A dog found some meat. He got it and ran away asas he could. On his way home, he had to goa small river. Just as he was going over, he looked down. In the river, he saw a dog withmeat. 

"l must have that meat, too, "he said. "Iit from that dog. "As he opened his. His own piece fell, and was lost in the water. 

An old man went to India. When he got there, he saw some fruit for  Most of it was very cheap. The  thing was a basket of red fruit. 

"How much per kilo?" the old man 

"Two rupees（卢比）, "the shopkeeper answered. Two rupees in India is almost nothing,  the old man bought a whole kilogram and started eating it. 

However, as soon as he started eating, his mouth began  , his eyes began to water, and his whole face became as red  the fruit. As he coughed and struggled to breathe, he jumped up and  , screaming, " Ah!Ah!Ah!"

And yet he continued to eat the fruit. Some people who were looking at him shook their and said, "You are crazy! Those are chili pepper（辣椒）!You can't just eat them by the handful!"

The old man said to himself, "I paid for them, so I must eat them. "

This old man seemed pretty stupid. But are we so much smarter? All of us have spent money and time on something—maybe a relationship, or a business, or a job—and sometimes, even if we know there's no hope that things will change, we still continue with it, 

What we can learn the old man is this; if you've lost a lot over something that doesn't work, let it and move on. It's better than continuing to lose. 

Huan Gong was the king of the state of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. He wanted to enlist (招募)  men from different places. In order to show his sincerity (真诚), he had a bright torch (火炬) lit in front of his  day and night. The torch had been burning for one whole year, and yet  came.

One day, a villager from a small village wished to meet Huan Gong, saying that he had the ability to recite the multiplication (乘法) table. When Huan Gong heard of this, he thought it was funny. And he sent an officer  the villager. "How could you hope to see the king just because you can recite the multiplication table?"

The villager replied, "I hear that the torch before the palace has been burning for one year, but no one came. This is because His Majesty (陛下) is a king of great . All the talented men near and far couldn't be sure that His Majesty would have a high opinion of them. So they didn't dare (敢) to see him. My ability of reciting the multiplication table is truly of little , but if His Majesty could receive me , then he didn't need to worry that those with real ability would not come." He then continued. "Mount Tai is huge because it never  any single small stone; the sea is  because it gathers every small stream together." The Book of Song says. The wise kings of ancient times often went to  who cut firewood and grass to ask for their advice."Only in this way can you pool the wisdom of the people."

Hearing this, Huan Gong nodded repeatedly, and gave this villager a big reception (接待). As , within one month, many with different abilities from all places came one after another to see Huan Gong.

A 17-year-old girl Xu Zhuoyuan got to the top of the highest peak in Africa on January 1, 

2024. Xu's mountaineering journey began on a family trip to Xizang and Sichuan four years ago. Passing by the mountains in Sichuan, she felt drawn to their beauty. So she decided to try climbing them. For the next few years, Xu did hard training. She climbed peaks over 5,000 meters and did physical exercises every day. All that hard work got her ready for the big challenges she would face on Kilimanjaro.

Above 4,000 meters on Mount Kilimanjaro, the climate (气侯) is similar to a desert, with big temperature differences. The whole climb took seven days, during which Xu faced unpredictable weather such as rain and strong winds. Staying warm and avoiding heat loss were the main challenges. Xu had to keep an eye on the temperature and change her clothes when the temperature changed. This climb was also a learning experience for Xu. She was climbing with Xia Boyu, the first Chinese climber to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma with a prosthetic (假肢的)leg. He was almost 74 years old, but was still pushing on despite(尽管) having bloodied legs from his prosthesis. She was deeply inspired(深受鼓舞的) after seeing Xia's bloodied legs.

She planned to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents (大陆) and visit the North and South Poles (南极) by the time she's 18. That's her "7+2 program".

One day Suzie McCash went shopping with her mum in Tynemouth, England. Suzie was four years old. Her mum didn't feel very well at the shops, so they went home.

In the house, Suzie's mum went to lie on the sofa. She was there for a long time. Her eyes were shut and it wasn't easy for her to breathe(呼吸). Suzie was worried. Was her mum really ill? Suzie went to the house next door, but the neighbors(邻居) weren't there. So she phoned 999 — the emergency telephone number for the police.

The police officer was very kind and Suzie was calm.

OFFICER: ‘What's your mummy doing now?'

SUZIE: ‘Um, she's just lying on the sofa and she's doing nothing.'

OFFICER: ‘Are her eyes open?'

SUZIE: ‘No, they're shut.'

And later…

OFFICER: ‘Can you open the door? Can you be a big girl?'

Soon the police were at their house and some doctors were there, too. About an hour later, Suzie's mum was OK again. A doctor said, "Her mummy was very sick. Without Suzie's phone call, her mummy might be dead(去世的) now!"

Suzie's story was in the newspapers and people were surprised and happy about it. She was a very brave girl and, a year later, she was in the news again because she was named a Child of Courage at the Pride of Britain Awards(奖) for helping her mother.

I am Ashraf from Cairo, Egypt. Last summer, my cousin Sami came to Cairo for the first time. He is 28 and he lives in London. He is an architect(建筑师) and he was visiting Cairo for his job. 

 On the morning of his last day here, we went to Khan el-Khalili, It is a big market in the centre of Cairo. Hundreds of people come to the market every day. It is quieter in the morning than in the afternoon when lots of tourists visit it. 

 My dad is a taxi driver. He gave us a ride to the market. On the way, we saw many buildings. Sami liked them a lot. He said, "I like the buildings in London, but Cairo's buildings are more interesting. And the people here are friendly, too. But the streets are busier and noisier than those in London!"

 The things in the market are not too expensive. Sami bought a dress for his daughter and a toy violin for his son. We had lunch at a coffee house and Sami admired the food. He said it was both beautiful and tasty. While we were eating, we enjoyed some wonderful Egyptian music. A band was playing the violin and the drums. We also took a lot of photos. 

 Finally, it was time for Sami to go home. "Thank you for showing me around this beautiful city, " Sami said. "One day, I want to show you around my city!"

Matt is a primary school student who loves playing with little animals. One day, when he was on ( he ) way to school, he saw a homeless cat sitting in a box. It was a black-and-white cat with bright eyes. The cat was so cute Matt couldn't help playing with it.

The longer Matt played with cat, the more he liked it. The little cat followed him as he left for school. Matt then decided ( take ) the cat to school with him. He put the cat in his schoolbag went to school happily.

After Matt entered the class, he told some  ( classmate ) about the cat. As he opened the schoolbag to show them the cat, it suddenly jumped out and ( start ) running around the classroom. It even jumped onto the teacher's desk! Everyone in class was ( excited ) than ever before. Just at that time, the teacher came in and caught the cat ( quick ). Matt felt embarrassed and his face turned red.

To Matt's surprise, the teacher came up to him a smile, saying, " Matt, it's nice of you to lend a helping hand to homeless animals, but you are not allowed to take it to school. "

Max Woosey is a 12-year-old boy. He has slept outside in storms, snow and heat waves, but now he's coming indoors.

After two years of (sleep) in a tent, Max, who has raised over £700, 000, is about to remember what a bed (feel) like. "I'm still going to be in my tent a lot," said Max. "But now I've done two years. If there's a big, (danger) storm coming, I may come inside. "

Max began camping out in March 2020. At that time, old neighbor of his, Rick Abbott, who was (serious) ill, gave Max a tent and told him to take a risk with it. Later Max decided to camp out to raise money the hospital that cared for Rick. Max didn't think he would keep going a long time, it went on and on.

Over the two years, Max has been through around 15 tents and has had camping (trip) in many places. He even slept on a hotel balcony (阳台). His dad joined in the tent during last month's Storm Eunice, with Max joking that he (wake) up not by the wind but by his dad's snoring (鼾声)!

It was the summer holidays and our family rented an apartment for a week near the beach. We all went to the beach on  first day and it was fantastic! I did lots of surfing. The sea was really warm! While Mum and Dad were reading  (they) books, my brother Paul was building a big sandcastle (沙堡). He was happy for  (hour)!

On the evening we arrived, my parents were cooking supper when suddenly the computer stopped working. There was no electricity in the apartment! We had to eat our supper in the dark! The electricity didn't come on again  late at night.

The next day, we went to the market. We  (shop) when suddenly dark clouds came over and it started to rain hard. Dad  (drive) us back to the apartment.

When we got back, the rain was coming into Paul's bedroom and his bed was very wet. So for the rest of the holiday he had to share my bedroom.

 the end of the holiday, Mum and Dad were cleaning the apartment when suddenly Dad shouted, "Oh, no!" Paul and I ran into the kitchen.  strange it was! Paul's milk was drunk and my apples  (eat) by a family of mice!

We packed up our things and left the apartment very  (quick)! We were all really glad to get home.