One day, Confucius (孔子) led his students to the State of Chu. When crossing through a large forest, they saw an old man{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (stand) under a tree, catching cicadas (蝉) with a bamboo stick. Confucius said, “You are very good at {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(catch) cicadas. You must have some special skills.”

    “That's right!” the old man answered. “The cicada is a clever little insect. If they hear the noise of the leaves in the wind, they {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(fly) away. Therefore, people who want to catch cicadas{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(train) their hands to hold a bamboo stick without shaking. If you can place three pellets (弹珠) on top of the bamboo stick without falling off, you might be able to catch cicadas; when five pellets{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(place) on top without falling off, catching cicadas is as easy as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (pick) a ball up from the ground.”

    He then added, “But that is not enough. People must be good at hiding themselves. Right now, I{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(stand) under a tree like half of a tree stump ( 树 桩 ). Last of all, one must be attentive ( 专 心 的 ). When I am catching cicadas, I only see their wings. No matter what {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(happen), nothing will disturb me.

    Hearing this, Confucius{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(turn) to his students and said, “No matter what you do, you can only succeed if you love what you're doing and pay enough attention to it. This is what this old man {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(teach) us.”

    Over millions of years ago, there were no deserts. Now about three tenths of the Earth's surface{#blank#}1{#/blank#} deserts. The size of the world's deserts is always {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (change). Deserts can be hot or cold. The Australian Desert is a hot desert, while the Gobi Desert in Mongolia is an example of a cold desert. Deserts are dry areas {#blank#}3{#/blank#} less than 50 cm of rain falls each year. The Sahara Desert in Africa receives less than 1.5 cm a year. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} rain doesn't fall very often in deserts, sometimes even for years, there can be heavy rain {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(sudden). Because they are dry, deserts have wide changes in temperature each day. When the sun {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(go) up, it is very hot. At night, the heat {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (receive) by the ground during the day {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (quick) disappears (消失), and then it becomes very cold. Because{#blank#}9{#/blank#}the change, living in the desert is very difficult. Man can make deserts, but they can also stop them from getting larger and larger. Planting trees can prevent the sand from{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(spread).

— Sounds great! We'll have a lot of fun there.