one side.)

Amram:  The king of my own country, the wise King Solomon, likes this bright purple better than any other color.

Queen: I have heard many things about your king.   

Amram: He is a good king, your Majesty, and a kind man. All his people love him.

Queen:  I have also heard that he is very wise. Is it true, Amram, that King Solomon understands what animals say?

Amram: It is true, your Majesty.

Queen (Smiles): It's very hard to believe.

Amram: If I told you what happened one time when I was with the king, I think you would believe it.

Queen: I'd like to hear your story.

Amram: Well, one day our king and some men of his palace were riding on horseback to a nearby city. The king was riding ahead of the rest of us. All at once he pulled his horse to stop. He looked down at the sand in the road.

Queen: Go on.

Amram: Then the king turned his horse off the road and onto the grass. He kept his horse on the grass a little way before turning back onto the road.

Queen:  Did he say why he stopped and then turned his horse off the road?

Amram: King Solomon told us he had seen some ants hurrying along in the sand of the road. He said he had heard them say they were afraid that the horses would walk on them.

Queen (Surprised): And that was why your mighty king turned off the road?

Amram (Proud)Yes, your Majesty. The mighty King Solomon stopped to hear what the little ants in the sand were saying. He turned off the road to save them from being hurt.

Queen: Then he must be as wise and as kind as people say he is.

Amram: Now you can believe it, can't you?

Queen:  I won't fully believe it until I see and hear him myself, Amram.

Amram: Then why don't you come to our country and pay him a visit, your Majesty?

Queen:  Yes, I think I shall do that, Amram. But first I must think of a way to test this wise king. You may go now, Amram,

Amram: Good day, your Majesty. (He backs away.)

(Curtain)

    The story of the fall of Troy is one of the oldest stories in history. It dates back to around 800 BC, to a poem written by a man called Homer. The poem is called The Iliad(《伊利亚待》). Ilium is the Greek name for Troy.

The story is a myth(神话), but many believe the city of Troy actually existed. Some people have thought it was in modern Turkey. Others have suggested it may have been in central Europe, northern Europe or even England.

    You could write a long book on all the paintings, music and stories about Achilles. His name is used for many things. Since 1744, about nine Royal Navy warships have been named after him, for example.

    A Trojan horse is a saying that now means something that seems friendly, but is actually a trick to hurt you. Some kinds of computer virus (病毒) are now called Trojans. An Achilles heel means a person's main weakness. The Achilles tendon(腱) is a medical name for part of your heel at the back

    Look at the boy. His English name is Frank Smith. His Chinese name is Wang Lei. He is from England. He is 12. My name is Li Dong. David is my English name. I am from Qingdao, Shandong Frank and I are in grade seven. But I am in class Four and he is in Class Five. We are good friends. He often helps me with my English.

    These are our schoolbags. They are black. You can see two pens, a ruler and four books in Frank's school bag. In my schoolbag, there are three pens, two rulers and five books

    When I was a child, I was a tomboy(假小子). I had a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. My brothers were two and four years older than I. We often played games together.

    Once, my brothers and I fell in love with playing a game called "stealing horses". Then my parents decided to buy my brothers guns. These were not "real" guns. Because I was a girl, I didn't get a gun. They shot and shot at everything with their new guns. I tried to "fight" them with my bow and arrows (弓和箭). But I was still in the poor position without a gun.

    One day while I was hiding behind a wall, looking out toward the fields, I felt a terrible blow to my right eye. I looked up just in time to see my brother lower his gun. Both brothers rushed to my side. My eye felt great pain and I covered it with my hand. "If you tell that to Mummy," they said, "We will get a whipping(鞭打) from Daddy. You don't want that to happen, do you?" I did not. "Here is a piece of wire(电线)," said the older brother, picking it up from the floor, "Say you stepped on one end of it and the other flew up and hit you." "Yes," I said. To be honest, I didn't want them to be punished. So I did as my brothers told me to do.

    A week after the "accident" my parents took me to see a doctor. Finally I knew my brothers were worried about my eye, so they told our parents what had happened and asked them to take me to see a doctor.