Once upon a time, there was a millionaire who loved money more than the other things in the world. He didn't know exactly how much he had, so he took on a little girl to count all his money for him.

    It took the little girl six days to count all the money. When she told the millionaire that he had forty-two million dollars, he was wild with joy and asked, “How much money do you want?” He thought she was only a child and he could give her less money.

    The girl said, “Well, I worked for six days, so I think you should pay me for six days. Give me two pennies for the first day. Each day after that, just give me the amount you give me the day before, multiplied(乘) by itself.”

    The millionaire thought that in this way he would only have to give her a few dollars. What a foolish girl!

    On the first day the millionaire paid her two pennies, and on the second day, two pennies times two pennies, or four pennies.

    Each day after that, he gave her the number of pennies he had given her the day before, multiplied by itself. And by the sixth day the foolish millionaire had to give the clever girl all his money.

    Long long ago, a millionaire loved money than anything {#blank#}1{#/blank#} in the world. One day he took on a girl to count his money. The girl spent six days in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} his money. The millionaire asked the girl how much money he should {#blank#}3{#/blank#} for what she did. The girl answered he should give her the amount he gave her the day before, multiplied by itself.

    The millionaire {#blank#}4{#/blank#} with the girl. He thought the girl was a {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. In fact, the girl was so clever. The millionaire had to give the clever girl all his money.

    A young man worked very hard at his lessons. He was too busy to have a rest. At last, he became ill, so he couldn't go to sleep. Every night, when he went to bed, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. But he always stayed awake and couldn't fall asleep.

    After some days, he decided to see a doctor.” I just can't go to sleep at night. What should I do? Could you please help me?”

    “I have a suggestion(建议)，”said the doctor. “Try counting numbers. By the time you reach one thousand, you'll be asleep. I'm sure of it.”

    The next day the man returned to the doctor's office. “Well,” said the doctor, how are you today? Did you try my suggestion?”

    The man still looked tired. “Yes,” he said, “I tried counting one, two, three-up to one thousand. But when I reached five hundred and sixty-nine, I began to feel sleepy. I had to get up and drink some tea so that I could go on counting up to one thousand. But then I still couldn't fall asleep.”

(an extract from a detective story)

…

    "Sit down," Henderson said, sitting down in an armchair himself and looking at Logan. "What are you here for?"

    "I understand you had a parry last night" said Logan, a police officer.

"Yes," said Henderson, "Oh! I hope the neighbours haven't been complaining about the noise again. "

    "Not that I know of." said Logan. "But a young girl, Fran, who came to the patty hasn't been home yet"

    "Fran" said Henderson. "Yes, she was here. She left early, as I remember-about one o'clock. I happened to notice what the time was when she came to say goodbye. But nobody else left until about four in the morning."

    Henderson looked quite relaxed.

    "Did you know Clare?" asked Logan suddenly.

    "Oh, God!" Henderson sat forward. "You don't think ... the same thing has happened to Fran?"

    "We're keeping an open mind," said Logan, watching him carefully, "but we're giving it our full attention."

    "Well, yes. I can understand that." replied Henderson, getting comfortable in the armchair again.

    "So," repeated Logan, "did you know Clare?"

    "Well, sure. I knew who she was. But we never had anything do with each other." Said Henderson, giving Logan a big smile.

    "Who else was at your party?" asked Logan.

    "People from the university," said Henderson. "Students, teachers."

    "David?" asked Grant, Logan's partner.

    "Yes, David was here for a time." Henderson smiled again. "But he's not really a party animal. He probably left early."

    "What do you mean, probably?" asked Grant. Henderson looked at Grant. Grant was sixty with thick black hair and a large moustache. His clothes, as always, looked rather old: a blue jacket and grey trousers. He did not look much of a party animal either.

    "Well, I don't check when my guests arrive and leave," said Henderson. "And some people just leave when they want to go home. They don't come and say goodbye. Anyway, sometimes I can be difficult to find." Again he looked at Logan, raised his eyebrows and gave her a big smile. "I sometimes end up in the bedroom".

    …

    Steven is six years old. He gets some money from his mother every week. He buys a lot of things from the shops, but he doesn't really need them, and he puts them everywhere. One day his mother gives him a notebook and says, "Now, Steven, when you buy things, write their names down in the notebook, and also write down how much they are. Then you can look at it again when your money is all gone (花光了), and you don't waste (浪费) so much money next time."

    After a week, Steven says to his mother, "Do you know, Mum, before I spend (花) any money now, I really stop and think!" His mother is very happy and thinks, "Well, my son knows the value (价值) of money now. "But then she hears him say, "Mum, before I buy something, I always ask myself, 'Can I spell (拼写) that word and put it down in my notebook?'"

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

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

    He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers(陌生人) would take the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and take some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit. Finally he planted the tree in the deep forest. 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' 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 not only no one could enjoy the fruit, but also you have destroyed (毁掉) a good apple tree!"