A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew. One day， his friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and 1 it.

    Seeing the gift， the farmer was very happy， and he thought he would also have a lot of wonderful apples， but when he got home， he felt 2 . He did not know where to plant it. He thought over and over and considered every place he could think of. 3 ， he decided to plant the tree in his woods. There were many high trees with thick leaves in the woods. With those trees around ，no one else could see the young apple tree. He even felt proud of himself for finding so secret a place for the apple tree. Every day he went to take care of the tree， watering it. To his surprise and 4 ， the apple tree didn't grow as well as he expected.  It died without sunlight and good soil.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a 5place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily. "If I had planted the tree near the6 ， passers-by(行人) would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields， my neighbors would have come at night and 7 some of the apples! If I had planted it near my house， my own children would have taken the fruits. No matter where I plant the tree， I can't have8 to enjoy the apples： So there is no difference where I planted it."

    "Yes，" said the friend. "But sooner or later someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed(抢夺) everyone of the fruit， but also have 9 a good apple tree! You don't know the true meaning of 'share'!"

    We should learn to 10in our life. The more you want to own something all by yourself， the less you get at last.

One night, my family was driving back from visiting my uncle in the middle of a very bad snowstorm.

The road was normally two lanes (车道) going in each direction, but there was so much snow that it was down to one lane. We were scared, but we felt safe because my father used to work as a truck driver. He's a very safe driver.

We were all alone on the highway until three cars pulled up right behind us. They used their lights of the car and beeped their horns (按喇叭), wanting to get by us, but there was no place for us to pull over.

After a while, we stopped at a restaurant to wait for the storm to calm down.

The three cars behind us drove in too. They were full of young men. They were talking about how slow we were driving. One of them said loudly enough for us to hear, "If you don't know how to drive, you shouldn't be on the highway."

Soon after, the young men left even though the storm was getting worse. My father decided that we should wait inside, hoping the storm would stop.

After it cleared a little, we headed down the road. Finally, we came around a turning. We could not believe our eyes—the three cars were all in the ditch (沟渠)!

Dad ran to the cars. The young men were all okay, but they were freezing and very frightened. A police officer arrived and took some of the young men to the next gas station. We gave two of them a ride.

It was a very quiet drive. My dad turned to the young driver and said with a little smile, "You know, if you don't know how to drive, you should stay off the road."

The man was very upset. My dad smiled and said, "I was a truck driver for fifteen years and we had a saying: There are old drivers and there are bold (大胆的) drivers, but there aren't any old bold drivers."

The young man understood and hung his head in shame.

①You want to go on holiday, but don't have enough money for luxury hotels and expensive trips? Backpacking might be right up your street. 

②Backpacking is a very cheap kind of travel. European and American students and young adults who may not have all that much money often do it. It is called backpacking because, instead of using a suitcase, people put all their things in a large backpack. A backpack sits on your back, and you pack all your clothes inside. 

③The most popular places for backpacking are Southeast Asia and South America. These countries aren't very expensive, and are also very hot for most of the year. India and Australia are also very popular. Last year over 400, 000 backpackers hit Australia. 

④Backpacking, in fact, is much more than a holiday—for young people in Europe, it is seen as a way of learning about the world. Backpackers often travel alone for many months, as this is seen as more of an adventure and challenge. Beyond finding new worlds, backpacking, people say, is all about "finding yourself". 

Three students are sharing stories about their favorite teachers.

I often felt shy in front of a group of people. So I didn't like speaking in front of others. And my first day at the new school made my classmate laugh. 

My teacher asked me1 my name on the blackboard. Of course, I knew my name and knew how to write it. But standing at the blackboard with the eyes of so many classmates on my back made2 nervous. I forgot all the things but those eyes. I wanted to cry. I didn't know what to do. I could not write a word. 

"Just forget us and write your name, " the teacher said3 and walked to my side, "What is your name?" 

I was too4 to answer. 

"Richard, " all the students answered5 me. Then they laughed loudly. 6 sad I was! 

After class, the teacher told me to go to her office. She told me that people might feel nervous7 they speak in front of many people. Then I8 that there was nothing. I just needed to do it as often as possible. 

Since then, I have become brave. I have tried my best to take part in some speech competitions. I used to think if I could not go on, life is nothing but an awful song. But now I know the9 of courage(勇气). I believe that I would be10 confident student.