“It's just a story,”you may think. But new research has found that crows' brains may sometimes be better than those of 6-year-old children.

In a recent experiment, American scientist Corina Logan and her team caught six crows to test them. The crows and children had to choose between two sets of tubes(试管). They had to drop stones in and get water.

With the red set, when they dropped a stone into a wide tube, the water level raised in a connected narrow tube. The blue set of tubes, however, had no connection between them.

Children aged 7 to 10 were able to learn the rule. Children aged 4-6, however, failed.Five of the six crows failed the test. But Kitty, a 6-month-old crow, passed it. She put most of the stones into the red tubes.

So, could a bird be more clever than a kindergartner? Don't be too quick to say no.

    I once had a hard time making a living in France. Three years ago, I moved to a new neighborhood and felt an intense(强烈的) need to meet people so I went to the cinema. Outside the cinema was a woman with long gray hair who had a strong smell and was asking for money. I reached for my wallet to give her a Euro and then something made me stop and enter into conversation with her. I said, “Look, all the women going to the cinema here on a Tuesday night are seeing a film that can change your life. I'd rather buy you a ticket than give you money.”

    She hesitated（犹豫） for a moment and then came in with me. She hid behind me because, she said, the people running the theater didn't like her. I got her a ticket and she sat next to me. There were about 80 women there; I noticed some of them were turning around and looking at me with expressions of surprise and curiosity(好奇心).

    I encouraged the woman I had bought the ticket for to come the following night to an event where there would be many representatives(代表) of various social services. I thought they could be of some help to her. She did come and I was able to direct her to an agency that helped women in her situation. At the same time, a woman came toward me and said, “Are you the person who bought a ticket for the woman outside the theater asking for handouts?” When I said yes she said, “I want you to come to the community center where I work. I want the other employees there to meet you.”

    This was the beginning of a deep friendship and colleague relationship. I now have a great job and have more work than I've ever had in my 20 years in France. And the woman I took to the cinema that night? I learned that she was not homeless and that she was a secretary.

    A boy called Mike had many friends, and he was proud of it. Whoever he met, he would like to show off how popular he was at school.

    One day, his grandpa said to him, “Mike, I know that you don't have as many friends as you think. Many of them are not true to you.”

    Mike thought maybe his grandpa was right. However, he wasn't sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need. It's in my room. Wait a minute.” The old man left, soon returning as if(好像) carrying something in his hand, but Mike could see nothing there.

    “Take it. It's a very special chair. Because it's invisible, it will be hard for you to sit on it. However, if you manage to sit on it, you can use the chair's magic power to tell who your real friends are.”

    Mike took the strange invisible chair to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair.

    “Nobody moves. You're about to see something amazing,” said Mike. Then he tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell to the ground. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. “Wait, wait,” said Mike, making another try. But again he missed the chair.

    Mike didn't give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair. Finally, he did it. This time he felt himself in mid-air. Then he experienced the magic that his grandpa had been talking about. Looking around, Mike saw George, Lucas and Diana holding him up, so he wouldn't fall. But some schoolmates whom he had regarded as friends had done nothing but made fun of him. Mike was quite thankful to his grandpa, who helped him test who his true friends were.

    Once upon a time, there was a lion and a mouse living in the forest.

    One day, when the lion was sleeping, the mouse ran onto his face. The lion woke up. He was very angry and caught the mouse. “I will eat you!” the lion said angrily.

    The mouse cried out,“If you do not kill me, I would be happy to give you a reward(回报).”The lion laughed at the idea. He did not think a little mouse could help such a big strong animal like himself. But he still let the mouse go.

    After a few days, it happened. The lion was caught by hunters' net(网). He tried his best to leave, after half a day, he still couldn't get out of the net. He was very sad, he thought he was dying. At that time the lion felt something biting(啃，咬) on the ropes. It was the mouse. Just before dark, the work was done. There was a hole in the net. The lion got free through the hole. He was very happy and thanked the mouse, “My friend, you have saved me. I will never doubt the power(能力) of small animals like you.”

    From then on, the lion and the mouse became friends.

    Curly is my big dog. He is so strong that he can carry everything on his back. He likes to run and play with me. He likes to follow my father around in the fields, too.

    One day my father took off his coat and put it on the ground under a big tree. Curly stood watching him. My father said, "Watch my coat, Curly." Curly sat down on the coat. My father forgot all about his coat and went home without it. Late in the evening I missed my dog. I looked everywhere for him, calling, "Curly, Curly" but Curly did not come. Soon my father wanted something that was in his coat pocket. Then he remembered what he had done. He went back to the big tree. What do you think he saw? Curly was sitting on the coat so that nobody could carry it away.