A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy
recognized his footsteps(脚步) and asked: “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said: “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind. The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign reminded people they were lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story. The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can. The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!
小题1:What did the boy do on the street?
| A．He sold his old hat. |
| B．He begged (乞讨) for money. |
| C．He was busy collecting coins. |
| D．He showed his good handwriting. |
小题2:How did the man help the blind boy?
| A．He took the boy’s sign away. |
| B．He gave the boy a lot of money. |
| C．He changed the words on the sign. |
| D．He asked other people to help the blind boy. |
小题3:What does the underlined word "recognized" mean?
小题4:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The man did nothing to help the blind boy except changing the words on the sign. |
| B．Before the man changed the words, the hat had been full. |
| C．Without the man’s help, the blind boy couldn’t get so much money. |
| D．The kind man was very thankful to the blind boy. |
小题5:Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．A kind and clever man. |
| B．A blind boy in the street. |
| C．Let’s help the disabled people. |
| D．Different words make a difference. |
