On the suburb（郊区）of a town in England, there lived an old man in a nice house with a large garden. 【小题1】 He watered and fertilized（施肥）them.

One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imaging how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. 【小题2】 He was very surprised about this and asked, “You can’t see these flowers, why are you busy taking good care of them every day?”

The old man smiled and said, “I can tell you four reasons. First, I was a gardener since I was young, and I really like this job. Second, 【小题3】 Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As for the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t know me,” said the young man.

“Yeah, it’s true that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels（天使）that everyone knows. 【小题4】 ”

The blind man’s work opened our eyes and pleased our hearts, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven（贝多芬）. 【小题5】 Beethoven himself couldn’t hear his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it one kind of happiness?

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main terminal (航站楼) to their boarding gates. Free, the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people considered them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.

At the front of the first car-looking out of the window at the track that lay ahead-were a man and his son.

We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again “Here we got. Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of pure delight.

“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son stretched his neck to look.

As I got off, I remembered something I’d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight, so I decided to go back.

I did, and just as I was about to get on the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle (短程班车).

“You want to go home now?” the father asked.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father said, sounding annoyed but actually pleased. “You’re not tired?”

“This is fun!” his son said.

“All right,” the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.

“Where are all these people going, Daddy?” the soon asked.

“All over the world.” came the reply.

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and the children turn out rotten (堕落的). There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.

The answer is so simple: parents would like to spend time with their children. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world. The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again, and the answer is so simple.

A woodcutter started a new job at a lumber company. The pay was quite good. His boss gave him an axe (斧头) and showed him how to do the job. On his first day, the woodcutter cut down 18 trees. “Congratulations,” his boss said. The woodcutter worked even harder the second day, but could only cut down 15 trees. The third day, he tried even harder but only cut down 10 trees. Day after day, he was cutting down fewer and fewer trees.

“I must be losing my strength,” the woodcutter thought. He was upset and said sorry that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened (使变得锋利) your axe?” his boss asked.

“Sharpen? I have no time to sharpen my axe. I am always busy trying to cut down trees.”

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t have time to sharpen our “axe”. So please remember to take time to sharpen your “axe” and improve yourself.