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1. What Will Be, Will Be A long time ago, in the north of China, there lived an old man. He raised the finest horses in all the land. His family was happy and he was rich in friends too. One night, the man’s prized horse, a big black stallion, disappeared. The old man was sad as it was the finest in his possession. Friends from all over the district came to say how sorry they were. The old man said only, “What will be, will be.” And he went on with his work. Months later, the villagers saw the black stallion coming home, leading two beautiful white horses. The village raised a cheer, happy for the return of the old man’s horse and the addition of two more. The old farmer thanked them for their happiness and said quietly for all to hear, “What will be, will be.” And he went back to his work. The old man’s only son loved horses, so it was natural for the old man to give him the black stallion. The old man began to teach his son to ride. Unfortunately, on his first lesson, the boy fell from the horse and broke his leg. The boy could not walk. No one knew if he would ever walk again. Everyone was saddened, and came to tell the old man how sad they were. The old man just looked at them and said, “What will be, will be.” And he returned to his work. In a few weeks, angry tribes from the far north invaded the land. The king sent his emissaries to enlist one male child from each family to fight against the invaders. When they arrived at the old man’s village, they took one son from each home. At the home of the old man, they found the crippled boy, the only son. Since he was not fit for fighting, they did not take him and left the village. As he watched the soldiers marching away over the dusty plains, the old man whispered to himself, “What will be, will be.” And he went on with his work. 2. A Nervous Flyer I really don’t like planes. I mean I like them, but I am a little nervous about the flying part. One time, I had to take a flight. Even though I was worried about it, I knew I had to go. I went to the airport and boarded the plane. An older woman sat down beside me. She smiled at me. The plane was ready to take off and I was feeling extremely nervous. I was so nervous that I was sweating and my hands were shaking. I was panicking. The plane started to pick up speed. I was just about to grab someone’s hand when the older woman grabbed my hand and said, “I’m so scared. Can I hold your hand?” Well, I was shocked and said, “Okay.” We held each other’s hands tightly. The plane took off and climbed into the sky. Soon the plane settled down. The flight went along very well. The old lady and I talked about everything you could imagine. She seemed to know a lot about the world. Just as the flight was coming to an end, the pilot announced on the speaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Williams. This is a special flight for me. Today, I am retiring after 30 years as a pilot. My whole family is on board to celebrate my last landing in a jet. I’m going to make it as smooth as glass for you.” There were big smiles in the cabin. People were excited as we neared the runway. The pilot brought the plane lower and lower. Finally, the plane touched down on the runway. As the plane glided to a smooth stop, everyone on board broke into applause and cheered. In the front of the plane, I could see people clapping as the pilot came through the plane. He stopped by my seat and the older lady stood up and hugged the pilot. She was his wife! The woman said goodbye to me and left with the pilot. On the way out, I said to the flight attendants, “Isn’t it strange that the pilot’s wife has never been on a plane?” The two flight attendants laughed and said, “Mrs. Williams was a flight attendant for twenty years.” And with that, I realized that what she had done was to help me. 3. The Many Ways of Sleeping Sleep. It’s something that all mammals, birds, and reptiles do. We all need sleep, but different species have adapted to it in different ways, according to the conditions of their environments. You can, in fact, tell a lot about an animal by studying the way it sleeps. For example, for humans, it’s natural to lie down on one’s back or stomach and drift off to sleep. That’s easy enough to do when you’re at the top of the food chain and don’t have natural enemies. Lying down to sleep leaves one open to attack, so only those creatures with few enemies regularly sleep like that. Caution and safety are at the forefront of many animals’ minds when sleeping. Did you know that elephants sleep standing up? The same is true for cows, horses, and sheep. When these animals go into the dream state, they lie down. But, the majority of their sleep occurs while they are standing. Many of these larger land animals rely on speed in flight to protect them from predators. Their ability to lock their leg joints and sleep while standing gives them an advantage if they come under attack while snoozing. Imagine the disadvantage if they had to wake from sleep while lying on the ground and then rise to their legs before taking flight. Birds sleep in a similar way, and it is assumed, for similar reasons—safety. They simply lock their claws around their perch, and go to sleep. This allows them to enter the sleep state in a relatively safe location, high up in a tree. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the animal is, the more sleep it needs. Giraffes need only two hours of sleep per day while bats sleep for a whopping twenty hours every day. Fully developed humans require about eight hours a day, which is a couple of hours more than their closest cousins, chimpanzees. No doubt about it, all animals need sleep. And they have many ways to get it. 4. At the Border There’s an expression in English that says: “Sometimes you can’t see the forest because of all the trees.” Do you know what that means? It means that if you focus too much on the details, you might not be able to see the “big picture”. Such was the problem long ago at a border crossing far away. Smugglers are people who sneak things across borders illegally. The border agent’s job is to search for and find the items smugglers are hiding as they cross the border into a different country. One day, a smuggler leading a donkey approached the border. On the donkey’s back, there was a large load of straw. As the man came closer to the border, the agent grew suspicious. “Surely this man is trying to smuggle valuable goods into my country,” he thought. He stopped the smuggler and made him unload the hay. The agent searched through the hay but could not find anything. He could do nothing but allow the man with thedonkey to pass. “You are 本文来源：https://www.dywdw.cn/c72826feaef8941ea76e0530.html
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2022-12-07
