完形填空

　　An old man had been hired many years ago by a town council(委员会)to clear away the wastes from the pools up in the mountain that fed the clear spring flowing through their town．　　1　　 faithful, silent work every day, he cleaned the hills, removed the 　　2　　 and branches, and wiped away the dirt that would otherwise 　　3　　 and pollute the clear flow of water．

　　By and by, the town became a(n)　　4　　 attraction for tourists．Swans floated along the 　　5　　 spring．The mill wheels(水车)set up near the water 　　6　　 day and night and farmlands were naturally 　　7　　．The beautiful view from the restaurants was beyond 　　8　　．

　　Years passed．One evening the town council 　　9　　 for its meeting．A man's eye noticed the salary 　　10　　 to the keeper of the spring．He said, “Why do we 　　11　　 the old man on year after year?He isn't necessary any longer!” They all agreed to 　　12　　 the old man's job．

　　For several weeks nothing changed．By early 　　13　　 the trees began to shed their leaves．Small 　　14　　 broke off and fell into the pools, blocking the rushing flow of sparkling water．One afternoon 　　15　　 noticed brown color in the spring．Some days later, the water was much 　　16　　 and more wastes covered the water and a kind of bad 　　17　　 was given off．The mill wheels moved very slowly, and finally 　　18　　．Swans left and so did the tourists．The dirty water 　　19　　 into the town．

　　　　20　　, the council called a special meeting．Realizing their mistakes, they hired back the old man and within a few months the river of life began to clear up．

阅读理解

　　Adults(成年人)usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school．But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget．Every time I drift off course, I think of this story．

　　It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us．This is how the story went：

　　An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway．He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg(乞讨)．He would do this every single day of his life．He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years．

　　His house was dirty, and a stench(恶臭)came out of the house and it smelled terrible．The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place．The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house．There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years．

　　The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire(百万富翁)．They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him．When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire．

　　But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door．The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg．

　　Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant(有意义的)for his life．We learn nothing from this story other than(除了)staying focused on(专心于)the things we enjoy doing．