It was a beautiful spring day in a forest in ancient China. The air was crisp and fresh, and the sun was shining brightly. In the dense forest, tall trees stood side by side. The sun’s rays hit the treetops and scattered through their branches. They cast shadows of light and dark on the forest floor.

High up in a tree, a mother bird was resting in her nest. She had just hatched six baby birds, called nestlings. The nestlings were covered with soft fluffy down. They didn’t have flight feathers yet, so they weren’t ready to leave the nest.

Five of the baby birds were strong. They chirped loudly. The one that had hatched last, though, was not strong at all. Mama Bird called him Xiao Liu, or Little Six. He was frail and quiet. Xiao Liu’s older brothers and sisters teased him often.

“Chirp, chirp, look at Xiao Liu,” said Oldest Brother. “He’s so weak, he can barely move.”

“Chirp, chirp,” said Fourth Sister. “I know. He wouldn’t budge. I had to climb over him to get to Mama.”

“Chirp, chirp, I couldn’t sleep,” said Second Sister.

“Xiao Liu was trying to move around. He’s so slow and clumsy! He kept stepping on me.”

The older siblings pushed Xiao Liu around. They took his food.

Sometimes they even snatched it right out of his mouth!

“Chirp, chirp. That’s mine,” said Third Brother.

“Chirp, chirp,” said Second Sister. “That worm looks yummy. I want it.”

“Chirp, chirp, but I’m hungry!” cried Xiao Liu as his sister took the worm from his mouth.

Xiao Liu’s brothers and sisters would call him names too. They gave him the nickname Clumsy Bird.

“Chirp, chirp. Move out of the way, Clumsy Bird,” they chirped together.

Xiao Liu did not like being laughed at or pushed around by his brothers and sisters.

Xiao Liu was not physically strong when he hatched. But he did have a strong will. He decided he would get stronger. He would do exercises every day. Soon, his brothers and sisters would not laugh at him anymore!

Every morning, Xiao Liu would rise before the sun even came up. Before his brothers and sisters woke, Xiao Liu would be finished with all his exercises and breakfast.

“Chirp, chirp. What are you doing, Clumsy Bird?” asked Oldest Brother.

Then he fell back asleep again.

“Chirp, chirp, it’s too early, Clumsy Bird,” Second Sister complained.

“Stop moving around so much.”

Xiao Liu worked hard morning after morning after morning.

He flapped his wings over and over and over again to make them stronger. He always got the first worms and bugs Mama brought back to the nest. All through the spring Xiao Liu woke up earlier than his brothers and sisters. He worked harder than they did, week after week. He ate big meals and did not go hungry, week after week.

After a couple of months, all the birds had grown flight feathers. Mama Bird gathered her babies to teach them to fly. To everyone’s surprise,

Xiao Liu was the first one to start flying! “Chirp, chirp, look at me!” Xiao Liu cried happily while his brothers and sisters struggled to fly from the nest.
The EndQuestion: 核心詞匯

以下翻譯來(lái)自百度翻譯：那是中國(guó)古代森林里一個(gè)美麗的春天。空氣清新，陽(yáng)光燦爛。在茂密的森林里，高大的樹(shù)木并排矗立著。太陽(yáng)光照射在樹(shù)梢上，散落在樹(shù)枝上。他們?cè)谏值牡孛嫔贤断铝斯饷骱秃诎档年幱啊８吒叩臉?shù)上，一只母鳥(niǎo)正在巢中休息。她剛剛孵出六只雛鳥(niǎo)，叫雛鳥(niǎo)。雛鳥(niǎo)身上覆蓋著柔軟的絨毛絨毛。它們還沒(méi)有羽毛，所以還沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)備好離開(kāi)巢穴。五只小鳥(niǎo)很強(qiáng)壯。他們嘰嘰喳喳地大聲叫著。不過(guò)，最后孵化出來(lái)的那只并不強(qiáng)壯。鳥(niǎo)媽媽叫他小劉，或小六。他身體虛弱，沉默寡言。小劉的哥哥姐姐經(jīng)常取笑他。“唧唧，唧唧，看看小劉，”大哥說(shuō)他太虛弱了，幾乎動(dòng)彈不得。”“唧唧，唧唧，”四姐說(shuō)我知道。他不肯讓步。我得從他身上爬過(guò)去才能找到媽媽。”“唧唧，唧唧，我睡不著，”二姐說(shuō)。”小劉想四處走動(dòng)。他又慢又笨！他一直踩著我。”兄妹們把小劉推來(lái)推去。他們拿走了他的食物。有時(shí)他們甚至從他嘴里把它搶走！“唧唧，唧唧。“那是我的，”三哥說(shuō)。“唧唧，唧唧，”二姐說(shuō)那條蟲(chóng)子看起來(lái)很好吃。我想要它。”“唧唧，唧唧，可我餓了！”小劉哭著說(shuō)，他的妹妹從他嘴里叼走了蟲(chóng)子。小劉的兄弟姐妹也會(huì)罵他。他們給他起了個(gè)綽號(hào)叫笨鳥(niǎo)。“唧唧，唧唧。“讓開(kāi)，笨鳥(niǎo)，”他們一起嘰嘰喳喳地說(shuō)。小劉不喜歡被兄弟姐妹嘲笑或推搡。小劉孵化時(shí)身體并不強(qiáng)壯。但他確實(shí)有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志。他決定要變得更強(qiáng)壯。他每天都做運(yùn)動(dòng)。很快，他的兄弟姐妹們就不再嘲笑他了！每天早上，小劉都會(huì)在太陽(yáng)升起之前起床。在他的兄弟姐妹醒來(lái)之前，小劉已經(jīng)做完了所有的練習(xí)和早餐。“唧唧，唧唧。“你在干什么，笨鳥(niǎo)？”大哥問(wèn)。然后他又睡著了。“唧唧，唧唧，太早了，笨鳥(niǎo)，”二姐抱怨道。“別到處走動(dòng)了。”小劉日復(fù)一日地努力工作。他一次又一次地拍打翅膀，使它們更強(qiáng)壯。他總是得到媽媽帶回來(lái)的第一批蟲(chóng)子。整個(gè)春天，小劉都比他的兄弟姐妹們醒得早。他比他們更努力地工作，一周又一周。他一周又一周地吃大餐，不餓。幾個(gè)月后，所有的鳥(niǎo)都長(zhǎng)出了飛行羽毛。鳥(niǎo)媽媽把她的孩子們召集起來(lái)教他們飛。令所有人驚訝的是，小劉是第一個(gè)開(kāi)始飛行的人！”唧唧，唧唧，看著我！”小劉高興地哭了，而他的兄弟姐妹們掙扎著從巢里飛出來(lái)。