Last summer I took a trip to an island. I had a lot of fun. I sat and watched the waves and listened to the ocean. I learned to identify birds. I discovered pretty things and enjoyed the taste of new foods. It was a very nice time.

One evening I took a pleasant walk by the ocean. When the waves came in, many starfish (an animal shaped like a star that lives in the water), and they were safe. But other starfish were still on the sand. They would die if they did not get into the water. There were many starfish on the beach that night. It made me sad, but I knew I could not fix the problem. I stepped very carefully so I did not damage them.

Then I saw a little girl. She was also sad about the starfish. She wanted to prevent all of them from dying, She asked me if I could perhaps help her.
"To be frank, I don't think we can do anything," I said.
The little girl started to cry. She sat back against a rock and thought for a while. Finally, the emotion was gone. She stopped crying and stood up. The she picked up a starfish and threw it into the water.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. But she did not answer me. She just threw as many starfish as she could. "You cannot save all of them!" I said.

She stopped to look at me. "No, I cannot save them all," she replied. Them she picked up a very big starfish and said, "But I can save this one." And then she smiled and threw the starfish as far as she could into the ocean.

Do you even wonder where the moon and the sun came from? The Inuit people of Alaska have a theory.

They tell a story about a beautiful girl. She was very nice. In contrast, her brother was a mean little boy. One day he proposed something. "We should go to a party," he said. The girl  accepted. First, it was necessary for her to prepare. She arranged her hair and put on nice clothes. This required a lot of time. But the girl worked hard, and soon she had success. She looked perfect.

They attended the party together. The girl was having fun. Later, she walked into the bathroom. Suddenly, the lights were turned off! Someone grabbed her hair and tore her clothes. She ran out of the bathroom. She wanted to know did this to her.

Then she had an idea. She fixed her hair again. This time it was even more beautiful. She even balanced beautiful jewels in it. She wanted  to encourage the person to grab it again. She put black dirt in her hair. The purpose of this was to catch the person.

She went to the bathroom again, and it was the same pattern. The light went off, and someone grabbed her hair. When he released it, his hand was black. The girl returned to the party. She knew there was only a single person with a black hand. When she saw that person, he was very familiar. It was her brother!

He ran into the woods. The girl ran after him. They both carried fire so they could see in the dark. The smoke went into the air. As they ran, they grew. They became huge. Then they went into space. When the girl's fire went out, she hung in the sky. She became the moon, and her brother became the sun. They chase each other forever.

King Minos was very sick. His condition was getting worse.  He had three sons. He loved them all. He had to announce who would become king. (he announced to everyone his new idea)

Two of the princes stood waiting outside the king's room, Theseus was the oldest and strongest. He thought his father would make him king. Pelias, the second son, thought differently. He was an expert with weapons ['wepon]. He thought the king would choose him.

"When I'm king" Theseus told Pelias, "I'll let you contribute to the defense of our country. You can lead the army."

Pelias became angry. "Father knows I'm famous for my sword skills. He'll make me king."
"You?" Theseus yelled. "He won't choose you!"
"The kingdom is mine!" Pelias claimed. "Father will give it to me - or I'll use force to take it!"

Theseus made a sudden move to take out his sword, Then Pelias did the same, "Beating me will be a challenge," Theseus said. "Fight me now. The winner gets the kingdom!"
Pelias agreed.

King Minos could hear his sons fighting. The youngest son, Jason, stood beside him. He sensed (v-cảm thấy) his father's sadness. (To sense S.T is to know about it without being told) The king laid his hand flat on Jason's arm. (v-lay nắm, đặt để).

"Your brother fight too much," the king told him. "I must protect my kingdom from all harm. They'll divide it between them. The people won't know what to do. There'll be war. I can't allow either of them to be king. Therefore. I'm making you king. Your kindness has always made you special. It's the difference between you and your brothers. You can bring peace. They can't."

Then the king died. Theseus and Pelias heard that their youngest brother was king. They were surprised. They realized that their fighting was wrong. It had kept them from saying goodbye to their father. They agreed to have Jason as their king. He was the best choice.

A nice woman lived by a large river. She loved children. She wanted to help them in any way. She loved her community, and everyone in the community loved her. She lived a very long time and became very wise (adj-thông thái).

When she died, she became a ghost. She was dead, but every night she returned to her community. She wanted to help children and not to cause them fright (hoảng sợ). But she had a scary voice. Children were afraid of her, but the ghost was good one. She only scared them to help them.

One night, some children and a dog were playing by the river. They were having fun with their pet. But they were far from home. Then the weather became bad. it rained and rained.
The river was rising. It was very dark. The children knew they were lost. They needed to go north, but they didn't know which direction it was. When the moon came out, they saw a ghost by the river. The ghost said, "Go away!"

The children felt great fright. They knew it was a ghost. Then the ghost moved closer. She yelled again. "Go away!" The children became very upset. Some of them began to cry. The children knew they had a choice: they could escape, or they could stay and face this scary individual in the dark.

The children ran a long distance away. The ghost followed them all the way.
Finally, the children reached home. The ghost was very happy. Soon the river rose higher and higher. It was very dangerous. The ghost had helped the children survive! She had saved them from the rising water.
She also used power to lead them home. Sometimes, meeting a ghost has advantages. A ghost can save your life!

A jackal is a wild dog with a bid black back.
It resides in the desert.
How did the jackal get his black back? This was how it happened.

One day, the jackal saw a girl, she was sitting upon (prep) a rock. (not a normal child).
She was a rare and beautiful sun child. (bright and warm like the sun).

She said, "Jackal, I have been relaxing on this rock for too long, I must get home soon. But, I am slow and you are fast. You will likely get me home more quickly."

She requested, "Will you carry me home? If you do, I'll give you a gift. This necklace belongs to me, but I will give it to you."
The wild jackal agreed. So the sun child sat on the dog's back. They started to walk.

The jackal felt ill. The sun child was very hot on his back.
The heat was hurting his back very badly.
"I made a terrible error in judgment" He thought. He shouldn't have agreed to carry her. So he asked her to get off.
But she did not.
The jackal's back continued to get hotter and hotter. He had to get away from the sun child. So he made a plan.

First, he ran as fast as he could. He hoped the sun child would fall off. But she did not.
So when the sun child was looking at the sky, not aware of the jackal's next plan, He jumped into a field of flowers.
As a result, the child rolled off his back. The jackal ran away.

But the sun child left a mark on the jackal's back, a visible back mark.
Ever since (kể từ đó) his experience with the sun child, the jackal has had a back back.

John's dog was a bad dog. He bite/bit people frequently.
John had great concern about this. It was not an appropriate way for a dog to behave.

to behave (v) She allays behaves well when her father is around.
to spread through (v)

His friends in the village always expected the dog to bite them. The news about John's dog spread through the village.
Nobody (none of the people) wanted to go to John's house.

John tried to instruct the dog to behave, but it never worked.
He tried to be patient and teach the dog to be calm. That also didn't work.

John didn't want to punish the dog. "How will I stop my dog's bad habit?" John asked himself.
John's friend came to talk to him the issue. During their important meeting.

"The people in the village asked me to represent them. We want your dog to stop this habit. Why don't you put a bell around the dog's neck?" This way, we would hear your dog coming down the street."

John thought this was a great idea.
Now, people could stay away from the dog. It would not be able to bite anyone anymore.

This made the dog very content. [ken'tent] (adj-bằng lòng, toại nguyện). He liked the song the bell played when he walked.

One day, John's dog strolled through the village and met some other dogs.
He expected them to want a bell like his. But they laughed at his bell.

They said the bell made people avoid him.
John's dog shook his head. (to shake/shook (v)) "No, they look at me because they like the bell."

The other dog said, "You have the wrong idea of what makes your popular. .... it tell them where you are so they can avoid you. You aren't able to bite them anymore"

You see, being popular isn't something positive when it's for the wrong reason.

Lee sat among the books at the library and thought about his group project.
They had to turn it in soon, but he hadn't even started his part. (not even do)
(Jack and Claire, they were in his group) They had worked hard. (very smart)
Lee didn't want them to get a bad grade.

Jack did the report. He write/wrote ... and describe things with great adjectives.
Claire draw/drew a nice map of the stars.

Now, Lee needed to do his part of the project.
"Well, I suppose I need to start my model." ... Making a model of a planet was really hard.
(I suppose I should go home now - to guess)

Lee tried to read several books, But he couldn't comprehend any of the charts.
(could not comprehend the message)
"We're going to fail because of me!". (you do not succeed in what - he failed to get the job)
... He put his head down on the table and said.
" I wish I could see a planet, instead of having to read about it!"

Suddenly, there was a bright light
Lee was pulled from his chair, through the roof, and right into a strange ship.
"Hello, kid," said an alien. "Did you ask for help?"
Lee told the friendly alien all about his project. The alien agreed to help Lee solve his problem.

"First, we'll fly to view the universe. Then I can help you make a model of my planet."
Soon, they were going through the clouds. They passed the moon. Then they viewed Mars.
Lee was very excited. Instead of a bad grade.
His group would have the best project ever! (I've ever had)

"It's time to go home" the alien finally said.
On the way back, he helped Lee make a model of the planet Mars. Soon, they were on Earth.

"My model will be awesome!" Then he took his model and said goodbye to his new friend.