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!"

    A cow, a tree and some flowers… Mia Buckley, 12, drew this doodle（涂鸦）to show Ireland in her eyes. She is the winner of the Irish Doodle 4 Google competition. It is a national competition and students can make a Google homepage logo（ 徽 标 ）every year. At last, she beat other 74 competitors to get her picture's place on the Google Ireland homepage.

    Because she won, Buckley got a scholarship for 5,000 euros (35,885 yuan) and a computer.

    She studies at Summer cove National School, Ireland. And her school also got 10,000 euros.

    This year's competition theme（主题）was "Ireland Is…". Buckley's work is called "Ireland is a land so green". She used pictures of farm life, flowers, sports and music to show Irish life. The pictures had got the highest number of votes （Doodle team then chose the winner投票）in each of the five class groups. And the Google

    Ronan Harries, head of Google in Ireland, likes her work. "Mia's doodle caught our eyes. She really showed Ireland's rural heritage（乡村景观遗产）, as well as our love of music and sports," he told The Irish Examiner, an everyday newspaper in Ireland. "And she did a good job showing the Google logo with bright colors and a clear theme." Ronan Harris also thanked all the students who took part in the competition.

    Mia's doodle will go live in Ireland on the Google homepage on Easter Monday, March 28.

    He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got at his family's small house on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake.

    On the day before the bass(鲈鱼)season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, catching sunfish and bass with worms. Before long, when his pole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the bank and he very successfully lifted the tired fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.

    The boy and his father looked at the handsome fish, the fish jumped up and down in the moonlight. The father looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.—two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. "You will have to put it back, my son," he said. "I have never seen such a big fish before." cried the boy. "There will be other fish," said his father. "The boy looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were anywhere around in the moonlight. He looked again at his father. Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could tell by his father's voice that the decision was not be changed. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water.

    That was 34 years ago. And he has never again caught such a beautiful fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he does see the fish again and again—every time he comes up against a question of ethics(伦理). For, as his father taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.

    We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth. The decision to do right lives fresh in our memory. It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren.

    In about 1503, during Christopher Columbus's fourth and final trip to America, his ship was seriously damaged in a storm. Columbus and his men had to live on a small island for several months while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain.

    At first, the local people on the island were very kind to the European visitors, giving them all the food and clothes they needed to survive. However, as the months passed, the local people became more and more unhappy with their guests, who were tricking and stealing from them. Finally the locals decided to stop helping. Without food or any way to leave the island, Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble.

    Luckily for Columbus, he had a book about the stars and planets on his ship. It described the movements of all the objects in the night sky. The book, written by a well-known German scientist, said there would be a total lunar eclipse(月食)and how long it would last.

    Columbus worked out the difference in time between Germany and North America. He then had a meeting with the local leaders just before the eclipse would take place. In this meeting, Columbus told them his god was angry because the local people were no longer giving food. So his god would take away the Moon to punish them. At the moment Columbus finished talking, just as he had planned, the Moon began disappearing.

    The local leaders grew frightened and quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted. But first, Columbus's god had to return the Moon. Columbus told them he would have to discuss the idea with his god on his ship. Knowing the Moon would stay completely hidden for about 48 minutes, Columbus returned just before the Moon began to reappear. From that day on, until they finally left, Columbus and his men no longer had any trouble getting the food they needed.