阅读理解

　　The hardworking blacksmith(铁匠)Jones used to work all day in his shop．The son of Mr．Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how tradesman worked．

　　“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks(铁钉), even if it is only to pass the time?” said the blacksmith．“Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you．”

　　The lazy boy began to see what he could do．But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks．

　　Old Mr．Smith died and the son lost all his things because of the war．He had to leave home and began to live a simple life in a small village in another country．In the village there were a lot of shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes, and sometimes even when they paid high prices, they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country soldiers’ shoes were in great need．

　　Our young Mr．Smith, who was finding it difficult to make money, remembered he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers．He told them that he would make the tacks if they helped to get him settled(安家)in his workshop．The shoemakers were very glad for the offer．And after a while, young Mr．Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village．

　　“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “even making tacks can make my life better．My skill is more useful to me than all the riches that I’ve had before．”