很久很久以前，玉帝想制定一个计算时间的方式。他将十二年算作一个周期，却不知如何命名。正一筹莫展之时，他看到动物们，于是决定开展一场赛跑，用最先冲过终点线的十二种动物来命名十二年。动物们都迫不及待了，采用各种小诡计，各显神通。最后，玉帝以“鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪”的顺序命名了一个周期中的十二年。 Let’s take a trip. We will go to a place before time. The Jade Emperor rules over the Heavens. He is kind. He is wise.The Jade Emperor wants a way to tell time. He makes hours and days.He makes months and years. Each year has twelve months. Twelve years make one cycle.He wants to name the years in each cycle. He is not sure what to name them. Then he sees the animals.“I will have a race!” he says. “The first twelve animals to finish the race will have a year named for them!”The animals hear about the race. They can’t wait!Cat lives next door to Rat.“We could win!” Cat tells Rat.“I will wake up extra early,” says Rat. “I will be a winner.”“Wake me up early, too,” Cat says to Rat. “We can go together.”The next day, Rat wakes up extra early. He is very excited. He runs straight to the race. He forgets all about Cat!Rat gets to the start of the race. He sees a lot of animals there. Ox is there. Horse and Pig are there. Even Dragon is there, along with others!“Oh no!” thinks Rat. “Those animals are much bigger. They are much stronger. I am tiny. I am a bad swimmer. I can’t run fast.”Rat is smart, though. He has an idea.Rat runs up to Ox.“Can you help me?” he asks. “I can ride on your head. I will sing songs in your ear.”(Rats are smart and charming, too.)“Okay. I like songs. That sounds good.”Rat climbs on Ox’s head. He sings and sings. Ox swims and swims.Ox is first to climb out of the river. He runs toward the finish line.“We are going to win!” shouts Ox.Rat jumps off Ox’s head. He runs ahead!“Yes!” cheers the clever Rat. “I will be FIRST!”And he is! Jade Emperor names the first year after Rat. Ox is second.Tiger is third. Then comes Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.Rat walks home with the First Prize.Cat wakes up late. He runs outside. He sees Rat with the prize. Cat gets very angry. Rat did not wake him! That is why cats have been chasing after rats ever since. The End
Question: What zodiac animal are you?
核心词汇
rule over 统治，管理
heaven n. 天国，天堂
cycle n. 周期
extra adv. 特别地，非常
finish line 终点线
Prize n. 奖项
chase v. 追赶
ever since 从此
The Jade Emperor wants a way to tell time. 玉皇大帝想要一种计时的方
式。
He is not sure what to name them. 他不确定该给他们命什么名。本句包
含由 what 引导的宾语从句，作为 not sure (about)的宾语。
The first twelve animals to finish the race will have a year named for
The sun shone on the calm sea. Princess Nuwa smiled at its reflection.It looked like a gold pebble in the water.Nuwa walked down to the beach. She slid her small boat into the water.She rowed out to sea.Suddenly, clouds hid the sun. Birds returned to the beach.Rain poured down. A strong wind blew across the sea. The wind made the waves rise. Higher! Higher! Waves pounded her boat.The strong waves tipped over Nuwa’s boat. The boat sank into the sea.Princess Nuwa sank too. She fought against the waves. They seemed higher than the sun. She reached upward. Was she swimming? Was she flying?Nuwa turned into a beautiful bird! She spread her wings. She flew high above the water.“Jingwei! Jingwei!” the princess bird cried. That’s how Princess Nuwa got her new name.Jingwei was mad at the sea. It had sunk her boat!She cried her name as she flew. “Jingwei! Jingwei!”She picked up a stick in her beak. She dropped the stick into the sea.On the second day, Jingwei dropped a rock into the sea.On the third day, Jingwei found a gold pebble. It looked like the sun. She dropped it into the sea.Day after day, Jingwei dropped a pebble, rock, or stick into the sea.The sea laughed at Jingwei. “Your pebbles can never fill me up! Not in a million years!” Its waves grew higher. They almost reached Jingwei.She flew higher. “I will still try!” Jingwei cried. “I will never give up!”She flew in the sunshine. “I will fill you up, Sea! I will stop you from sinking any more boats!Jingwei never gives up. She is small. The sea is big and strong. Still, Jing Wei does not stop. Every day, she makes the long, tiring trip. Every day, she drops a pebble, rock, or stick into the sea.On calm days, she smiles at the sun's reflection in the sea. Jingwei teaches a lesson. She shows us to never give up even when it is hard. The End
Question: Should you keep trying to reach a goal that is nearly impossible? Or should you choose another goal? Explain.
核心词汇
shine (shone) v. 照耀，发光
princess n. 公主
reflection n. 倒影
pebble n. 卵石，小圆石
slid v. (slide 过去式) 滑行，滑动
row v. 划（船），划（一下）
pour v. 倾泻
pound v. 连续重击
tip v. 使倾斜，使倾侧
sink (sank) v. 下沉，沉没
fight (fought) v. 战斗，搏斗
stick n. 枝条，枯柴
beak n. （鸟）喙
fill up 填满
tiring adj. 引起疲劳的，累人的
Your pebbles can never fill me up! Not in a million years! 你的小石头永远
The glowing sunbird fluffed its feathers and sang a song of morning. It spread its wings, sending sparks shooting like fireworks. Then it took flight. It was both sun and sunbird at once, bringing daylight to the world.The nine other sunbirds watched their brother, and squawked, and seethed. They burned with envy. When would they finally get their turns to fly? In nine days? In three days? It was too hard to wait! The nine remaining sunbirds fumed. They shifted uncomfortably in the burnt tree in the middle of the Taklimakan Desert. They were jealous. They were bored.One sunbird flitted from branch to branch, flying a little higher each time. “Dad will be mad!” another sunbird called. “You’re not supposed to fly! It’s not your turn!”Their father, Jade Emperor, had made a promise to each of them. Every sunbird would have plenty of chances to be the Sun. Each day, a fiery sunbird took a turn flying across the sky as the Sun. It was so FUN! They wanted to fly every day! But since there were ten sunbirds, it took a long time to get another chance to show off. They wanted to have fun all day, every day, forever!Everyone thought the sunbirds were the most beautiful things in heaven or Earth. Everyone but Hou Yi. He loved the Moon. He loved her cool light, the way she was different every night, yet still the same.Sometimes she glowed. Sometimes she hid her face behind the blackness of the night.To Hou Yi, the Sun resembled a target. A bull’s-eye for one of his arrows. Oh, he wanted to shoot it! To be fair though, Hou Yi was always looking for target practice. Since he had been a toddler playing with a toy bow and arrows, he had never tired of practice. That was nearly twenty years ago. After years of practice, he even looked like a bow. He kept his hair in a pointed topknot on his head and had long, lean arms and legs.Wherever he went, he practiced archery. As he walked to the market, he placed an arrow on his bow. He watched a cloud chased by the wind. He shot an arrow through it. He saw an orange at the market and wanted to eat it. He slid a tongqian on his arrow. He took aim. “All right!” he cheered. “Chose my orange and paid for it all with one shot!” The fruit seller slid the coin off the arrow, his hands shaking with fear. As Hou Yi bit the orange, the sky suddenly brightened. What was going on? Hou Yi slipped an arrow onto his bow. He squinted. Were there two suns in the sky? A low cloud burned up from the heat.He heard terrible squawking! A flock of sunbirds rose into the air. Hou Yi closed his eyes tight, blinded by the sudden brightness. The sunbirds circled in the sky, unaware of anything below. They played a game of chase. They were so happy! They wanted to fly forever! A few swooped in the air, flames shooting off their wings and tails. Others admired their reflections in a nearby lake, until it boiled away from the heat.The sunbirds were finally having their fun! But it was not fun for anyone on Earth. It was terrifying! Hou Yi heard frightened horses running. Then he felt the heat. It was like wave after wave of fire. Hou Yi breathed in smoke and coughed. Covering his eyes and mouth, he ran to the shade of the fruit seller’s stand. He bumped into the grape bin. All the grapes had turned to raisins!“You’re the best with a bow and arrow,” said the fruit seller. “You’ve got to do something.”“I will,” Hou Yi said. He left the fruit seller’s stand. He had to get closer to the sunbirds to stop them. He headed to Kunlun Mountain. The hot air attacked him at every step. The scorched ground cracked under his feet.When he finally reached the top of Kunlun Mountain, Hou Yi slid an arrow onto his bow. He squinted at the nearest sunbird, pulled the bow back, and let the arrow fly. Then he quickly shot eight more arrows. He hit each bird and sent it zooming away from Earth, into space. There was only one sunbird left. It soared above Hou Yi’s head. He readied his bow. Then, he stopped to think. If the last sunbird were gone, he could watch the lovely Moon all the time. But what about the plants, animals, and people that needed the Sun? Hou Yi put away the last arrow.The last sunbird set below the horizon. Far, far away in space, the nine arrows slowed. The nine sunbirds became star-birds, flying forever in the night sky.They shine every night for all to admire. They shoot across the sky when they want to travel! They have their happily ever after. The End
Question: Describe what would happen if the sun never set.
核心词汇
glow v. 灼热，发光，燃烧
fluff v. 拍松，抖送（头发、羽毛等）
spark n. 火光，火星
squawk v. 发出响而粗的叫声
seethe v. （内心中）发怒，激动，骚动
fume v. 发怒，怒气冲冲地说话
Taklimakan Desert 塔克拉玛干沙漠
flit v. （鸟）轻快地飞，振翼
fiery adj. 火焰的，燃烧着的
resemble v. 像，类似于
bull’s eye 靶的中心，中心目标
toddler n. 学步的儿童
lean v. 瘦的，少脂肪的
archery n. 射箭术
flock n. 鸟群
swoop v. （突然）下落，下降
stand n. 售货处，摊
bin n. 箱子，仓
raisin n. 葡萄干
scorched adj. 烧焦的
zoom v. （飞机）陡直上升
soar v. 高飞，翱翔
horizon n. 地平（线）
He loved her cool light, the way she was different every night,
yet still the same.他喜欢月亮清冷的月光，以及月亮每夜变化，
却又没有变的样子。she was different every night, yet still the
same 作为定语从句，修饰 the way。
Chose my orange and paid for it all with one shot!（箭上串铜
第二天，后羿走下山，沐浴在暖暖的阳光下。人们都十分敬仰他，向他请教箭术。黄昏时，后羿在水边偶遇一位年轻女子，名唤嫦娥，他们后来结婚，幸福得生活在了一起。后羿却觉得不够，他想和嫦娥永远厮守，便开始寻找一种能使人永生的药物。他能找到吗？ Hou Yi slept under the light of millions of stars and nine star-birds. The next morning, he walked off the mountain, the sunshine warming his back. As he neared the village, everyone came to see him. People bowed and asked to study archery with him. Birds sang to him. Rabbits hopped in circles by his feet. Even bugs wanted to express their thanks.He finally had to run away from a tiny army of very grateful dung beetles and their gifts!It was a long day. Being a hero was really tiring! At last sunset arrived.The sunbird dutifully went below the horizon. Hou Yi walked beside a pond. He looked into the water and aimed at the reflections of the starbirds. “Why are you shooting at the water?”Hou Yi spun around to see a young woman laughing. She had hair as dark as midnight, skin as pale as the moon, and eyes that shone like star-birds. You know how this goes: It was a beautiful night by the lake.Nine stars were shining extra bright. The man and woman were young.Well, of course Hou Yi and Chang’e fell in love!They lived happily ever—No! This isn’t a fairy tale!—Hou Yi and Chang’e got married and lived happily together. And that was enough for Chang’e. But it was not enough for Hou Yi. He wanted them to be together forever. He wanted his happily ever after. He looked for a special medicine that could defeat death. He found nothing. He asked everyone he met if they knew the secret of life.He taught many people to shoot arrows. But no one could teach him what he wanted to know. Then one day, he met a young man named Peng Meng. Peng Meng always had an arrow ready. But unlike Hou Yi, Peng Meng didn’t care what he shot with his arrows. He didn’t mind that his arrows hurt others. He practiced every day, shooting birds, bees, rabbits, and whatever else he could find. He only wanted to beat Hou Yi, but Hou Yi did not know that.One day, Hou Yi invited Peng Meng over to his house for mooncakes.Peng Meng refused to leave his bow and arrows outside. He thought it would be funny to play a trick on Hou Yi and Chang’e. He pretended he was reaching for a mooncake. He let loose an arrow. It smashed into a vase filled with water! The vase crashed to the floor!Water splashed everywhere! Chang’e’s pet bunny raced out of the room, scared. And the mooncakes were ruined. Peng Meng smirked. “Sorry,” he said.“Never mind,” said Hou Yi, not knowing that Peng Meng had done it on purpose. “Training to be an archer is dangerous.”“Let me make it up to you,” offered Peng Meng. “I shouldn’t tell you—” “Then don’t,” interrupted Chang’e. She looked at Peng Meng with suspicion.Peng Meng continued. “I know how you might get your happily ever after.”Chang’e answered quickly. “We are happy.”Hou Yi added. “But we don’t have a happily ever after. We’re missing our ever after. Please tell me, Peng Meng, what do you know?”“The Queen of Heaven has a magic pill.” Peng Meng said. “If you find her, maybe she will give it to you. They say if you swallow the pill, you will rise to heaven and become a god.”“I’ll find the Queen of Heaven!” said Hou Yi. “I’ll ask her! But why should she give me the magic pill?”“You saved the world!” said Peng Meng. “That’s worth something!” He went on. “I’ve heard that The Queen of Heaven sometimes visits Kunlun Mountain. I live near there. Why don’t you come home with me?”Hou Yi followed Peng Meng out, blowing a kiss to Chang’e as he left. As they neared the mountain, Peng Meng ran ahead. “My house is a mess!”he explained. “I want to tidy up before you see it!” He hurried away.Thick fog hung around the base of the mountain. Hou Yi smelled the fresh scent of rain. He heard the sound of birds singing. He turned to look and saw someone hidden in the clouds. She almost seemed to be part of the clouds. Stunned, he dropped his arrows. He bowed, afraid and filled with wonder all at once.She lifted his chin and placed a pill in his hand. Then she disappeared. The End
Question: There are many different ways to tell this story. You may have listened to this story as a holiday tale for Mid-Autumn Festival. Talk about one difference between the two versions of the story.
核心词汇
archery n. 射箭（术），射箭运动
dung beetle 金龟子
dutifully adv. 尽职地，顺从地
reflection n. 反射，倒影
spin(spun) v. （使）旋转
let loose 释放，松手
smash v. 猛击，猛撞
splash v. 溅，泼（水、泥浆等），飞溅
smirk v. 假笑，傻笑，得意得笑
on purpose 故意地
make up to 补偿
suspicion n. 怀疑
scent n. 香味，气味
stunned adj. 吃惊的，惊呆了的
But no one could teach him what he wanted to know. 但是没有人
能教给他他想知道的东西。本句中 what he wanted to know 是由
what 引导的宾语从句，作为 teach 的宾语之一。
He practiced every day, shooting birds, bees, rabbits, and
whatever else he could find.他每天练习，射鸟、蜜蜂、兔子以及
他能找到的任何其他东西。本句中 whatever else he could find 是 由 whatever 引导的宾语从句，作为 shoot 的宾语。
Hou Yi followed Peng Meng out, blowing a kiss to Chang’e as he
Hou Yi stared into the fog for a moment. He could hardly believe he had met the Queen of Heaven. He looked down at the pill in his hand. It was all true! Not a dream! He hurried home, forgetting all about Peng Meng and his plan to visit. He forgot about everything but his hope, his bow and arrows, and Chang’e. It was so easy to become a god! Just shoot nine suns from the sky and wah-lah! Get the happily ever after! Easy!It was not so easy for him when he told Chang’e. “One pill. You got one pill,” she said. “Let’s not do it.” “We can split it?” suggested Hou Yi. He nervously twirled an arrow between his fingers.“What happens if we split it?” she asked. “We live halfway between heaven and Earth? On the Moon? Is that where you want to live?”“I get it,” said Hou Yi, crestfallen. “I’ll ask her for another one.” He and Chang’e locked the pill in a wooden box.Hou Yi promised to return with another pill and left. He passed Peng Meng, who was practicing nearby.After the sun had set, Chang’e was startled by a knock at the door. It was Peng Meng. “You’re welcome to come in,” said Chang’e, hesitantly.“But please leave your bow and arrows at the door with your shoes.” Suddenly Peng Meng grabbed her by the hair and jerked her forward.She felt the sharp arrow point press against her chin. “Don’t make a sound,” he hissed. “You’re not a goddess yet. You can still die.”Chang’e looked past him down the road. Hou Yi was long gone.“Give me the pill,” Peng Meng demanded. Chang’e led him to the locked box, her mind racing. She couldn’t let this awful person get the powers of a god! She shuddered.“I have to bend down to unlock the box,” she said. “You can point the arrow at the back of my neck.” As she unlocked the box, Chang’e hunched her back, so Peng Meng couldn’t see what she was doing. She slipped her hand inside the box. Quickly, she popped the pill into her mouth, then she spun around to face Peng Meng.She swallowed the pill. She shot upward and hit her head on the ceiling.“What?!” yelled Peng Meng, grabbing her foot.Chang’e kicked with her newfound strength, knocking Peng Meng to the floor. She crawled along the ceiling, aiming for a window.He grabbed his bow and arrows. “I’ll get that pill one way or another!” he yelled, aiming at her. “I don’t care that you’ve already swallowed it!”With a strong push, Chang’e reached a window. Peng Meng shot an arrow. Chang’e pushed out into the night. The arrow bounced off the wall. Peng Meng chased her outside.Chang’e kicked her legs to rise faster. She willed herself to reach the low-hanging clouds above her. She had to hide. Peng Meng shot arrows one after the other. An arrow scratched her leg. Another tangled in her long hair.She hid behind a cloud. “Help! Hou Yi!” she cried, with the booming voice of a goddess.“Coming,” answered Hou Yi, running down the mountain.Peng Meng ran away when he heard Hou Yi’s voice, never to be seen again.Chang’e now struggled to stop her rise to heaven. There was nothing to hold onto, only air. There was no way to stop.Hou Yi stared at the sky, trying to find Chang’e, but it was too cloudy. Then a shooting star lit the night. He saw her, flying upward like a night heron.“Take the pill!” Chang’e yelled.Hou Yi answered, “She wouldn’t give me another.”“I love you,” Chang’e called, sadly.Hou Yi answered “I love you.”Chang’e didn’t want to be a goddess. She wanted happiness, but she didn’t want an ever after. Heaven would not be heaven without Hou Yi. Better to be closer to him than live in heaven. She stretched out like an arrow and aimed for the moon. Then she gave a strong kick. Her aim was true. She landed on the Moon.How could Hou Yi get Chang’e back? He slid an arrow onto his bow. He could shoot down the Moon! Then Hou Yi reconsidered. An arrow would only push Chang’e farther away, just as it had the nine sunbirds.Setting down his bow and arrows, Hou Yi looked up at the Moon he had always loved, and loved it more. Loved her more. The End
Question: What do you love about the Sun or the Moon? Why?
核心词汇
twirl v. 转动，扭转，捻弄
crestfallen adj. 沮丧的，羞愧的，低头的
startle v. （使）惊吓
hesitantly adv. 犹豫地
jerk v. 急推，急拉，急扭
hiss v. 发出嘶嘶声
shudder v. （人）打颤
hunch v. 使弓起，使隆起
pop v. 把……突然（或迅速）地一放
crawl v. 爬，匍匐前进
bounce v. 跳，跃，弹起，反弹
scratch v. 抓，抓破，划破，划伤
tangle v. 纠结，缠结，乱作一团
heron n. ［鸟］鹭
Better to be closer to him than live in heaven. 能够靠近他比住在
Are you one of those people who thinks all babies are cute? Do you say, “Oh, look at the sweet chubby cheeks! Those sharp little horns!” What?You’ve never seen horns on a baby? Neither had the people when I was born. I’ve heard that an old man screamed, and the village dog howled when they saw me. Some people don’t enjoy surprises. Few like the surprise of seeing an ox’s head on a human’s body. Not even a regular human body, no. My body has a see- through stomach. That’s me—Shennong!Once the surprise wore off, people became interested. They gathered around to watch every time I ate or drank. “Wow, look at the meat in his stomach!” This was at the beginning of time. We didn’t have WeChat or TV in those days. Of course, people weren’t fussy about entertainment!They would cheer if I burped.But about the time I became a teen, things started to change in the village. The animals in the neighborhood got tired of living near people who ate only meat. They all moved away or became dinner. The hunters returned home with empty hands. No food! Everyone got very hungry.Watching my stomach was no longer entertaining. It just made people hungrier.I could no longer be an entertainer, so I had to find other work. First, I tried to make rope for a living. I was able to braid well. Yay, me!However, when I bent down to pick long grasses or reached to get vines for rope, everything got tangled in my horns. By the end of the first day, a little red bird made a nest in the tangle of grass and plants on top of my head.I had to try something else. I thought I might have a promising career making mud pots. First, we shaped the pots, then we set them on tall racks to dry and harden. One time, as I super carefully set my first pot on a very crowded rack to dry, my new boss called my name. I turned my head to answer her—and my horns knocked off every pot on the rack! “It’s not for you, Shennong,” cried my boss. “Go join the hunters!” Even the red bird didn’t want me anymore. The noise scared it away.The hunters, however, thought I had real talent. They were sure the oxen would not be afraid of me. The kinniest hunter said, “You look a lot like an ox. They won’t hide from you, they will welcome you as a brother.” Then he stared at me, saying, “When I look at you, I get hungry.”We looked everywhere for the oxen. Do you know what we found? We found that oxen are not very brotherly. Not one ox came by to see me and moo “hello.”After a couple of days, the hungry hunters started looking at me strangely. Then the skinny hunter rubbed his stomach. “What do you think you are, animal or man?” he asked me. He sharpened his spear.Then two more hunters began to sharpen their spears.I was scared they would make me their dinner! “I will find food for us,” I promised and hurried away. I went deeper into the forest to get away from the hungry hunters. I had to help my village, and not just because I didn’t want to be somebody’s dinner. I kept hearing the hunter’s question in my head. Was I an animal or a man? After walking all day, I fell asleep, my stomach growling like a hungry ox. In my dreams, I met the Emperor of Heaven. A red bird flew from his hands. I followed the bird and ate what it ate.The sound of birdsong awakened me the next morning. I was wildly happy to see the little red bird flying into the tangle between my horns. I guess I had been lonely. Then it dropped pebbles on the ground in front of me. I looked closer. They were not pebbles. I would have to call them something else. I tried out a few names before I thought of the word “seeds.” I chose it instead of narsblasts. . . You’re welcome.I watched the red bird dig in the dirt. It ate some of the seeds and pushed some into the ground. Then it ate seeds from some flowering plants. I did everything that the bird did. Got my nose and horns very dirty. But those seeds and plants were tasty! Everybody ought to try them!I carried the seeds back to the village and planted them. That’s when I found a job I was good at! My horns were great at digging! My stomach was expert at digesting plants! I knew why I was born with an ox’s head and a see-through stomach! It was to help my people.“Is he going to die?” they asked each other as I took a bit of rice.“No, look, his stomach is digesting it. Rice is food!”“It tastes good,” I told everyone. “Try it!” Soon the villagers had rice, millet, beans, and wheat to eat! I taught everyone what the red bird had taught me. They learned to grow food. The villagers had enough to eat. The animals came back to the neighborhood. Everyone was grateful to me, so what did they do? They gave me another job.They started calling me Emperor Yan! Me? An emperor? What a job! The End
Question: What did the hungry hunters think of Shennong?
1. They thought he was an emperor.
2. They thought he could help them find oxen to be friends with.
My friend the red bird left sometime after giving me the seeds. I wasn’t sure when. I missed the red bird, but how could I be lonely? People bowed to me all the time!But I was wrong. I had thought everyone was bowing and saying, “Shennong.” But many were actually bending over and sneezing or coughing. “Shennong! Shennong!” My people were sick.I had to help. But what could I do? I made a small fire, bowed deeply, and asked the Emperor of Heaven for help. “We’re both emperors!” I cried. I didn’t have a cellphone. Fire was the best thing I could do to get ahold of the heavenly guy.There was a deep silence. No birds sang. No Emperor responded.Maybe the red bird might help again? But where the red bird had nested between my horns, I now wore a tall, royal hat. I had become too fancy. I took off the hat and left to get help!A few of my healthy friends came with me on the journey. We traveled far, eating what we found along the way. One morning, we came to a cliff. My eyes looked up the cliff and at the red sun. Could it be? Did I see the red bird on the sun? I ran up the cliff to get closer. I fell back down. The biggest of my friends folded his hands like a basket. The others pushed as hard as they could against my . . . well, let me call it by the name we use when it’s about an ox. This story is for teens after all, I can’t get too racy. They pushed on my hindquarters. As in be-hind. They pushed and pushed. I strained and reached. Nothing. Now, I eat mostly plants. Hey! Chocolate and rice are plants! I eat a lot of those! No way could I be so heavy! But my groaning friends seemed to think otherwise. Finally, with a heroic push and a scramble up the rocks, I was climbing.Can I tell you that I raced up the cliff with the grace of a soaring red bird? I can tell you that. It didn’t happen, but I can certainly tell you. You make your own decision about how graceful I was!Finally, I was alone at the top of the cliff, looking down at my stillgroaning friends. The sun was now covered by clouds that dipped very low in the sky.I gathered vines and made a rope. Yes, of course stems got tangled on my horns. But I made a rope! Then I swung the rope. I threw it as hard as I could. It stuck on the cloud!I was much better at climbing a rope than a cliff. I climbed hand-overhand and horn-over-horn. I pulled myself onto the cloud when I reached the top. Then I lay on my stomach for a moment. I was tired, I tell you.I turned over . . . and was nearly blinded. In front of the sun, and in front of me, was the Emperor of Heaven. He was clothed in the fabric of the clouds and the red rays of the sunlight. He was magnificent!How could I greet the Emperor of Heaven? I didn’t know. I bowed deeply. Then I stared into the eyes and face of the Emperor of Heaven. I felt that I should look at my toes to be polite, but I couldn’t make myself.When I looked into the face of the Emperor of Heaven, I saw my people:sick and healthy, young and old, light and dark. I looked into the face of China, and I couldn’t look away. It was too beautiful.He walked over to me, opened one of my hands and put a covered jar in it. He opened the other and handed me a whip. I watched as he floated away and disappeared into the clouds. I think I saw my friend the red bird then, trailing behind him. Perhaps it was only the rays of the sun and my dazzled eyes. The End
I opened the jar. At first, I smelled old plants. Stinky! I looked inside. It was a dark liquid. I tasted it. I knew this gift must be to help my people get well. It tasted awful, so it had to be good for us. . . .Wow! I wasn’t tired anymore! I grabbed the rope with one hand. I slid all the way down, cracking the whip over my head! Then I tied the rope to the top of the cliff and slid down again. “Woohoo!” I yelled to my friends.They raced to get out of my way. I hit the ground and bounced back up.“I met the Emperor of Heaven, and he looks like all of you!” I yelled, bowing to my friends. They were very startled. “Let’s go! I’ve got medicine! . . . And . . . a whip. Not sure why the Emperor of Heaven gave me a whip, but it’s lots of fun!” I cracked it over my head again!“Woohoo!”We hurried toward the village but took a path that ended in a thicket.There were too many grasses, thorny bushes, and other plants to be able to move forward. I used my whip to slice through the thicket. Then I tasted the juice of the plants I had cut. My tongue stopped feeling anything.“This juice would be good for pain,” I said. “My tongue is numb.” I now knew why the Emperor of Heaven had given me the whip. I turned to my friends. “All the medicines our people need are already here, growing. I only need to find and share them.”Our group of friends split up. Some left to bring the medicine jar to the village. Others explored with me. In that thicket, I began eating. My friends helped me make detailed notes about every plant. It was just like I was a baby. My friends watched my see-through stomach as I sampled leaves, barks, and roots.But they saw me differently. I knew who I was, and so did they. I was Shennong, man and ox and god of plants.And I knew who they were. Each of my friends had the face of the Emperor of Heaven.We traveled together across China, looking for medicines. We found the healing red mushroom after I choked on a poisonous plant. We found tea on a very, very good day. And every night, we wrote down what we had learned. “Eat this to help a bad stomach. Don’t eat this, it can kill you.”We also knew what we had to do. I had to try every plant. My friends had to share the knowledge. Then my people would live, be healthy, and build China. We all knew that one day I would eat a plant that would kill me. They would write about it. No one else would die from eating that poison. We didn’t talk about what would happen, but we knew.It happened when I was on top of a cliff. The clouds were hanging low.The sun was as red as a bird. I took a bite of a plant and felt my insides break. My friends ran to me. Their faces were the face of the Emperor of Heaven. Their faces were all the faces of China. I could not look away from my last view. There was too much beauty. The End
Question: How can being different from others provide opportunities to help? Please provide a couple of examples.
“Last one to the bridge is a rotten egg!” I tapped my new classmate Liang Shanbo on the shoulder and took off running. “I smell rotten egg!” he laughed, catching up to me as we neared the river.“It’s you that smells like a rotten egg!” I yelled, glancing sideways at Liang Shanbo.Then he passed me! No way! He tapped the handrail of the bridge when he reached it first. Laughing, he stuck out his foot, pretending to want to trip me.“You stink!” I yelled, falling into him. “No, you stink!” he laughed, pushing me off him and holding his nose.“You’re the rotten egg!” He pretended to crack an egg on top of my head.I pushed him. We play-fought and then fell to the ground laughing. I looked at a pair of butterflies flitting overhead. While we watched them, Liang Shanbo turned to me, suddenly serious.“Do you have a best friend?” he asked.“No,” I answered. “I don’t know anyone here but you.”“You want to be best friends?” he asked me.“Sure,” I said, coolly. I didn’t want to seem over-eager. But inside I jumped up and down with joy! Then I said, “Let’s get some incense. We’ll promise to be best friends forever.”We found unlit sticks of incense under the simple wooden altar in the pavilion. As we lit each other’s incense sticks, the sweet smoke blended with the gathering fog. Then we placed the sticks into the sand of the altar.“Zhu Yingtai, I promise to be your best friend.” He said. “I promise to be your best friend, Liang Shanbo,” I answered.“We’ll always be brothers,” he said.I smiled at him, deciding it was OK to keep a secret from a friend. We kneeled together. Then we touched our foreheads on the ground three times to honor the heaven and the earth.He smiled, and his eyes crinkled. “I promise to always beat you in footraces--”“What?” I broke in. “No way!” I tapped him and took off down the other side of the bridge. “Last one to the end of the bridge is a rotten egg!”When I returned home from boarding school a few weeks later, my father said, “Make sure you work hard and do your best.”“I’m getting high marks,” I told him.“And watch out for Liang Shanbo,” he added.“What do you mean, Father?” I asked.“You have to be careful,” he said. “Make sure your best friend doesn’t become your worst enemy,” he warned me.“That could never happen!” I cried.“No one can know our secret. You need to take my place as the head of the Zhu family,” he said. The End
Question: How can a friend can become an enemy? Think about what Zhu Yingtai’s father might be afraid of or remember something in your own life to answer the question.
核心词汇
rotten adj. 腐烂的; 恶臭的; 堕落的; 极坏的
stink v. 散发出恶臭
flit v. 轻快地掠过
incense n. 香; 焚香时的烟
altar n. 祭坛，圣坛
pavilion n. 亭，阁楼;（公共活动或展览用的）临时建筑物
blend v. 混合;把…掺在一起;（使）调和;协调
crinkle v. 起皱
Make sure your best friend doesn’t become your worst enemy.
Liang Shanbo and I spent three years together, studying, laughing, running, and talking. We called each other “my brother from another mother!”After three years, Liang Shanbo had to go away to college. I joined him in walking part of the way to his new town. “I will hide in your room!” I joked. “No one will notice me. I will be a worm, curled up in the corner.”Liang Shanbo laughed. “I know you don’t take up much room,” he said, putting his strong arm around my shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “But you’re no worm in a corner, Zhu Yingtai,” he said. “You’re a caterpillar, not a worm.” He wiggled his fingers on his head like antennae. “Soon you’ll burst out and fly! You’ll be magnificent. Be patient. You’re not quite grown up enough to join me at college.”“My father won’t let me go to college,” I told him, sadly. “And what if I’m already grown? What if I’m already as magnificent as I can be? I already know what I want from life and who I want to spend it with!” I cried, tangling my sleeves in my fingers.He didn’t answer. His eyes shone golden in the light of the setting sun. I caught my breath and counted to ten to calm myself.Avoiding his golden eyes, I handed him his going-away gift. “It’s funny you should talk about butterflies,” I said. I hoped, hoped, hoped he would like them.“These are very beautiful!” he said, smiling. “I will hang these jade butterflies from my belt. They’ll remind me of you! It will be like we are together.”“Only I’m a lot more talkative!” I joked.He smiled and gave me a pat on the back. Then I opened my gift. It was a qin. I had thought it was impossible to distill our friendship into a gift. There were too many memories for one little gift to contain. But somehow, he had done it. I loved my gift! I played the qin for him then, the music telling him everything that I could not put into words. But had he really heard me?“I’ll come visit you,” he promised. “We promised to be best friends, remember? You’ll always be a little brother to me.” “You should become my real brother!” I said, saying out loud what I had been thinking about for three years. “Marry my sister! You’ll be perfect together. She’s just like me. Only she looks better in a dress!”He laughed. “I’ll visit you during the first break,” he promised. “You can introduce me!” Then he furrowed his brow and his mouth became a hard line. He shook his head and said, “But I’m not good enough for the great Zhu family, you know that.”I wanted to say that money and power were not important. I knew he was good enough for anyone and any family. But we both recognized the differences in our families. Instead of talking about them, I haltingly said goodbye. Then I hurried back to school.The days at school seemed to pass by very slowly. The moment my school let out for the break, I raced home. My parents met me at the door before I had a chance to let myself in.“Yingtai!” My parents cried.“You’re home at last! And guess what? We’ve solved the problem!” said my father.“Good!” I said. Then I asked, “What problem?” My parents laughed. “You’ve been living with the secret so long,” said my mother, shaking her head. “You’ve forgotten.”“You have to be a man to head the Zhu family,” explained my father for the hundredth time since I was born.“But you can’t spend your life as a man,” added my mother. “You were born a girl and now you are a woman.”“That’s the problem,” said my father. “But we’ve found a husband for you. You won’t have to pretend to be a boy anymore. He lives far enough away. No one here will know you’re a woman.” “But . . .” I stammered.“When you’re there, you can be a woman and someday a mother like me. You can live a normal life,” said my mother. “If you lived here. . . .Your whole life you would worry about keeping it secret that you’re really a woman.”“We had a dress made for you,” my father said. He held up a red silk gown with butterfly sleeves. “For you to wear at your wedding.” “Go try it on!” urged my smiling mother. She ushered me into the bedroom. After shooing away the maid, she helped me dress, chattering happily the whole time. I said nothing.Suddenly I heard Liang Shanbo’s deep voice calling hello. My eyes widened. A servant hurried to let him in the front gate. The End
Question: What would be difficult about living as a boy if the person was a girl?
核心词汇
squeeze v. 榨取，汲取;轻轻地捏
wiggle v. 摆动; 扭动
antennae n. 触角，触须( antenna 的名词复数 )
tangle v. 使）缠结，（使）乱作一团
distill v. 提炼; 抽出…的精华
furrow v. 使起皱纹
haltingly adv.迟疑不决地；犹豫地
stammer v.结结巴巴地所；口吃
gown n.长袍；礼服
shoo v.发出嘘声将...赶走
It’s funny you should talk about butterflies. 你竟然提到了蝴蝶，
真有意思啊。本句是祝英台在表达自己的惊讶之情，她未料到梁
山伯会在她拿出玉蝴蝶礼物之前也提到蝴蝶。本句中 should 意思
为竟然，表示惊讶。
Only I’m a lot more talkative! 只是我比这对玉蝴蝶话更多。上文
梁山伯提到玉蝴蝶会让他想起祝英台，本句省略了 than the jade
butterflies, 为祝英台自嘲话多，同时也委婉表达了愿意留在梁山
伯身边，互诉衷情。
I had thought it was impossible to distill our friendship into a gift.
我原本以为把我们的有益仅仅寄托在一个小小的礼物上是不可能
的。本句以 had thought 的过去完成时，描述过去的过去的事
件，表示祝英台之前的想法。
My parents met me at the door before I had a chance to let