Once there lived a rich man     1     wanted to do something for the people of his town.     2     at first he wanted to find out whether they deserved (值得) his help.

In the centre of the main road into the town, he placed     3     very large stone. Then he     4    (hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

“Who put this stone in the centre of the road?” said the old man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way. Another man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of     5     complained about the stone but not tried to remove it. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone,     6    (say) to himself: “The night     7    (be) very dark. Some neighbors will come along       8       (late) in the dark and will fall against the stone.”                            

Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his     9     (strong) to move it. How great was his surprise at last!     10     the stone, he found a bag of money.