(1) How did the farmer weigh the butter? (2) What is the moral of the story?
32
Knowledge helps you to reach the destination provided you know what the destination is.
An ancient Indian sage was teaching his disciples the art of archery. He put a wooden bird. The first disciple was asked to describe what he saw. He said, “I see the trees, the branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird and its eyes.”
The sage asked this disciple to wait. Then he asked the second disciple the same question and he replied, “I only see the eye of the bird.” The sage said, “Very good. Then shoot.” The arrow went straight and hit the eye of the bird.
On the journey to life?s highway, keep your eyes upon the goal. Focus on the donut, not upon the hole.
destination [?????????????] n.目的地，终点 sage [??????]n.圣人
disciple [?????????]n.弟子 archery [????????]n.箭术 donut [???????]n.圆环
Questions:
(1) How did the two disciples describe what he saw? (2) What is the moral of the story?
33
On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick was on her way to becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had already conquered the English Channel. The world was watching. Chadwick fought the dense fog, bone chilling cold and many times, the sharks. She was striving to reach the shore but every time she looked through her goggles, all she could see was the dense fog. Unable to see the shore, she gave up.
Chadwick was disappointed when she found out that she was only half a mile from the coast. She quit, not because she was a quitter but because her goal was not in sight anywhere. The element didn?t stop her. She said, “I?m not making excuses. If only I have seen the land, I could have made it.”
Two months later, she went back and swam the Catalina Channel. This time, in spite of the bad weather, she had her goal in mind and not only accomplished it but beat the men?s record by two hours.
channel [???????] vt.引导
conquer [??????] vt.征服，战胜 vi.得胜，胜利 dense [????] a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的 fog [???] n.雾；烟雾，尘雾 bone chilling 寒冷刺骨地
shark [????] n.鲨鱼；贪婪狡猾的人 goggle [??????]n.护目镜
quit [????] vt.离开，退出；停止
element [????????] n.成分；要素；元素 accomplish [?????????] vt.完成(任务等)
Questions:
(1) Why did Chadwick give up the first time? (2) Was she disappointed? Why?
(3) Why did she succeed the second time?
34
On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass. But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration.
A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, “Where does this road take me?” The elderly person asked, “Where do you want to go?” The man replied, “I don?t know.” The elderly person said, “Then take any road. What difference does it take?”
How true. When we don?t know where we are going, any road will take us there.
Supposing you have the football eleven enthusiastically ready fond, then someone took the goalpost away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived? Enthusiasm without direction is like wild fire plays the game, all charged up, and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction.
Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?
magnifying [???????????] a.夸张的 glass [?????] n.玻璃；玻璃杯
focus [???????] vt./vi.(使)聚焦，(使)集中 n.焦点，中
concentration [???????????????] n.专注，专心；集中；浓度 intersection [???????????] n.十字路口
enthusiastically [????????????????] ad热心地,狂热地 goalpost [??????????]n.门柱 keep score 保留得分
frustration [????????????] n.挫折
Questions:
(1) What would happen to the game if someone took the goalpost away? (2) Why are goals important?
35
A farmer had a dog which used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer, “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?” The farmer replied, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.” Many people in life behave like that dog which is pursuing meaningless goals.
vehicle [???????] n.车辆，机动车
overtake [?????????] vt.追上，赶上；压倒 behave [???????] vi.表现，举止；运转 pursue [???????] vt.追赶，追踪；进行 meaningless [??????????]a.无意义的
Questions:
(1) What bothers the farmer?
(2) What?s the best title can you give for the story?
36
There was a man taking a morning walk at the beach. He was that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sunrays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn?t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”
What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we?d end up with a big difference, wouldn?t we?
tide [????] n.潮；潮水
starfish [????????]n.海星
recede [???????] vi.退去；缩进；收回，撤回
Questions:
(1) “It makes a difference to this one.” What does this sentence mean? (2) What would happen if everyone made a small difference?
37
We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.
One day while he was counting, a stranger came from nowhere and said he would grant him a wish. The king was delighted and said, “I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.” The stranger asked the king, “Are you sure?” T he king replied, “Yes.” So the stranger said, “Starting tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get the golden touch.”
The king thought he must be dreaming, this couldn?t be true. But the next day when he woke up, he touched the bed, his clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. But before he went to the garden he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he couldn?t read it. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to himself, “I can?t eat and drink gold.” Just about that time his daughter came running and he hugged her and she turned into gold statue. There were no more smiles left.
The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch. The king said he was the most miserable man. The stranger asked, “What would you rather have, your food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?” The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, “I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything worth having.” Then the stranger said to the king, “You have become wiser than before.” And he reversed the spell. The king got his daughter back in his arms and a lesson that he never forgot for the rest of his life.
greedy [???????] a.贪吃的；贪婪的 vault [?????] n.金库；保管库
grant [??????] n.授予物，拨款 vt.给予；准许 hug [???] n.紧紧拥抱
statue [????????] n.塑像，雕像，铸像 miserable [?????????] a.痛苦的，悲惨的 lump [????] vt.(使)成团 vi.结块
Questions:
(1) In the story, why did the king bow his head and start crying? (2) What lesson did the king learn from his experience?
38
A boy was drowning in a river and he shouted for help. A man passing by jumped in the river and saved the boy?s life. As the man was leaving the boy said, “Thank you.” The man asked, “For what?” The boy replied, ?For saving my life.” The man looked into the boy?s eyes and said, “Son, make sure when you grow up that your life was worth saving.”
It is time to think. This is a wake-up call.
Success without fulfillment is meaningless. Unless there is a sense of meaning and purpose, life is empty and unhappy regardless of how much prestige, money or degrees a person has.
drown [?????] vi.淹死，溺死
fulfillment [???????????]n.履行,实行 regardless of 不管
prestige [?????????] n.威望，威信，声望
Questions:
(1) Explain “Son, make sure when you grow up that your life was worth saving.” (2) What?s the best title can you give for the story?