A woodcutter started a new job at a timber（木材）company. The pay and work conditions were quite ________. Since the company was treating him well, the woodcutter worked as hard as he could________ the needs of the company.

His boss gave him ________ axe. Then he showed him ________ he should work. On his first day, the woodcutter cut down 18 trees. “Congratulations,” his boss said. “Keep ________!”

The woodcutter ________ by his boss’s words. He worker much harder the next day, ________ could only cut down 15 trees. The third day, he worked even harder, but only cut down 10 trees. Day after day, he was cutting down ________ trees.

“I ________ be losing my strength,” the woodcutter thought. He went to his boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what ________.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” his boss asked.

“Sharpen? I have no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy ________ my work.”

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get ________ busy that we don’t take time to sharpen our “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but also less happy than ever.

Why is this? There’s ________ wrong with activity and hard work. Probably it is just ________ we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”. We have forgotten to continuously improve our skills, so we lose our efficiency（效率）. Then we leave________ in a busy state and become nervous. We will feel less happy.

So remember, always take the time to sharpen your “axe” and don’t become “blunt”.

There were two deer (鹿) living by a river. Over the river there ________ a very narrow bridge.

One day, one of them wanted to cross this bridge to ________ side of the river. Just in the middle of the bridge, he met the other deer. The bridge was not ________ for them to pass at the same time. “Go back,” said one deer to the other. “There is not enough room for both of ________.” The other deer said, “Why should I go back? Better you go back.”

“You must go back,” said the first deer, “because I am ________ than you.” The second deer said, “I don’t think so. You are not stronger than me.”

“We ________ who is stronger soon,” said the first deer and he showed his horns (角) to let the second deer know________ he was ready to fight.

“Stop!” said the second deer. “If we fight, we shall both fall into the river and ________ dead. I have a good idea. I shall lie down and you ________ walk over me.” Then he ________ down on the bridge and the first deer walked carefully over him.

TV is like potato chips. If you have a taste, you want more.

Maddy and I _______ friends since we were kids.

Last week, Maddy and I arranged to spend the weekend at _______ house. A Fun List _______ to make sure we’d enjoy our time together.

When I arrived, Maddy greeted me _______ a big hug. “You’re just in time for _______ best TV show The Cookie Club! And I found out there’s a Super Saturday Marathon, so it’s going to be on all day long!”

“Cool,” I said. “But we’re not actually going to watch it all day long, right?”

“Of course not.” Maddy said, “But you have to watch one episode (一集) so you can see _______ great it is.”

Then I learned about The Cookie Club: It’s about three kids _______ happen to live above a bakery where strange things are always going on. And when it’s the featured show of Super Saturday Marathon, you do not watch just one episode! You watch one more, and one more, and you’re _______ busy trying to solve one delicious mystery after another that you forget the whole world. And the day I’d been looking forward _______ with the friend was over, and I didn’t do a single thing on my Fun List. NOT ONE!

“I can’t believe ________ we actually wasted an entire day watching TV!” Maddy said at bedtime.

“I know!” I yawned. “I like The Cookie Club, ________ I’m sure I never need to watch another episode.”

________, the next day, we were able to give the time to some of our Fun List stuff.

So, too much TV! How ________ off the TV? Don’t turn it on in the first place. If you’ve decided to watch one show, turn off the TV right after the episode is over. You could even set an alarm to remind ________. It may be hard to get off the couch at first, but you’ll feel much ________ if you spend that time on other things.