Years ago, there was an old man who loved his young son very much. And the old man had a lot of art collections, such as the works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others.

As war broke out in their nation, the son became a soldier and left to serve his country. Only a few weeks later, the old man received a message that his son died in the war.

On Christmas morning, a soldier knocked on the door and said, “I am a friend of your son. He saved my life before he died. I am also an artist, and I want to give you this painting that I drew in the war.” It was a portrait (画像) of the man's son.

The old man told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be sold at an auction (拍卖会)  on Christmas Day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

On Christmas Day the auction began with the portrait of the old man's son, The auctioneer (拍卖师) asked for an opening bid (竞价), but the room was silent. Finally, a friend of the old man said, “Will I take $10 for the painting? That's all I have.” The gavel (小木槌) fell.

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction was over. He explained, “It is very easy. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the portrait of his son gets all his art collections.”

    Once upon a time there was an old man. He was really good at fishing. One day, he was fishing on the bank of a river. Soon he caught a full basket of fish. Just at that time, a child came and said to him, "Can you give me the fishing rod(钓鱼竿) in your hands? The old man looked up at him and said, "I can give you a full basket of fish." But the child shook his head. The old man was surprised and asked, "Why do you want the rod instead of the fish?"

    "Oh! You know it doesn't take long to eat all the fish in a basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won't be afraid of not having any fish to eat."

    You may certainly think that the child is very smart. Wrong! If he doesn't know how to fish, he cannot eat any fish, even if he has the fishing rod. It's useless to only have a fishing rod. Fishing skills are more important than the fishing rod.

    Too many people think that if they have "a fishing rod" in their life, they will no longer fear the wind and rain. In fact they will make the same mistake like the child in the story.

    A taxi hit a truck. A policeman spoke to the taxi driver and to the truck driver. He also spoke to Tom. Tom was a witness(目击者). This is what they said.

    TRUCK DRIVER: I was driving from the airport to Newton. A car crossed the road, so I slowed down. I did not stop. A taxi: hit the back of my truck. Nobody was seriously hurt but both the truck and the taxi were damaged(损害).

    TAXI DRIVER: I was driving behind a truck a few kilometers from Newton. The truck stopped suddenly. The driver did not give me a warning(警告). I was driving very slowly. I could not pass the truck because there were two cars coming near from Newton. My taxi hit the truck, and some glass cut my left hand.

    TOM: I was watching the traffic about a kilometer from the airport. A truck was going to Newton. It was going fast. When the truck slowed down, the taxi hit it. The taxi driver was not looking at the truck. He was looking out of the window at something. My friend saw the accident, too.

Tom's friend spoke to the policeman and agreed with .Tom.