A driver stopped his car on a street side to have a rest. As he lay down in the seat and closed his eyes, a person came up and knocked at the window to ask the time. The driver opened his eyes and looked at his watch: "It's 8:05," he said. Then he went to sleep again. But soon he was woken up again because a second person was knocking at the window. "Sir, do you know the time?" he asked. The driver looked at his watch again, and told him it was half past eight.

    In this way, the driver thought he could not have a good rest, so he wrote a short note(纸条) and stuck(贴) it on the window for all to see. It said, "I don't know the time."

    Again, he lay down in the seat for his sleep. A few minutes later, a third person came and began to knock at the window, "Hey, sir," he said. "It's a quarter to nine."

    John was a very strong man. Once he got a job of cutting wood in a forest. His boss gave him an axe(斧子) and showed him the area where he should work.

    The first day, John cut down 18 trees. "Good," the boss said, "keep it up!" John was encouraged by the words of the boss and tried harder the next day, but he could only cut down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only cut down 10 trees. Day after day he was cutting down fewer and fewer trees.

    "I must be losing my strength," John thought. He went to the boss and said that he could not understand what was going on. "When was the last time you had sharpened(使锋利) your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpened? I had no time to do it. I have been very busy trying to cut more trees." said John.

    While John was working hard, he didn't think about how to do his job better.

    Driving a car at high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You need only to follow the bright traffic signs beside the highways and it will take you to where you wish.

    But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver has to have not only good driving skills but also a good knowledge of the city of a London, from the smallest lane(小巷) to the most popular bar around. He has to be at the service of all kinds of passengers at all times.

    A certain London taxi driver told of his job as follows.

During the night it is quite usual for him to stop two or three times for some refreshments (点心). He said. "I never drink when I'm working —- I would lose my licence"

    He normally goes home between 2 and 3 O'clock in the night. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, "That's the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don't make the money, no one is going to give it to you."

London taxi drivers not only 'take' but also 'give'. Every summer hundreds of children from London will go for a day at the sea— by taxi! Their rides are paid by the taxi drivers, and these fares(车费) all go to the 'London Taxi Fund for Underprivileged Children. At the sea, they are met by the mayor, and a lunch party is also held in honour of the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day running around the sea beaches and visiting the market, the children go home again-- by taxi, and free of charge, of course!

    Mr. Smith has a son. His name is Peter Smith. The young boy works in a bank in a city. He asks his father to visit the city. The old man is very happy and takes a train to the city. But he doesn't know where the bank is. He begins to look for but he can't find it.

    At a bus stop he asks an old woman "Excuse me, how can I get to the bank?" "We have ten banks in the city, which one do you want?" says the old woman.

    The old man shows the son's letter to her and the old woman says， "Walk along this road and turn left at the third crossing, then you can see the bank, It's across from a hospital."

    Mr. Smith thanks her and soon finds his son. After three days, the old man goes to the park. But he can't find the bank again. At the same bus stop he meets the same old woman and asks the same questions（问题）. "Oh, dear!" the old woman call out. "Are you still looking for your son?"

    I once knew a man who was rich in his love for birds, and in their love for him. He lived in a grove full of all kinds of trees. He had no wife or children in his home. He was an old man with blue and kind eyes, and a voice that the birds loved.

    While he was at work in the grove, the birds came close to pick up the worms(蠕虫) in the fresh earth he dug up. At first, they kept their distance from him, but they soon found he was a kind man, and would not hurt them, but liked to have them near him.

    They knew this by his kind eyes and voice, which tell what is in the heart. So, day by day their faith in his love grew in them.

    All the birds of the grove were soon his fast friends. They were on the watch for him, and would fly down from the green tree tops to greet

him with their chirp(叽叽喳喳叫).

    When he had no work to do, he took bread with him, and dropped the pieces on the ground. Down they would dart(俯冲) on his head and feet to catch them as they fell from his hand.

    He showed me how they loved him. He put a piece of bread in his mouth, with one end of it out of his lips. Down they came like bees at a flower, and flew off with it piece by piece.

    When they thought he slept too long in the morning, they would fly in and _______.

    They went with him to church, and while he sang his hymns in it, they sat in the trees, and sang their praises.

    So the love and trust of birds were a joy to the old man all his life long.