If the rose can be said to be a special flower, then the apple can be said to be a special fruit. It is very important in American culture (文化).

About 220 years ago, John Chapman went across America to get apple seeds (种子) and plant apple trees in America. Then apples became an important fruit for the people of early America. Because of this, John Chapman became very popular and got his new name “Johnny Appleseed”.

One of the first sayings for American children is, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” This short saying encourages (鼓励) children to eat fresh fruit to keep healthy. If someone always says good words to a person, people will call him an “apple polisher”. But it is not a good name. If someone is very dear to us, we say that he or she is the “apple of our eyes”.

Most people think that the fruit which Eve gave to Adam was an apple, although the Bible (圣经) never says so. So the apple is an important part of the language and stories of America．

In many parts of the country, a popular activity in autumn is to pick apples in an apple garden. Washington D.C. and New York are both famous (著名的) for their apples. When it’s time to take a vacation to American cities, one can always visit New York — “the biggest apple” of all the American cities.

“I will think of it”. It is easy to say this.     16    

Sir Isaac Newton was sitting in his garden when he saw an apple fall(掉落) from a tree.     17     Then he found how the sun, the moon and stars stay in their places.

A boy named James Watt sat quietly by the fire and watched the lid(盖) of the kettle(水壶) move up and down. He wanted to find out why the steam(蒸汽) in the kettle moved the lid. From that time he kept thinking and thinking. And when he became a man, he made the steam engine(发动机) better.     18    

James Ferguson was a poor boy. When he saw the inside of a watch, he was thinking, “    19    ” But how could he make the main spring(主发条)? He soon found he could make it with whalebone(鲸骨). He then made a wooden clock. His motto(座右铭) was “I will think of it”. And he made his ideas useful to himself and the world.

    20     Just think by yourselves.

Alex is a young man from the US state of California. Six months ago, he weighed(重) 92 kg, but now he loses 20 kg. How did he do it?

Alex is from a boxing(拳击) family—his father and two older brothers are boxers. So he started boxing, too. He began with simple exercises, like sit-ups and push-ups(俯卧撑). He also started running.

Months later, Alex joined a boxing club in his city. He is always the first man at the club to begin exercising, and the last to leave, with sweat(汗水) on his face. Every day he boxes for about three hours.

“Alex works very hard,” says his coach(教练), Hector Lopez. “It’s surprising to see him lose weight so quickly. I’ve never met anyone like him in my 20 years of coaching.”

Alex is very happy with his weight now. There is a family photo in his room from 18 months ago. “Each time I look at the photo, I worried about myself. I was so big back then and it was easy for me to have health problems,” Alex says. “I look 100 times thinner and 1,000 times stronger now.”

An old woman loses her only son. The sad woman goes to a clever man and asks, “Is there a way to help me get out of my _________?”

The clever man says to her, “Go and bring _________ a seed from a home without sadness. I will use it to drive (驱赶) the sadness out of your life.” The woman goes to _________ that special seed．

First, she comes to a beautiful house, knocks (敲) at the door, and asks politely, “Excuse me, I am looking for a home _________ no sadness. Is this such a place? It is very important to me.”

They tell her, “You certainly come to the _________ place,” and begin to talk about all the sad things that happened (发生) to them．

The woman says to herself, “Who can _________ these people because they feel sad like me?” She stays there to make them _________ before she goes to look for another home.

But no matter (无论) _________ she goes, she finds one sad _________ after another. She becomes so busy helping other people that she __________ about looking for that seed. She even never realizes (意识到) that her helping others has driven the sadness out of her life.

Jason practiced a new song on the piano. His father sat in the room, reading a book. Suddenly Jason stopped and said to his father, “I don’t think I can learn it,     36     the song No More Blues is too difficult for me.”

Jason’s father closed his book and said, “The word ‘blue’ means unhappy, so your song wants to tell us     37     (be) happy. Maybe you need a break from practice. Let’s take a walk. It’s such a     38     (sun) day.”

Jason and his father began to walk down the street. They turned into a park near their home. It was a cold autumn day, and the     39     (leaf) on the trees began to turn yellow. A cool wind blew against Jason’s face.

    40     hour later, Jason and his father returned to the house. Jason sat down at the piano again to play. His fingers (手指) moved     41     (easy) over the keys. And the music filled the room. “I don’t understand why it is easier for     42     (I) to play the same song now.”

“How did you feel     43     the walk?” Jason’s father asked.

“Terrible,” Jason said with a frown (皱眉).

“And how do you feel now after     44     (take) a walk?” Jason’s father went on.

“Great!” Jason answered, then he     45     (smile). “Taking a walk helped me stop being unhappy. Just like the song, I have no more blues! I think I’ll play the song again.”