2 . A farmer had a friend who was famous for growing wonderful apple trees.

One day, the farmer’s friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it.

The farmer loved the gift. But when he got home, he did not know where to plant it. He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the apples. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal the apples. Finally, he planted the tree in his wood. Nobody could see it, but there was no sunlight in his wood. The tree soon died.

Later, the friend asked the farmer why he planted the tree in such a poor place. “What's the difference?” the farmer said angrily. “If I plant the tree near the road, strangers may steal the apples. If I plant the tree in one of my fields, my neighbors may come at night and steal the apples.”

“Yes,” said the friend, “but at least someone could enjoy the apples. Now no one could eat the apples, and the apple tree died! ”

3 . A businessman had two sons. While he gave the younger son a lot of love and gifts, he neglected(忽视) the elder son. It was completely puzzling (令人费解) and no one knew why.

When the boys ______, they were asked to manage the father's business. The elder son was ______ about the business. From morning till late in the evening, he was busy working. Within a few years, he ran the business very well and ______ expanded (扩大) it. What about the younger son? He didn't have much to do ______ having a good time every day. But the father______ that his favorite son would be a success. If the elder son could be a ______ businessman, surely the younger one, with a higher education, would do much better.

A few years later, the ______ of his decision became clear. Uninterested in business, the younger son continued spending his time enjoying ______. And he went out of business. But the elder son's far smaller share (份额) of business had expanded and he had shown everyone that he was a good decision maker. Being ashamed (羞愧的) at the end of the event, the father met the elder son and was angry with the younger one. The elder son, who was ______ to all this quietly, suddenly said he wanted to set up an independent business and live on his own. “Why?” asked the father. “I blame (责备) one person for my brother's failure, ______ it's not him. You can't blame children for the faults (过失) of their parent, can you? ” asked the elder son.

Old John has worked as a school keeper in Hill Ford School. After walking into the school building every day, he cleans rubbish bins and bathrooms.

Last Friday, after he arrived at the school, instead of finding rubbish to clean up, he found almost 500 students lining in the hallway(大厅) with handmade cards and singing a happy birthday song to him. It was his 80th birthday. As he walked the long hallway, someone rushed to him and gave him a hug. They handed him so many cards as well and the cards filled several large boxes. Old John was touched by their expression of affection (关爱). He thanked them all. “It's the sixteenth year in this school. They're like my children,” Old John said.

On a regular day, students sometimes come up to find him and say they're not feeling well or other times to tell him about something that happened at break time. He knows most of he students at the school, but can't name each one. Some of them make him know them, like Faith, who often leaves her schoolbag in the canteen, and Lucy, who just wants a hug.

Carrie, a reading teacher said,“He won't brag(夸耀) on himself, but it doesn't matter what he's doing or where he is, he will stop what he's doing at any time to give all his attention and take care of a child if that child is having a bad day. "

He works circles around all the students, cleaning up the mess others don't want to touch. He doesn't expect a lot. Old John said he hadn't planned to do much for his birthday, so he was touched as the students had prepared the surprise celebration.

Over the weekend, he worked through the handmade cards at his house. One card from a student stood out to him. It read “Old John, you are the most loved one in our school…”.

9 . Researchers have discovered the first Earth-sized planet. It was first marked by scientists' using NASA's Kepler telescope(望远镜), so it's called Kepler﹣186f. It lies about 500 light years from Earth and goes around its star.The planet is the right distance from its star for water: not too close or not too far. Water is one important condition that scientists guess is necessary for life. So it could have water and possible life. It's called a true Earth cousin.

"This planet is an Earth cousin, not an Earth twin," said Barclay, who is among a team of scientists reporting on the discovery in the magazine Science this week.

"It's very exciting to find a planet similar to the Earth，"Barclay said. "It's not easy work because things change as we get more measurements."

Scientists don't know anything about the air of Kepler﹣186f, but it will be a task for future telescopes which can study for chemicals that have something to do with life.

"It's possible for life to live in this planet, but that doesn't mean there is life in it," Barclay said.

So far, scientists have found nearly 1,800 planets in the universe.

"The past year has seen a lot of progress in the search for Earthlike planets. Kepler﹣186f is very important because it is the first planet that is the same temperature and is almost the same size as Earth,"scientist David Charbonneau wrote in an email.

10 . A video show has become a hot topic on the Internet around China these days. The 35-second video shows that a man driver took a woman out of her red car, threw her to the ground and ______ her several times.

Later, the man driver told the police that was because the woman driver changed lanes（变道）______ and scared his child in the car. That made this man driver very ______. And his anger changed into this fight. The man was blamed (责备) a lot from Internet users, who regarded him as " Crazy or Mad".

However, public attitude (态度) soon took a u-turn when the video from the dashboard camera (行车记录仪) on the man driver's car was put on the Internet on Tuesday. The ______video shows the woman driver suddenly crossed lanes in front of Zhang's car twice and the two said angry words to each other ______ both cars came to a stop under an overhead bridge. And there the fight happened. The latest online poll（民调） shows that 78 % Internet users believe that the woman driver should be blamed for ______ she had done. However, the woman driver _______ to realize her own mistake and refused to say sorry at first. The discussion further grew when some people started a cyber hunt (人肉搜索) against the woman. Some of her personal ______ was put on the Internet, including her ID number, address, phone number and so on.

____ the morning of May 11, the woman driver finally wrote a letter to say sorry to the public, and put it on the Internet, saying that she felt sorry for what she had done and what her family had ______ about this accident. Both of the two have paid for what they had done! So when we drive on the road, try to be calm enough to avoid such happenings again.