This story is about a king and his close friend. The friend had a (n)1Whatever happened in his life, he always said, "This is good!"
One day the king and his friend went to hunt (打猎). The friend did something wrong and shot the king. As a result, the king lost one of his
2The friend said as usual, "This is good!"
"No, this is not good!" the king became3 and sent his friend to prison (监狱). About a year later, the king was hunting in a 4 place. Cannibals (食人族) caught him. They tied him up and were going to set fire to him. But when they found that the king had lost a finger, they let him go. They
5ate anyone that was less than whole.
As he returned home, he 6 his friend. He went to the prison at once to speak with the friend. "You were right," he said. "It was
7that I lost my finger." Then he 8the friend what happened to him. "I am very 9 for sending you to prison for so long. It was very bad of me to do this. "
"No," his friend answered. "This is good!"
"What do you 10 How could it be good that I sent my friend to prison for a year?" "If I weren't in prison, I would have been with you."
Australia is a very big country. It also has many big attractions.
The Big Banana
The Big Banana is in Coffs Harbour. It was made in 1964 by John Landy. Landy wanted something to make people come to his fruit shop, so he built the Big Banana. The idea worked.
Many people visited his fruit shop and took pictures of the Big Banana. Soon people all over Australia began making big things.
The Big Merino
The Big Merino is in the city of Goulburn. Merinos are a type of sheep. They can live in dry weather. Some places in Australia are very dry, so these sheep are very important to the farmers there. Inside the Big Merino, there is a small museum about the history of wool in Australia.
Visitors can also climb up to the Big Merino's head and look at the view through its eyes.
Here is how to leave the supermarket with the things you wanted to buy and nothing more.
Suggestion 1: Pick up a basket.
You'll head straight for the checkout (收款台)when it starts to get heavy. Don't use the trolleys (购物车)because they will make you put in extra things.
Suggestion 2: Make a list and stick to (坚持)it.
Supermarkets usually place things we use every day far away，such as bread and milk. So you have to walk along the aisles (过道)in between，buying things you don't really need on the way.
Suggestion 3: Keep away from BOGOFs (Buy One Get One Free offers).
Just how many watermelons can you eat in a week? Fruit and vegetables usually work out cheaper.
Suggestion 4: Look up and down.
The most expensive things are placed in the middle. For cheaper things, check the higher and the lower places.
Strange Plants and Animals
► Can a tree laugh?
When it comes to laughing, this tree is really funny. This is because the fruit of this tree has a hole in it. If the wind blows, this amazing tree will "laugh". When people first hear it laughing, they are usually quite surprised and begin to laugh along with the tree. It grows in the middle of Africa.
► Can a fossil be alive?
Look at this plant. It grows in the southwest of Africa. Like most plants, it has roots. But it has only two leaves and a stem (茎). Its two leaves continue to grow for its whole life. Does it look old? Not really. Actually, this plant can live as long as fifteen hundred years, so people call it "living fossil".
► Can a fish fly?
A fish can fly? Most people don't think so. But look at this fish. It looks like a bird with its large wings (翅膀). It can jump and fly out of the water, and flap（拍打）its wings up to 70 times a second to stay away from dangerous animals. You can see a flying fish all over the world.
► Can't birds fly?
Of course, birds can fly except Kiwis. Kiwis are birds, but they can't fly. Kiwis can be as big as chickens. Like all birds, they lay eggs - big eggs. People call them Kiwis because they made the sound: kee-wee. Kiwis live in New Zealand and are national animals of the country.
We all know about Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian artist of the 15th century. Many people agree that his talent is the main reason for his achievement (成就)..
Which is more important for success, talent or hard work？I believe that hard work is more important.
Talent is something that one is born with. It is a great ability that makes success easier. . He showed talent when he was very young. He didn't need to work as hard as other people.
Talent makes a great difference, but most people are not so different from the rest. Most people will not succeed if they don't work hard.
. Talent can help us at the beginning, but the one who crosses the finish line first is the winner. During the race, hard work is motivation (动力). And no one can succeed without motivation.
Hard work can be good for both the average person (普通人) and the genius (天才). Everyone should work hard. The gate of success won't open if we don't put our all into life.
In a word, hard work is more important for success than talent.
A. Mozart is a good example.
B. Life is like a long distance race.
C. But talent is not enough for most people.
D. I hope to have talent.
E. However, the great effort he put is very important as well.
Jean Champollion (1790-1832) was very good at languages. He learnt twelve languages in his lifetime. When he was eighteen, he began teaching history at university. He was younger than many of his students.
Jean was very interested in ancient Egypt. In 1821, he began to study the Rosetta Stone(罗塞塔石碑). A group of soldiers found stone at Rosetta when Jean was still a young boy. It was under the sand for hundreds of years before they dug it up. There was a lot of strange writing on the stone. The writing was in three languages. One of the languages was ancient Egyptian. No one could read it at that time. But Jean worked out its secret.
Ancient Egyptian was not a language with letters and works like English. It was made up of signs. According to many experts, these signs showed things and ideas. Jean did not completely agree. He thought that some of them showed sounds. He found fifteen signs of this kind in his study of the Rosetta Stone. Today it is possible to understand ancient Egyptian from 4,000 years ago because of Jean's discovery.
There was once a small boy who would never get dressed when his parents told him to, nor would he wear what they wanted him to. He (prefer) unusual clothes, but above all, he liked taking his time. His parents were always in a rush, and wanted him to be much (quick), but the boy didn't like this, he would (slow) down even more.
One day, his parents got so (anger) when he refused to dress that they told him to go out without any clothes at all. Amused, the boy followed his parents out of the door. He thought that (somebody) could do anything to him.
As the boy waited for his (parent) car outside his house with nothing on, a local pig farmer came along. The farmer was almost deaf and had very poor eyesight. Not only that, but also he forgot his (glass) that day. When he saw the boy's pink skin, he thought it was one of his pigs. Shouting and pushing, the farmer forced (he) into a pig cage.
The boy begged him to stop but the deaf farmer couldn't hear. When the scared boy was (final) found by his parents, he never again wanted to be mistaken for anything other than a human being. Now he's the first (get) dressed, and always looks neat.
A young man once talked to a wise old man. "I (A) ______ a prize and have a little gold now, but I (B) would like a lot more," he said. "Can you help me?"
The old man looked at him. " I can teach you how to make more money if you promise to (C)follow my advice," he said.
Then the old man took the young man to a window. "Look outside," he said.
(D)"除了空旷的田野我什么也没能看到," the young man said.
(E)"Use your money to buy this field," said the old man," and grow some cotton. In a year, you can sell the cotton and double your money. "
The young man realized (F) ______ the old man meant. From then on, he wasn't lazy any more. He worked hard all year round.
