A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apple trees he grew.

    One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but he did not know where to plant it.

    He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbours would come at night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit. Finally he planted the tree in his woods. But without sunlight and good soil(土壤), the tree soon died.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily and then told what he had thought.

    "Yes, "said the friend, "but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed(毁掉) a good apple tree!"

    It's a rainy Saturday. Mary and her family are spending the afternoon at home. Her uncle and aunt are visiting them.

    Mary's father, Mr Harris, and her uncle and aunt are in the living room. Her father is drawing a picture and her uncle and aunt are watching the news on TV. They are also talking.

    Mary's elder brother, Peter, is in his bedroom playing computer games. He is a computer fan and he spends much time playing on the computer. His younger brother, Jim, is also in the living room. He is playing with his model cars.

    Mary's mother, Mrs Harris, is in the kitchen preparing food for all of them. She is making some hamburgers and orange juice.

    Mary is talking to her friends, Lucy and Tom. They are from another town and want to draw pictures and play with Mary.

    Fluffy, the family cat, is sleeping on the kitchen's sofa. He is a lazy cat. Fluffy eats a lot, and he is a really fat cat.

回答下面5个问题，每题答案不超过8个词。

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    An Australian dog called Maggie has passed away this week, and her owner thinks she may just be the world's oldest dog.

    Maggie lived on Brian McLaren's dairy farm (奶牛场) in Woolsthorpe, in southern

    Victoria Australia. We got her when she was only a little pup, just 8 weeks old. We believe she was 29 years old, "Mr. McLaren said. The McLaren family brought Maggie home before their son started attending school. He is now 34. When the kids were growing up, they'd get off the school bus at 4:10 pm and if they were late, she'd be there Barking (叫) at 4:15," Mr. McLaren said. Maggie worked on the farm bringing cows together until about 12 years ago. "She wasn't pampered (娇惯) but she was well looked after. She always had milk—but not too much of it. She loved her milk. "Mr. McLaren said.

    "She loved running after the farm motorbike. When she was younger she would want to run long beside it, so the faster you went, the more quickly she would run. She had the greatest life."

    Mr. McLaren said Maggie passed away peacefully. She died in her sleep on Sunday night. "The last couple of weeks I was sad I was going to have to put her down, and that was going to break my heart," he said. "I'm so pleased she went the way she did."

    According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest age recorded for a dog is 29 years and five months—for another Australian working dog named Bluey.

    If the dream is big enough. A school was across from my home and I often saw a girl student playing basketball. She practiced over and over again, sometimes until it got dark. I asked her why she practiced so hard. She said, "I like basketball. I'm going to play for a top basketball team. I want to be the best."

    One day, I saw the girl sitting there, looking upset. I asked what was wrong. "Oh, nothing," she answered. "I'm just too short. "The coach told her that she was too short to play for a top team, so she should stop dreaming about it. But later she told me that her father said the coach was wrong. He just did not understand the power(力量)of a dream. Her dad told her that nothing could stop her if her dream was big enough.

    The next year, as the girl and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter(招生人员). She won the scholarship(奖学金)to study in a college and she could play for a famous women's basketball team! Her dream came true!