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 priest (神父) lived with his small white cat. One day, the cat climbed up a tree and was afraid to come down. The priest called its name and gave it its favourite drink, warm milk, but the cat still didn't come down. So the priest decided to tie rope (栓一根绳子) between his car and the tree. He thought as he drove, the tree would bend down (弯曲) and he could get the cat. He did so. But he drove too far, and the rope broke (断).

    The tree went "boing!" and the cat went through the air. The priest couldn't see it. He felt terrible. He walked around and asked people if they'd seen his cat. But nobody had seen it. At last, he said, "God (上帝), I just give this cat to your keeping."

    A few days later, he met one of his friends in a shop. He saw cat food in her shopping bag. This woman didn't like cats and everyone knew it, so he asked her in surprise, "Why are you buying cat food?"

    She answered, "My little girl always wanted a cat, but I didn't agree. Then a few days ago, she asked again. I told her if God gave her a cat, she could keep it. She went out of the house and said something to the sky. Then suddenly a cat flew out of the blue sky and landed in front of her. "

    The priest smiled and said, "How lucky your little girl is!" Then he went on shopping.

    Jim is a young farmer. He was once put into prison(监狱).

    One day, he got a letter from his mother. "I'm so worried about our farm, "she wrote." It's time to plant potatoes. I can't dig(挖)all the fields(田地)by myself."

    Jim read the letter and became sad. "What can I do?" he thought. Then he had a good idea. He wrote to his mother, "Don't dig the fields. There is much money in the earth. Don't plant potatoes until I come home."

    Some days later, Jim got another letter from his mother. It said, "Two days ago, about ten men came to our farm and dug all the fields. I can't understand it. It seemed that they were looking for something. What should I do?"

    Jim smiled when he read his mother's letter. He wrote a letter to his mother at once. It was very short. Guess what it would say.

    Mr. and Mrs. Scott want to buy some new chairs for their new house. They come into a shop and see some very good chairs on the floor. They like the colour and want to know how much they are. They see a price tag (标签) on one chair. It says (上面写着) "￥100". They like the chair but they are too dear (贵) for them. The Scotts don't think they can buy them now. They leave this shop and go to other shops. Mr. Scott thinks they can find some cheap chairs.