There was a man who was going through hard times. He went bankrupt(破产) in business. Although he worked hard, failure was all that he had seen. After he tried again and again, he left everything behind and went into a ______. In the forest, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He ______ his story with the old man. “Can you give me one good reason not to ______?” He asked the old man.

“Look,” the old man said, pointing to two ______. “Do you see that fern(蕨类植物) and bamboo there?”

“Yes,” the man answered.

“When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds(种子), I took very good care of ______. Within a short period of time, the fern ______ grew from the earth,” the old man went on.

“I watered and took care of the bamboo seed for years, ______ it didn’t sprout(发芽). There was no sign of growth. But I did not give up and went on ______ it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”

“The little bamboo tree had been growing underground for the past ______ years, in the fifth year and beyond, it developed a root system(根系) strong enough for its ground growth. If it hadn’t done this, it would not be as strong as it is now. So you know, all the time you were trying, you were actually growing ______ roots,” the old man said.

A zero-waste life is a lifestyle that hardly creates any rubbish.

“Zero waste” was first suggested by a French woman called Bea Johnson. Her idea is: live a life and try not to create any rubbish; use different kinds of ways to save the environment, such as stopping the use of one-off objects; giving unwanted things to others or donating these things to organizations like the Red Cross.

A zero-waste life follows the 6R rule—Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot. Chen Yuan, 27, is deeply interested in this idea. She and her boyfriend Joe have lived in Beijing for many years. Over August-October when Chen followed the rule of zero waste 6R, she and her boyfriend both produced only two cans of rubbish. Now the couple have opened a small shop in Beijing, where they use wood products to take the place of plastic ones and cloth bags printed with environmental logos. The store also has second-hand books and CDs to make the best of the used things.

“The zero-waste lifestyle is not for ascetics(苦行僧). It is just around us.” Chen expects some of her friends to join her on the road to zero waste.

   When autumn arrives in the United States and Canada, you can see one of nature’s greatest scenes—the yearly migration(迁徙) of the monarch butterflies(帝王蝶).

No other butterfly in the world migrates like the orange and black monarch of North America. They can not live for long periods in cold weather. So each autumn around October, the butterflies travel up to 3,000 kilometers south to spend winter. Some even fly to the mountains of Mexico.

It usually takes the butterflies two months to reach Mexico. When it is warm, they start to back north in the spring. But not one butterfly finishes the whole trip. They lay eggs along the way and die. It might take the monarchs as many as four to five generations(代) to complete the journey all the way back up to Canada, says Sarina Jepsen, who directs the endangered species program for the Xerces Society.

The most amazing thing about these butterflies is that they return to the very same trees in Mexico that their great-great-grandparents used the winter before.

However, the number of these colorful butterflies has dropped in recent years. The US Fish and Wildlife Sen ice said that nearly a billion monarchs have disappeared from overwintering sites(越冬地点) since 1990, the Washington Post reported, one of the main reasons, experts say, is that farmers have used herbicides(除草剂) on the milkweed(马利筋) plants that these butterflies feed on.

……

The Forbidden City in Beijing was the emperors’ palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is also called “zijincheng (the Purple Forbidden City)”. Though its walls are red and its roofs are yellow, the palace’s name mentions the color purple. How did it get this name?

The character zi refers to the “ziwei star(Polaris,北极星)”. According to ancient Chinese astronomy (天文学), the ziwei star was surrounded by 28 other stars, meaning it was the heart of the sky. People believed that the palace of the God Emperor, which is called ziweigong, or ziwei palace, was located on this star. Chinese emperors were believed to be the sons of the God Emperor. It was believed that their palace on Earth should be just like the ziweigong in the sky. That’s how the Forbidden City got its name.

In Chinese culture, many people believe that the color purple stands for good luck. This belief began with Laozi, the ancient philosopher(哲学家) and founder of Taoism(道教) who lived around 2,500 years ago. One day, when Laozi was traveling through the Hangu Pass(函谷关) in Henan from the east, a purple mist(薄雾) suddenly appeared in the air. It is believed that this mist was connected to Laozi in some way. This “purple air from the east” story made people believe the color was a symbol of great saints from that point on.

Last month we asked our students about their free time activities. Our questions were about exercise, use of the Internet and watching TV. Here are the results.

We found that only fifteen percent of our students exercise every day. Forty-five percent exercise four to six times a week. Twenty percent exercise only one to three times a week. 1.百分之二十的同学一点也不锻炼。

We all know that my students often go online, 2.but we were surprised that ninety percent of them use the Internet every day. The other ten percent use it at least three or four times a week. Most students use it for fun and not for homework.

The answers to our questions about watching television were also interesting. Only two percent of the students watch TV one to three times a week. Thirteen percent watch TV four to six times a week. And eighty-five percent watch TV every day! 3.Although many students like to watch sports, game shows are the most popular.

It is good to relax by using the Internet or watching game shows, but we think the best way to relax is through exercise. 4.它有益于身心健康。Exercise such as playing sports is fun, and you can spend time with your friends and family as you play together. And remember, “old habits die hard”. 5.So start exercising before it’s too late!

What does taking the train mean to you? Perhaps it’s just a way of getting to your destination(目的地). In fact, the train itself can be part of the fun.

On March 28th, China’s first panda-themed tourist train left Chengdu in Sichuan for Zunyi in Guizhou. It soon became the talk of China with its special design and comfortable service.

It’s inside and outside are decorated with giant panda pictures. Attendants(乘务员) carry panda toys and passengers can try panda-shaped food and Sichuan snacks. Some people call it a mobile star hotel because it has a bar, karaoke room, dance hall, and mahjong(麻将) room.

This luxury(高档的) service is one aspect that has attracted travelers. But train travel interests people for other reasons.

In the fast-paced times we live in, train travel is a good way to slow down. It gives you time and space to read, sleep, chat with friends, or simply do nothing but watch the changing scenery outside.

One surprising thing is that you might meet new people. Sheng Yawei, 26, once took the longest railway in the world—the Trans-Siberian Railway in the world. Sheng met a Russian student and they became friends. “I also met a cute boy who gave me melon seeds(瓜子). Though we didn’t understand each other’s language, it made me feel nice.”

   榜样，就是那些闪耀着奋进之光的人，他们为我们指引方向。在你的成长过程中，一定有很多值得你学习的榜样，比如袁隆平、钟南山、老师、亲人、朋友……假如你是李华，学校英语社团将举办“The person I admire”的演讲比赛，请你根据要点提示或做适当发挥，写一篇介绍自己的榜样的演讲稿。

I’m Li Hua. The person I admire most is ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That’s all. Thanks for listening.